Happy Easter, friends.
 
On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church celebrates Good Shepherd Sunday, and it’s a great opportunity to reflect on the nature of how we allow the Lord to lead us and what the role of the shepherd is. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd has been the subject of many artistic renderings and meditations over the years, so much so that I fear that it becomes white noise instead of a moving image of Jesus’ love for us. Particularly for a cold-hearted  monster like myself, it’s hard to maintain an affection for the image of the Good Shepherd when you’ve seen approximately 7,350 Precious Moments-esque renderings thereof.

But the reality of Jesus’ desire to be our shepherd is so much more beautiful than the simplified version we often settle for. Instead of an immaculately dressed Jesus wandering through a bucolic landscape surrounded by lamb/cloud hybrids, one might just as readily imagine a dedicated and somewhat weathered worker who is willing to persevere through some pretty unpleasant experiences because he knows the  value of that work. Almost every time Jesus mentions His role as the Good Shepherd, He does so in conjunction with the understanding that His Father has entrusted these sheep to Him. He perseveres in the hard work at hand not only because of His great love for the sheep, but also because His Father, whom He loves, has entrusted this work to Him. The mission and purpose that Jesus, the Eternal Son of the Father, finds in this task is the very bread that sustains Him. Caring for us fills His Most Sacred Heart, because it is that which He was sent here to do.

The burdens that you carry are seen by the Good Shepherd. The many times you have strayed from the path (and likely will again) are seen and understood by the Good Shepherd. The silly calculus by which we justify to  ourselves our selfishness and decisions to sin are seen by Him, and yet He comes after us  anyway. Our Lord Jesus Christ, like us in all things but sin, came into the world at His  being sent forth by the Father, in the Holy  Spirit, to carry out this work. He does not do it       begrudgingly, nor does He tire of it, but instead, His perseverance and willingness to enter into the mess of our lives continuously gives us strength.
 
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, and as we continue our celebration of the Easter Season, we thank the Father for sending the Son to walk alongside us in this life, so that we may be with Him in the next.