April 13, 2008
4th Sunday of Easter

“Amen, Amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.”

This Sunday, we celebrate what is traditionally known as “Good Shepherd
Sunday.”  The Church pauses to reflect on the proclamation that Jesus is the
Good Shepherd of us all; that His laying down of His life for us brings us back
home to God after our time of straying away.

The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the oldest in the Church,
including her liturgy.  In the roman catacombs of Santa Priscilla, there is a late
1st century/early 2nd century fresco of the Good Shepherd carrying the lost
sheep on his shoulders adjacent to one of the burial niches of the early
Christians.  For the early Church identifying Christ as “Good Shepherd” offered
consolation and reassurance during times of persecution, but it also
symbolized the good news; that God was calling all humanity to salvation,
love, and unity through the life and death and risen life of the Good Shepherd.

The image of the Good Shepherd actually had a long legacy in the history of
the people of Israel.  Jesus’ references mainly go back to the book of the
Prophet Zechariah, who is also quoted by the evangelists throughout the
Passion.  Zechariah receives a vision of a Good Shepherd from God: He will
lead the people in their resettlement and return from exile and He will help
the people to stay faithful to God.

Yet, Zechariah’s vision was also a blunt critique and rebuke of the corrupt
political and religious establishment.  Many in the ruling classes sold out to the
Persian overlords and lacked legitimacy in the eyes of God.  They tolerated
unjust economic practices that hurt the poor and they allowed pagan rituals
to enter the land.  They were vassals and figureheads, but because the
original monarchy and priesthood were almost destroyed, the people had
nowhere to turn.

The vision of the Good Shepherd then offered hope to the people that God
would rescue them.  This Messianic figure would also be for all humanity.

We see in Jesus the fulfillment of this vision.  He rescues us, gives us hope,
calls us to unity, and grounds us to stand up to corruption.  Only He has and
gives legitimacy.  Only He speaks for God.  When we go through Him, the
“sheepgate,” we find the way to God – by uniting our passions, dying-to-self
with His laying His life down for us so that we may partake in His risen Life.

-Rev. Todd Molinari