Happy Easter to all of you. Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Easter which is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. This title comes from today's Gospel where Christ proclaims to the Pharisees: "I am the good shepherd." He then goes onto give a description of what traits actually define a good shepherd. In our world each of us are in search of finding belonging, love, and safety. We go down many different roads to discover these traits, but we often discover that the path that we have taken has led us to enslavement instead of towards true liberation. If the path that we embrace is the one that Christ, our Good Shepherd, has pointed out for us we will discover true liberation and belonging. Our Lord will indeed protect us from the enslavement of sin and will transform our sorrow into the gift of joy through the hope that always exists through everlasting life. Paths of sin, despair, and pleasure will never give us this hope and joy no matter how much we make ourselves believe that they may be our good shepherd.
In these days that have followed Easter Sunday the Church has been chronicling the events of Christ's Resurrection. In these events that have taken place we spend time with the apostles and realize that their life is a testament to Christ as our Good Shepherd. They walked with him, they talked with him, they lived with him, and they even came to receive him in the Blessed Sacrament and yet they did not fully understand who He was. In the Ordinary Form of the Mass today's Gospel would of told us about how they did not even notice Him following the Resurrection until the moment when He gathered them together for the breaking of bread. It was with this moment of the breaking of bread that they realized that this was Christ, the Good Shepherd, who was present with them. The apostles give each of us a testament to Christ being the Good Shepherd because despite their sin and fear Christ always called them to something greater. Without Him they could catch nothing, but with Him they could catch abundantly.
We to are lost without Christ in our lives. When we turn away from Christ we attempt to cast our nets into the sea, but in the end only realize that we are unable to catch anything without Him. Instead when we allow Christ the Good Shepherd to enter into our life we will cast our net into the sea and realize that we can truly catch abundantly. Therefore my brothers and sisters in Christ we must ask ourselves who lies at the center of our life. We must ask ourselves where we are currently being led, and if our answer is not to Heaven we must be willing to realize that this must be entirely cut away from our life. Christ will only lead us to one place and that is to Heaven. The many worries, pleasures, and events that we engage within cannot lead us here if we discover that they are contrary to the message of the Gospel. All of these things only lead us to enslavement not to belonging, not to love, and not to safety; but thankfully Christ has conquered over the cross and rose again upon the third day in fulfillment of the scriptures giving us the great hope and the great joy of everlasting life.
In our world we often want to discover quick fixes instead of allowing ourselves to persevere and to even endure the pains of conversion. Perseverance means that we continue to pray, to attend Mass, and to live a life of virtue even when we don't feel like it, even when we would rather see results take form quicker, and when we would rather take a break from these hardships. To embrace the pains of conversion means that cutting sin away from our life does not come easily nor does it come pleasantly. Sometimes this means that we must make the hard choice which would alter our life forever due to our love of the Gospel message. If we see that something is not leading us to Heaven; we must cut it away while embracing both perseverance and the hardship of conversion. With Christ our Good Shepherd as our guide this is indeed possible and we can indeed achieve the hope and joys of the Heavenly Kingdom.
And so this day may we truly allow Christ to be our Good Shepherd. Where fear is found in our life may we allow Him to lead us towards hope. Where sorrow is found inside of our life may we allow Him to lead us towards joy. Where we have grown tired in our faith may we allow Him to give us the gift of perseverance. Where we find the stain of sin may we allow Him to assist us in embracing the pains of conversion. Christ is truly our Good Shepherd and desires to give us this assistance and to point us towards the path that will lead us to everlasting life. May we embrace this relationship of love and truly allow Christ to proclaim to us as He did in our Gospel to the Pharisees: "I am the good shepherd."
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