Homily 10 April 2005 By Fr. Hathaway FSSP Mater Dei Latin Mass Community
Good Shepherd Sunday
(Second Sunday after Easter) On the Good Shepherd
“I am the Good Shepherd.”
+
Our Lord alone is the Good Shepherd.
What does a shepherd do? He feeds and protects the flock
entrusted to him.
Now the Good Shepherd has, in a special way, entrusted His flock to the
Office of Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (Mt 16:18, 19) We see this
again after the resurrection when the Good Shepherd says to Peter, and
all his successors, “Feed my lambs… feed my lambs… feed my
sheep.” Now Catholic tradition understands by “lambs” the lay
faithful and by “sheep” the hierarchy (bishops, priests, and deacons)
of the Church. So it is seen that the Office of Peter has primacy
not just of honor but of jurisdiction; this office is the first in rank
and highest in authority in the Church.
But alas, we know all to well that many Christians, mostly Protestants
but some who profess to be Catholic, deny that the pope has a say in
their Christian life; these refuse to be fed by him. “He is just
a man,” they say, “and, besides, Benny Hinn is my shepherd.”
These Christians are a bit like Peter himself before he knew how
ignorant and weak he was. Recall that immediately before the
Passion the Savior says to Peter in the Upper Room, “Simon, Simon,
Satan has desired to have you, to sift you as wheat; but I have prayed
for thee that thy faith fail not, and thou being once converted,
strengthen thy brethren.” Well, Peter thought himself more
capable, “Lord, I am ready to go both to prison and death with
Thee.” But our Lord knows Peter better than Peter knows himself,
“Peter, you know neither what thou art saying or thy weakness for I
tell you that before the cock crow thou wilt deny me three
times.”
And so it happens during the Passion Peter runs away and denies the
Lord three times… and therein he discovers his sickness.
Thus, it happens that a sick man often does not know what is wrong with
him, but his doctor knows. The doctor knows the sick better than
the sick knows himself.
So is the situation of many Christians in the world: either they are
ignorant of Christ’s will that they be shepherded by the Office of
Peter or they are too weak to embrace this truth. In short, they
lack full Christian health and are sick; for while they profess a love
for Christ they simultaneously refuse obedience to His earthly
shepherd; and, in their stubbornness, they spurn the words of the Good
Shepherd which He spoke of those who would shepherd after Him,
“He who hears you, hears Me; and he who despises you, despises Me, and
he who despises Me, despises Him who sent Me.” (Lk 10:16)
It is our Savior’s will that these see in Peter (and all bishops) not
just men, but men endowed with Christ’s power to provide for them
spiritual goods. If they seek to enter the fold some other way,
it is their own way, not that of the Good Shepherd.
Nor did the Good Shepherd mean keep all shepherding to Himself for He
said of Himself, “I am the Good Shepherd”; He did not say, “I am the
only Shepherd.” St. Augustine gives further testimony that in no
way did our Lord mean to deny the office of shepherd to others:
“The rulers of the Church, those who are her sons, and not hirelings,
are shepherds; they are all members of that one Shepherd. His
office of Shepherd He hath permitted His members to bear.”
Finally, we read in today’s Gospel, “There shall be one flock and one
shepherd” which St. Gregory explains, “Of two flocks He makes one fold,
uniting Jews and Gentiles in one faith.”
But we know well that our Lord came first for the house of Israel for
he said, “Am I not sent but unto the house of the lost sheep of
Israel.” On this passage, St. Augustine comments, “Whereas He
revealed Himself personally to the Jews, He did not go Himself to the
Gentiles, but sent others” so that they might bring them into the fold.
And so now the task of uniting these two flocks continues as it will as
long as men are born. There are shepherds given to the Church to
continue the Good Shepherds task of feeding and protecting the one fold
of the one Good Shepherd.
Now on to a personal note:
We have just witnessed the passing of a shepherd of the Church, namely,
John Paul II. JP II has gone to his reward; and the
fondness of the world for him is all too obvious. The praise for
the passing pope is both a good but distressing thing. It is good
because of the favor it may return to the Church; it is distressing
because such favor may arise from wrong motives. Put
another way, if John Paul II is praised simply for his personal
charisma with no thought to his place as holding the chair of Peter
than any positive attention to the Church will be only short lived nor
really beneficial. Indeed, if the world praises JP II for his
youthful energy, humanitarian works, and moral stance against the
culture of death (as far as they will take it), souls will not be
helped one inch closer to heaven; they will be helped if they
acknowledge his Office. Sadly, the world currently praises only
the man, not his Office which is the more needful thing.
Perhaps we know Catholics who have stopped practicing the faith because
of a priest scandal; perhaps we know of others who became Catholics
because they liked the charisma of JP II. Now suppose we get a
fornicating pope (like John XII) or perhaps a disciplinarian (like Pius
X) in the Church… will these remain Catholic? No.
They will leave: some because the pope is attached to sin; others
because he is too stern. Only those who see clearly that the
Office of Peter is the important thing will remain. Whether the
Church’s shepherd be lax or rigid, good or bad, only those will remain
in the fold who truly believe the Good Shepherd when He promised His
first apostolic band (and in them all future successors), “I am with
you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”