THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I DO NOT FEEL SHEEPISH!

Reflections for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Acts 2:14a, 36-41, 1 Peter 2:20b-25, & John 10:1-10)

Pray, pay, and obey: this aphorism has for centuries defined the role of the laity in a highly ‘hierarchical’ model of the Church. Fortunately, in recent decades, the Church has shifted to a more relevant ‘people of God’ model that affirms greater participation of the laity in the structures and the systems of the Church. In the context of this shift of models, how do we understand the Gospel’s image of the Church as a flock? Sheep aren’t intelligent animals, are they? On 08th July 2005, a sheep fell off a cliff in the Turkish village of Gevas. 1500 other sheep of the herd followed, each leaping off the cliff. 450 of them died and the rest were saved by the cushion created by the carcasses of the dead ones. In this day and age, is it good to be a ‘naive’ herd of sheep that lack individuality and blindly follow each other, sometimes, even to their own slaughter? This Good Shepherd Sunday, we reflect on what it truly means to be a flock of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

A flock is not a herd. Cattle is to herd as sheep is to flock. In his 2009 booklet, What is Spiritual Maturity? Jerry Benjamin writes, “Sheep live as a flock, whose focus is fixed upon the shepherd and they follow him. A herd, on the other hand, follow each other” (p. 30). To him, the flock is a model of spiritual maturity since in the biblical sense, their sole purpose is to follow the shepherd. Cattle in a herd, on the contrary, go with the flow, lose themselves in the crowd, and tend to follow each other. Following the Shepherd is not a call to passive obedience. One cannot walk blindly in faith for the one who leads us is the light of the world (John 8:12). Following Christ is, therefore, an active process that involves discernment, obedience, and commitment to His Word, His Will, His Calling, and His Purposes.

On the contrary, in today's culture, a herd mentality is forced upon us in the name of wokeism, oftentimes leading to a blind following of a 'liberating' ideology or an 'invented' identity. Everyone seems to be identifying with some version of ideological identity or group based on ethnicity (neo-fascist ideologies), languages (neo-nationalisms), sects (Catholics vs Protestants, castes, etc.,), religion (conservatives, integralists, liberals, etc.,), groups (liberalism, feminism, etc.,), issues (pro-life vs pro-choice), eating habits (veganism, non-veganism, cow politics), etc., The list never ends. These 'labels' thrive by forcing a herd-inspired necessity to follow each other, pitting us against each other (we vs them) and demonizing the 'other' who does not agree with 'my enlightened opinion/position'.

Benjamin adds, “Regrettably, the Church today has adopted the ‘herd’ mentality—rather than seeking Christ and obeying Him—we are looking to follow the crowd”. The sheep are attuned to his presence, his voice, and his call. The identity of the flock is defined by its collective belongingness to the shepherd for he is the gate. A flock is not an exclusive group. Herd mentality, on the other hand, is divisive and dangerous to our collective living. The vocation of the Church is to belong to Christ, which inherently implies the call to be a counter-cultural sign to our society. We are called to be rooted in the realities of the world. The destiny of our journey of discipleship is not some picturesque heaven in the afterlife but the mission fields here and now. However, our mission is not to go with the flow of the world. Jesus wishes his flock to be a sign of contradiction just as he was to his society.

As the flock of the Good Shepherd, our vocation is to resist currents and trends that are incompatible with faith and the gospel values of justice, dignity, equality, and freedom. Athanasius, the 20th bishop of Alexandria (295-373) stated, “If the world goes against Truth, then Athanasius goes against the world”. It is this countercultural nature of Christian witness that ‘cuts’ Peter’s audience ‘to their hearts’ in the first reading. Not too long ago, Peter denied even knowing Jesus (Mark 14) and now he is boldly proclaiming that salvation is in Christ on the day of Pentecost and later in the temple courtyard, risking the wrath of the authorities and his audience alike. Acts 4:13 testifies, "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus". The word translated here as boldness is the Greek term parahesia which means ‘to speak everything’ (pas = every; rhēsis = speech). The truth of the message is the sole source of the messenger's courage.

It is this counter-cultural nature of the message of our proclamation that makes us courageous and creative disciples. There is no set model or pattern that is universally applicable to the disciples of all times and places. All of us are unique not only in creation but also in terms of our experiences and situations that define and shape us. Each of us is given a different vocation and a different set of resources and limits to fulfil God’s purpose for our lives. Our discipleship aims not at replicating the uniformity of a herd but instead at glorying God through the creative richness of each individual disciple. Lumen Gentium no.33 affirms that every lay person, “in virtue of the very gifts bestowed upon him (/her), is at the same time a witness and a living instrument of the mission of the Church itself according to the measure of Christ's bestowal” (Ephesians 4:7).

The Good Shepherd gives us a perfect way to overcome one of the major challenges on our path to collective co-responsibility: power struggle. Jesus guides his flock with a wand that is characteristically unique. His authority is defined not by violence or authority but by servant leadership. As explained by the second reading, the model of the Good Shepherd consists in giving up oneself to insult, hatred, and suffering for the sake of the flock. What motivates our belongingness to his flock is not fear but love. “Perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18). This Sunday, let us renew our commitment to the flock of Jesus, our Good Shepherd. Let us respond to the missionary call of creative discipleship by emulating the counter-cultural model of our Shepherd’s servant leadership.