SUNDAY REFLECTION FOR GOOD SHEPHERD AND FATHERS’ SUNDAY (4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER) YEAR A WITH FR. ANACLETUS OGBUNKWU. (May 7TH, 2017).
FATHERS AS GOOD SHEPHERD!
Today is a double celebration of good shepherd and fathers Sunday. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the role of our fathers in the family as the shepherd of our families. It was EWTN on March 18 2002 that presented a parody on Psalm 23 thus:
The TV is my shepherd I shall not want,
It makes me to lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the faith,
It destroys my soul.
It leads me to the path of sex and violence for the advertiser’s sake.
Even though I walk in the shadow of Christian irresponsibilities,
There will be no interruption, for the TV is with me.
Its cable and remote control, they comfort me
It prepares a commercial for me in the midst of my worldliness
And anoints my head with secular humanism and consumerism.
My covetousness runs over;
Surely ignorance and laziness shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of wretchedness watching TV forever...
Very much unlike the above parody, Today is the Good Shepherd Sunday; a day in which the church recalls the relationship between God and his people as described in the image of Shepherd and Sheep. “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” These words of our Lord refer to the Paschal Mystery which we celebrate at Easter. It is therefore most appropriate then that this Fourth Sunday of Easter be celebrated as Good Shepherd Sunday.
The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most primitive, the most enduring and the most endearing images of our Lord. It is found first of all in the Old Testament. “For thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock, so will I tend my sheep. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal” (Ezekiel 34:11). It is also one of the most beloved Psalms, “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I will want.” (Psalm 23)
In Palestine the shepherd brought the sheep into the sheepfold every night. It was a circular stone wall with an opening or door where the sheep entered. Once the sheep were inside for the night the shepherd slept in that opening or door all night. The sheep could not get out without stepping over the shepherd’s body which meant they would not get out at all during the night. Jesus is the gate, anyone who enters through him will be safe, and will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. Even as the sheep is about to go in, the shepherd stays by the door side holding his rod a little high that the sheep may enter the house slowly to enable him observe them meticulously to be sure they are all in good shape. If any isn’t in a good shape, the shepherd bandages its wounds with love and care. In our day, Jesus is this Good Shepherd. Pope St. John Paul encouraged people many times to find life to the full by following Jesus thus he said, “Do not be afraid to open the doors to Christ…”
In the ancient Palestinian world, the shepherd had some instruments like rod, crook/staff e.t.c. The rod was an agent of security to protect the sheep from wild animals and fight every prey while the crook was the symbol of his authority as a shepherd. Today this instrument of the shepherd, the crook, is represented in the crosier which is used by Pope and Bishops, successors of Peter and the Apostles, at Liturgical functions. The symbol of the shepherd is also present on the Parish level in the Pastor, which in Latin means shepherd.
In the gospel reading Jesus identifies himself as the shepherd: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). His Jewish listeners must have gasped in shock to hear him say that. This is because, for Jews, the shepherd of the flock of Israel is none other than the Lord God himself (Psalm 23:1). Jesus went on to make explicit what is implied in his claim to be the shepherd of the God’s flock when he said, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). That the Father sent Jesus and delegated him with full authority to act in His name is only half of the story. The other half of the story is that Jesus in turn delegated his chosen disciples to act with full authority in his name.
It is of great importance to remind our fathers today that they are the shepherds of our families. As shepherds, they should be reminded that the fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. Always remember that this course has a place in marriage promises during the sacrament of matrimony. The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute. Thus ‘PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE NON SUBSTITUTE’ in the family for both the action of education and the performer, parents’. The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is also well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.
The practicality of these values afore mentioned are realizable through quality-shared time in the family. A Christian family remains tepid and unproductive if the parents do not spend quality time with the family; staying with the family, and having a meaningful presence in the family.
When from the oral and anal stages a child is recklessly scolded for every little thing and condemned as a never do well, certainly the same child grows never trusting himself and afraid of everything and everybody. Experts in developmental psychology have proved that when the husband and wife scold each other and fight before the children at their early ages, the children grow to take sides according to whom they have found love; father or mother. Hence if they find love with the father then each time such quarrels begin the child feels the mother is so disrespectful and wicked to the father not minding the cause of the quarrels and vise versa. Hence the child begins to unconsciously grow with some bits of doubt of love on the mother such that the only way to express this unconscious feeling is early stubbornness to the mother as a means of revolution and revenge. Unfortunately the child is not consciously aware of whats happening to him or her. The child in the absence of the beloved feels insecure in the house and unsafe longing the return of the beloved.
The same is also the case in families where the mother feels, may be because she has greener pastures and income earning she has become the bread winner of the family. When this situation makes her complain so much in the house, the children feel so unsafe, unloved and unrelaxed in the house that they begin to see themselves as burdens to the parents and would dream of the day they would be out of their slave camp (their family). The children would become unnecessarily aggressive at every little provocation because he/she has not been schooled in commitment or patience.
When children are discouraged by loquacious parents who would always scold then even when not necessary (Eph. 6;1-4; Sirach 3), who don’t appreciate them for any good thing done; they already begin to develop inferiority complex. This is because the ego is already beaten down by the parents who are supposed to be the first to lift the child’s ego. They would also live to be complainants in everything and most times inpatient and intolerant to others.
When parents are drunks, certainly the children are already placed as second class in the society. This is because they begin to lack the moral courage of association lest they are regarded as children of drunks even to air their view among their peer would be a challenge for fear of being reminded their background. Excerpt by God’s grace, this affects even the company the children keep, marriage e.t.c; second class citizens. In themselves they are already disadvantaged in the society. Its unfortunate also these days that parents have more time taking their children to cinema and dance clubs but don’t have time to take them for catechism classes.
To learn from Jesus the good shepherd, we must first admit our ignorance, to be healed we must first acknowledge our sickness, to be forgiven we must confess our sins. Let us ask the Lord to stay with us today and always to teach us to stay with our families.
Join Sunday homily with Rev. Fr. Anacletus Ogbunkwu on;
www.anacletusogbunkwu.com anacletus@anacletusogbunkwu.com
Happy Sunday!!!
FATHERS AS GOOD SHEPHERD!
Today is a double celebration of good shepherd and fathers Sunday. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the role of our fathers in the family as the shepherd of our families. It was EWTN on March 18 2002 that presented a parody on Psalm 23 thus:
The TV is my shepherd I shall not want,
It makes me to lie down on the sofa.
It leads me away from the faith,
It destroys my soul.
It leads me to the path of sex and violence for the advertiser’s sake.
Even though I walk in the shadow of Christian irresponsibilities,
There will be no interruption, for the TV is with me.
Its cable and remote control, they comfort me
It prepares a commercial for me in the midst of my worldliness
And anoints my head with secular humanism and consumerism.
My covetousness runs over;
Surely ignorance and laziness shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell in the house of wretchedness watching TV forever...
Very much unlike the above parody, Today is the Good Shepherd Sunday; a day in which the church recalls the relationship between God and his people as described in the image of Shepherd and Sheep. “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” These words of our Lord refer to the Paschal Mystery which we celebrate at Easter. It is therefore most appropriate then that this Fourth Sunday of Easter be celebrated as Good Shepherd Sunday.
The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most primitive, the most enduring and the most endearing images of our Lord. It is found first of all in the Old Testament. “For thus says the Lord God: I myself will look after my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock, so will I tend my sheep. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal” (Ezekiel 34:11). It is also one of the most beloved Psalms, “The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I will want.” (Psalm 23)
In Palestine the shepherd brought the sheep into the sheepfold every night. It was a circular stone wall with an opening or door where the sheep entered. Once the sheep were inside for the night the shepherd slept in that opening or door all night. The sheep could not get out without stepping over the shepherd’s body which meant they would not get out at all during the night. Jesus is the gate, anyone who enters through him will be safe, and will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. Even as the sheep is about to go in, the shepherd stays by the door side holding his rod a little high that the sheep may enter the house slowly to enable him observe them meticulously to be sure they are all in good shape. If any isn’t in a good shape, the shepherd bandages its wounds with love and care. In our day, Jesus is this Good Shepherd. Pope St. John Paul encouraged people many times to find life to the full by following Jesus thus he said, “Do not be afraid to open the doors to Christ…”
In the ancient Palestinian world, the shepherd had some instruments like rod, crook/staff e.t.c. The rod was an agent of security to protect the sheep from wild animals and fight every prey while the crook was the symbol of his authority as a shepherd. Today this instrument of the shepherd, the crook, is represented in the crosier which is used by Pope and Bishops, successors of Peter and the Apostles, at Liturgical functions. The symbol of the shepherd is also present on the Parish level in the Pastor, which in Latin means shepherd.
In the gospel reading Jesus identifies himself as the shepherd: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). His Jewish listeners must have gasped in shock to hear him say that. This is because, for Jews, the shepherd of the flock of Israel is none other than the Lord God himself (Psalm 23:1). Jesus went on to make explicit what is implied in his claim to be the shepherd of the God’s flock when he said, “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30). That the Father sent Jesus and delegated him with full authority to act in His name is only half of the story. The other half of the story is that Jesus in turn delegated his chosen disciples to act with full authority in his name.
- Hearing the voice of the master or the leader is natural in parent-child relationship. It is a sign of loyalty. Our dogs and cats hear us more than any other person no matter their disposition, they can be silent to the voice of an outsider but the moment they hear the voice of their owner, they jump up. This kind of reaction is proper to the relationship of a father or mother and child. The same also should be true of our relationship with God. In the light of the gospel, if we reach close relationship with God, we would be able to distinguish His voice from the many voices that are urging us to follow them – parents, teachers, doctors, government, coaches, employers, advertisers and marketers – each trying to influence our values and behaviors with their voices.
It is of great importance to remind our fathers today that they are the shepherds of our families. As shepherds, they should be reminded that the fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. Always remember that this course has a place in marriage promises during the sacrament of matrimony. The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute. Thus ‘PRINCIPLE OF DOUBLE NON SUBSTITUTE’ in the family for both the action of education and the performer, parents’. The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is also well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.
The practicality of these values afore mentioned are realizable through quality-shared time in the family. A Christian family remains tepid and unproductive if the parents do not spend quality time with the family; staying with the family, and having a meaningful presence in the family.
When from the oral and anal stages a child is recklessly scolded for every little thing and condemned as a never do well, certainly the same child grows never trusting himself and afraid of everything and everybody. Experts in developmental psychology have proved that when the husband and wife scold each other and fight before the children at their early ages, the children grow to take sides according to whom they have found love; father or mother. Hence if they find love with the father then each time such quarrels begin the child feels the mother is so disrespectful and wicked to the father not minding the cause of the quarrels and vise versa. Hence the child begins to unconsciously grow with some bits of doubt of love on the mother such that the only way to express this unconscious feeling is early stubbornness to the mother as a means of revolution and revenge. Unfortunately the child is not consciously aware of whats happening to him or her. The child in the absence of the beloved feels insecure in the house and unsafe longing the return of the beloved.
The same is also the case in families where the mother feels, may be because she has greener pastures and income earning she has become the bread winner of the family. When this situation makes her complain so much in the house, the children feel so unsafe, unloved and unrelaxed in the house that they begin to see themselves as burdens to the parents and would dream of the day they would be out of their slave camp (their family). The children would become unnecessarily aggressive at every little provocation because he/she has not been schooled in commitment or patience.
When children are discouraged by loquacious parents who would always scold then even when not necessary (Eph. 6;1-4; Sirach 3), who don’t appreciate them for any good thing done; they already begin to develop inferiority complex. This is because the ego is already beaten down by the parents who are supposed to be the first to lift the child’s ego. They would also live to be complainants in everything and most times inpatient and intolerant to others.
When parents are drunks, certainly the children are already placed as second class in the society. This is because they begin to lack the moral courage of association lest they are regarded as children of drunks even to air their view among their peer would be a challenge for fear of being reminded their background. Excerpt by God’s grace, this affects even the company the children keep, marriage e.t.c; second class citizens. In themselves they are already disadvantaged in the society. Its unfortunate also these days that parents have more time taking their children to cinema and dance clubs but don’t have time to take them for catechism classes.
To learn from Jesus the good shepherd, we must first admit our ignorance, to be healed we must first acknowledge our sickness, to be forgiven we must confess our sins. Let us ask the Lord to stay with us today and always to teach us to stay with our families.
Join Sunday homily with Rev. Fr. Anacletus Ogbunkwu on;
www.anacletusogbunkwu.com anacletus@anacletusogbunkwu.com
Happy Sunday!!!
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