Fr. Tom Ritchie
Behind today’s Gospel lies the image of a first Century Palestinian shepherd. In Palestine in the time of Jesus, sheep were kept mainly for wool and milk, they were not slaughtered for their meat. The shepherd therefore knew his flock well, giving names to each of the sheep. They recognised his voice and followed him alone. The author H. V. Morton writing back in the 1930’s describes the way a Palestinian shepherd speaks to his sheep. In his book “In the Steps of the Master” Morton writes:
“Sometimes the shepherd speaks to his sheep in a sing-song voice using a weird language unlike anything I have ever heard in my life… Early one morning I saw an extraordinary sight not far from Bethlehem. Two shepherds had evidently spent the night together in a cave with their flocks. The sheep were all mixed together and it was time for each of the shepherds to go his own way. One of the shepherds stood some distance from the sheep and began to call. First one, then another then four or five animals ran towards him, and so on until he had countered his whole flock.”
It would seem that little has changed over the centuries. It was a scene that Jesus undoubtedly was familiar with when he said: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.”
In many parts of the Catholic Church today it is called ‘vocation Sunday’. Vocation comes from the word ‘vocare’ meaning ‘to call’. Who or what are we called to be? In the past it has been associated with a call to ministry in the Church especially as a Priest, Brother or Sister. But for me it is much broader. When the Jewish Rabbi Yusya was growing old and was soon to die his students gathered around him and one of them asked him if he was afraid to die. He said: “I am afraid what God will ask me.” “I do not fear that he will ask me why I did not live like Moses. But I do fear he will ask me: “Why were you not Yusya?”
Each of us has our own special calling in God’s plan. We are the sheep who know in our hearts the voice of the shepherd. We need to quieten ourselves to hear that voice. It is important for each of us to give ourselves some quiet time of prayer where we can listen to the voice of the shepherd.
Most of us have answered calls in our life often without being conscious of the call. Looking back in my life I can see the call that I answered to be a Franciscan and a Missionary. You may see the call in your life to your husband or wife, to your family, to faithfully serve others as a teacher, a nurse, an engineer. But Jesus continues to call us to respond to new situations from day to day. God calls each of us in different ways.
We need to open our ears and open our hearts to hear the ways that God is calling us to follow him in loving and showing our care for others. For most of us it is in our families that we are called. But for many of us it is also through the people that we serve in different ways.
What is so important is for us to hear the way the shepherd is calling us. It is usually through the circumstances of those who are suffering or in need that we are made aware of the call to be the person God wants us to be.
There was an aboriginal girl called Shirley living in Sydney from 1924 to 98. She became pregnant and had a baby but had no husband. One day she saw some young people sleeping in the street. She took them to her house and fed them. She heard a call and she responded. She spent much of her life visiting Aboriginals in Jail. She went on to dedicate her life to caring for homeless youth and became an outstanding example of love and care for others. She raised 60 abandoned children. Many called her Mum Shirl. When she died she was honoured with a funeral from St. Mary’s Cathedral. She listened to the voice calling her and responded with her whole heart.
