Today, we hear Jesus describe himself as both the Good Shepherd and as the door to the sheepfold.
A good shepherd is one whose sheep recognize his voice when he enters the sheepfold and then follow him out to pasture. To verdant pastures, as Psalm 23 today tells us. The shepherd enters through the door. Robbers enter via other means to do harm to the sheep.
The door is what governs entry to the sheep and what allows access for the sheep to pasture. Jesus is that mediator between us and the Father. His mission and sacrifice are what open the way for us to eternal life.
The sheep hear the voice of their shepherd. Yet, the Pharisees do not understand what Jesus is saying…because Jesus is not their shepherd. They will not allow him to be.
Jesus is still today that Good Shepherd that leads us to verdant pastures. He remains the door, the mediator, between us and the Father. He remains our access to those verdant pastures. While he is no longer with us in the way that he was before, he has left us the Eucharist and his Church to nourish us and to carry us to eternal life.
He has also left us other shepherds to continue to guide us. First, there were the Apostles. Now, there are the successors to those Apostles – the bishops. We also have priests who are ordained to share in the bishop’s ministry.
Priests do not choose the priesthood. They are called to it. The priest is not his own, as Archbishop Sheen wrote. Just as Christ is both priest and victim, so is the ordained priest. He is priest by acting in persona Christi capitis (in the person of Christ, the head of the Body of Christ) at Mass. He is also victim in offering himself for the sake of his people.
Every priest who fully answers his call hears a two-fold meaning at Mass when he repeats Jesus’ words of institution:
“…FOR THIS IS MY BODY,
WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.”
And then again:
“FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD,…
WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY…”
This is both Jesus and the priest speaking. The priest offers his own body for the sake of the salvation of his people. He pours out his own blood (and sweat, and sometimes tears) for their good.
While a medical doctor helps our physical bodies in this life, a priest is a doctor of souls who helps our souls gain eternal life. The priest is also a spiritual father who encourages, counsels, consoles, and sometimes challenges his people to grow closer to God.
Priests become priests for the sake of the salvation of souls. They answer the call that comes from God. We might feel that we have a shortage of priests. But God calls enough men. We do not have a shortage in the number who are called. We have a shortage of men who answer the call.
Are we all doing our part to nurture, and certainly not to discourage, that call?