It is 3rd May 2020. We are celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Easter as Good Shepherd Sunday and Day of Prayer for Vocations. The readings are from Acts 2:14, 36-41; the second reading is from 1Peter 2:20-25; and the Gospel from John 10:1-10. The readings explain our vocation, the purpose of our call and the person who calls. Our vocation is an authentic response to our repentance and a gift from God to suffer for good of the Good Shepherd who knows the way to the Father. Peter’s preaching becomes a gate for those who wished to encounter God. Jesus is the gate to the Father, the Heaven, the Life, and the Truth. Our personal repentance is the key to open the gate. Everyone is admonished in the first reading, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” The responsorial Psalm exclaims, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” (Ps.22:1). Our mission is to show the gate for salvation. We are gently reminded, “For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (1 Pet.2:25). Without accepting suffering, we cannot experience the true and meaningful Christianity. We all need a loving and caring shepherd in the person of Christ. Without the shepherd, we will be misled and wandering aimlessly. True shepherd cares and willing to give himself as the price of saving us. Jesus said: “I came so that they may have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Jesus is the Shepherd and the Gate. We who are following Him need to listen to Him in order to find green pastures. He calls us by name with a particular voice that is familiar to us. A Good shepherd takes care of all that is entrusted to Him or Her even losing one’s life. It is by leading, finding, providing and protecting one proves the worth of a shepherd. Jesus is the owner and leader of our life. As long as we have entrusted our life to Him, one cannot steal us, segregate us, seduce us, and separate us from the love of God. “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35). Jesus is not hired by the Father to redeem us rather He is entrusted by the Father to brings us closer to God by His sufferings, death and resurrection. In every Holy Eucharistic celebration, Jesus leads us to the pasture and spends quality time with each one of us. The need of the hour today is to become a good shepherd in spite of our confinement and contagion. It is up to us to recognize and remove the qualities of bad shepherd in us and in the society. It is indeed the time to take initiatives, to lead, to share and to strengthen the optics of perceptions and approach to life. Let us not forget to pray for genuine, generous, single-hearted, self-giving vocations for the spreading of the Values of the Kingdom of God. Our families need to be the germinations beds of vocations. May the good shepherds of our families inspire, encourage, inject hope and courage to work for the Lord. May you have a good day.