FOCUSONFAITH SCRIPTURES | FATHER NATHANIEL MEYERS Striving to be a good shepherd

When I was asked to write this column for The Catholic Spirit, I agreed without paying attention to the date for which I was asked to provide a reflection for the Sunday readings.

Alas, had I known I was going to be writing for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday, I think I may have passed on the invitation, as there are so many other priests far more deserving of writing on the topic of being a shepherd. Yet, since I did agree to pen this column, I shall do my best to offer a worthy reflection on shepherding.

When I was ordained a priest in 2010, I took on the role of being a shepherd in the name of Christ. Whatever authority or credibility I possess as a priest, it is only commensurate to the degree to which I follow Christ. Truly, the Good Shepherd is not Pope Francis, Archbishop Hebda or our local pastor; it is and always will be Jesus Christ alone. Yet, interestingly enough, in the 10th chapter of St. John’s Gospel, which we read at Mass this weekend, the Lord does not refer to himself as a shepherd, but instead as the gate. “I am the gate for the sheep,” Jesus informs the Pharisees.

As the gate, Christ positions himself in the role of the mediator of salvation, through whom all must pass to be saved. Yet, in order for the sheep to pass through the gate and enter into the gatekeeper’s pasture, someone needs to lead them. By establishing the priesthood, the Savior provides a means for his people to join him in paradise.

Many parishes will honor their priests on Good Shepherd Sunday, but this honor should not be one of aggrandizement for the priest. Instead, the honor should be a call for the priest to live up to the model of the Good Shepherd. As St. Peter states in his epistle that serves as the second reading this weekend, the priest is called to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who is identified by the Prince of Apostles — in a wonderfully strong turn of phrase — as, “the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” To whatever extent a priest can be said to be a shepherd, it is only to the extent that he is first, one of the sheep. No doubt, such an insight is behind Pope Francis’ famous remark that a priest should smell like the flock.

We live during an era of hyper-individuality that prizes autonomy as the ultimate good for a human person. In such a society, shepherds and sheep are bizarre images that strike people as insulting or even threatening. Nevertheless, as Catholics, we must embrace such imagery and identify with our role as sheep through humble obedience to Christ and those whom his providence has placed in roles of leadership over us. Similarly, should the Lord ever place us into a role of shepherding people through his gate, we should carry out such a task with humility and never for our own personal gain. It is indeed by acting this way that we will then be able to truly claim God as our shepherd and dwell in his house forever.

Father Meyers is pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo. He can be reached at nate meyers@stfxb org

Sunday, April 30

Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14a, 36-41 1 Pt 2:20b-25 Jn 10:1-10

Monday, May 1 Acts 11:1-18 Jn 10:11-18

Tuesday, May 2 St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church Acts 11:19-26 Jn 10:22-30

Wednesday, May 3 Sts. Philip and James, apostles 1 Cor 15:1-8 Jn 14:6-14

Thursday, May 4 Acts 13:13-25 Jn 13:16-20

Friday, May 5 Acts 13:26-33 Jn 14:1-6

Q I am writing because I keep coming back to the same question, “Am I a good person?”

I am taking care of my husband who suffers from Alzheimer’s, as well as my parents who need a lot of attention. I can’t always find the time to pray the rosary every day (like St. John Paul II or St. Mother Teresa did), and I just can’t escape the Catholic guilt that I feel all the time.

A Thank you for such a heartfelt question. I want to get to a clear and helpful answer to your primary question of “Am I a good person?” But before that, it might be helpful to note three things.

First, when it comes to “Catholic guilt,” it might be helpful to cut through this right away. I’m sure that all of us have heard of “Catholic guilt.” But is that really a thing? My mom used to say, “There is nothing ‘Catholic’ about guilt … it’s just guilt. If I’ve done something wrong, then I ought to feel guilty; there is nothing specifically ‘Catholic’ about it!” That always made sense to me.

Think about it: Guilt is a good and necessary thing. Try to imagine a person who never felt guilty. This would not be a healthy or emotionally balanced person. They might experience what psychologists would call antisocial personality disorder. A sociopath is someone who doesn’t feel remorse having done something wrong or when they choose to not do the right thing. I have the sense that we would not want that.

Guilt is good. Guilt is a sign that our conscience is working.

At the same time, there is “false guilt.” False guilt is when I feel guilty for no real reason. This is not a virtue, and it is not at all helpful. It does not honor God, nor does it benefit anybody in the least. Therefore, one of the challenges of maturing in our emotional and spiritual development is discerning between true guilt and false guilt. What is God asking of me, and what is he not asking of me? Just because one person is called to pray a certain

way or to live a certain way does not mean that God is asking that same thing of you. Mother Teresa was called to run a religious community of sisters who cared for the poorest of the poor; you are called to care for the people in your own family. One practice that might help a person in figuring out the difference between false guilt and real guilt might be to give yourself an honest assessment of what you are able to do and what you are not able to do. God does not expect us to do something we are incapable of.

Second, I wonder if a more accurate phrasing of your question is not “Am I a good person?” but rather “Am I good enough?” As a being made in God’s image, it is good that you exist. Your very existence is a blessing. Beyond that, we hopefully all can recognize that there is both good and evil in us. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn stated, “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” If we give ourselves even a cursory examination of conscience, I think that we will all quickly discover that we choose both good and evil regularly. Because of this, I think that the question we all want answered is, “Am I good enough?” I already know that I’m not as good as I could be. Even more, I already know that I am not as good as the Lord himself. So, all I am left with is the hope, “Is there enough good in me that I can go to heaven?”

The answer is yes and no. Yes, you are made in God’s image. If you are baptized, you are also an adopted child of God. Because of this, you are good. You also choose many good things: you serve, you pray, you love, you forgive. Therefore, you could be described as a good person. And yet, none of us is good enough. I could serve better, I could pray more, I could love more truly, I could forgive more fully. We are not “good enough.” And we never will be.

Now, I know that some people will read this and condemn themselves. Some will read this and throw up their hands and say, “Then what’s the point?” And that discouragement and despair would be valid, except for one significant reality: Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ, we always have hope. Even when we are not good enough, even when we do not love enough, even when we fail to be the people God has created us to be, we still have hope. Our problem is that we think that our hope lies in our goodness. It does not! Our hope is in Jesus and in what Jesus has

Saturday, May 6 Acts 13:44-52 Jn 14:7-14

Sunday, May 7 Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 6:1-7 1 Pt 2:4-9 Jn 14:1-12

Monday, May 8 Acts 14:5-18 Jn 14:21-26

Tuesday, May 9 Acts 14:19-28 Jn 14:27-31a

Wednesday, May 10 Acts 15:1-6 Jn 15:1-8

Thursday, May 11 Acts 15:7-21 Jn 15:9-11

Friday, May 12 Acts 15:22-31 Jn 15:12-17

Saturday, May 13 Acts 16:1-10 Jn 15:18-21

Sunday, May 14 Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 1 Pt 3:15-18 Jn 14:15-21

APOSTLES PHILIP AND JAMES THE LESS Philip and James the Less, son of Alphaeus, are listed among the Twelve Apostles commissioned by Jesus. Philip brought Nathaniel to Christ, had a part in feeding the 5,000, and at the Last Supper, when asked to be shown the Father, was told by Christ: “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?” He may have evangelized in Turkey. Not much is known about James, but “the less” may refer to his height. One tradition puts him in Syria, while another has him martyred in the same Jerusalem persecution as James the Righteous. The feast day for Sts. Philip and James the Less is May 3.

FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI