Dear Friends,
Today is Happy Mother’s Day! And the World Day of Prayer for Vocations! These two occasions, converging this year on the fourth Sunday of Easter, have a special significance. Today’s gospel is about Jesus the good shepherd, and so today is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year on this fourth Sunday of Easter, the gospel gives insight into Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd who said about his sheep: “I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand..” (John 10:27-28).
How appropriate that the shepherding qualities are lived by the mothers. A shepherding mother guides, nurtures, and protects her children, providing love, support, and wise counsel. She is a source of strength and guidance, helping them navigate life’s challenges to grow in maturity. Shepherding mothers offer encouragement and counsel, and love them unconditionally. We have so many such mothers and grandmothers in our lives and in our community. We salute them today for their vocation to motherhood. We want them to know how much we appreciate their selfless dedication to nurturing their children, young and not so young. We cannot forget many other women who may not have children of their own and yet do a lot of shepherding: mothers who have adopted, step-mothers, teachers, counselors, catechists, godmothers, etc. We remember all of them and ask for God’s continued blessings upon them. We also pray this day for those who struggled to be a mother, those who, because of circumstances, could not be a mother, and for those who have experienced miscarriages, stillbirths, crib deaths, or the death of a child because of illness, accident, or violence.
Today, the church all over the world prays for vocations. As Catholics, we firmly believe that God has a plan for our lives! He calls some to marriage, some to the priesthood, and others to religious life or to live as generous single people. In one of the homilies by St. John Paul II said: “Jesus has a specific task in life for each and every one of us. Each one of us is hand-picked, called by name by Jesus! There is no one among us who does not have a divine vocation! Some are called audibly by God, but the usual kind of call is internal, through the inner working of the Spirit.” Fully living our own vocations—and teaching young people how to discern God’s call—is a serious duty, but also a joyful one. During this week, please encourage the young people in your life—children, grandchildren, students, and friends—to be open if God calls them to priesthood or religious life.
The feast of St. Matthias, our Parish Patron, is on May 14. Though it falls on a weekday, we need to be reminded of the importance of this saint who was chosen to replace Judas. Even a week ago, some people asked me about confusing St. Matthias with St. Matthew. I explained. The Acts of the Apostles 1:12-26 narrates beautifully why the 11 Apostles felt that they had to have a 12th one. St. Peter said that they had to “choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” There were two candidates who met these two conditions. Therefore “they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:26) and Matthias was chosen by lot. Our Patron saint invites us to imitate him by being with Jesus and being a witness of the resurrection of Jesus.
Your brother in Christ,
Fr. Abraham Orapankal