Dear Friends,
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is known traditionally as Good Shepherd Sunday, for on this day we often read from the Gospel of John where Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd who looks out for his sheep and even lays down his life for them. We also use the best known of the psalms, Psalm 23, which proclaims that “the Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”
Normally on this Sunday we pray for vocations, especially vocations to the priesthood, which the Church sorely needs. In our own Archdiocese of Hartford, the number of active priests has dropped precipitously in the past twenty years. When I was ordained nearly thirtyfour years ago, there were several hundred active priests in the Archdiocese. Now there are less than two hundred. This year, we will celebrate the ordination of one priest, and for him we pray and give thanks to God. Vocations do not fall off trees. They are the fruit of prayer and often spring from an invitation to consider becoming a priest. If you know a man you think might make a good priest, suggest that he consider becoming one. The Church needs many good and holy priests. Of course, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, we should also pray for an increase in vocations to the religious life as well as the Diaconate.
The closure of our churches due to the concerns surrounding the pandemic have caused many of us to miss the Mass and the reception of the sacraments, especially Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I share this sentiment with you and I also long for that day when we can all in be in church together again. There are those who have taken to social media to express their disappointment with this, some even going so far as to attack the right of the Archbishop and even the Holy Father to restrict the reception of the sacraments. In recent days, I have come across notices in the church referencing the scene in the Gospel of John where Jesus is reconciled to Peter, asking him to “feed my sheep,” “tend my lambs” and “feed my sheep.”I will say that, while I also long for the day when Mass can be celebrated publicly and Holy Communion distributed, I also take note that Jesus in no way commanded the ministers of his Church to cause possible harm to his flock, in this case, possibly spreading a virus that can be lethal to some members. A wellknown principle of theology is this: “grace builds upon nature.” We must do whatever we can do in the natural realm, and then, when we have done all that we can do, God will take it from there. That is what is operative here. We must do what we can to preserve and protect the health and wellbeing of our people, and pray that the pandemic ends soon. God will take it from there. I am sure of that.How can we describe the Easter we have just celebrated? We did not enjoy a “normal” Easter celebrated in all its splendor. Pope Francis called it an “Easter of Solitude.” But, the first Easter was not a moment of Splendor and Glory. It was an event experienced by the Apostles and Holy Women in an intimate way. Quiet, understated. Even though they had seen the Lord, they could not make complete sense of all they had seen and heard. They were fearful, locked in that upper room. No doubt they were debating what to do next. The rest of the world would not believe what they had seen. Easter 2020 was very much like the first Easter. We celebrated in locked rooms, often fearful of what was happening in the outside world. We comforted each other, prayed together. But this year we also pray for those afflicted with a deadly virus, grieve for those who lost loved ones, and honor the heroes who spend themselves in service.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we remember that the Lord is with us, watching over us, and that he will lead us safely through this difficult time. We keep in prayer those who are sick with COVID19, those who live in fear of it, those who work to help and heal the sick, all in public office on the federal and state levels, and all who work to keep the supply lines open so that food, mail, communications, and other dimensions of life can go on. May God bless all of you!