Lifeissues is mainly concerned with publishing thoughtful articles directly related to issues raised in Evangelium Vitae. However, from the very beginning, we have also published a few related homilies, notably by Fr. Al Cariño, O.M.I., Fr. Tony Pueyo, and others.
Please use the pulldowns below to select a homily by Liturgical Calendar date.
The art of shepherding as modeled for us by Pope John Paul II, is an art that can be learned by any person who is in a shepherding position. One may be a parent, a boss of a company, a teacher, or a pastor, but the principles are the same. One has to think first of the well-being, growth, and life of those under his care. One also needs to be courageous in order to protect and defend them.
It is Church teaching that there are people outside the visible Church who are invisibly part of that Church; for there are many non-Christians who recognize the voice of the shepherd, and so who belong to the one flock. Their recognition of the shepherd’s voice is not a conscious recognition, but an unconscious one.
To the people who heard him, sometimes Jesus seemed to speak in riddles they just didn't understand. But even if Jesus' listeners were metaphor-challenged, we don't have to be. We can figure out the message of grace, love and abundant life that Jesus wants us to grasp.
The good shepherd reigns in Christian imagination as the ideal pastor, though pastoral leaders are human, with human frailties. The Good Shepherd offers an opportunity to be in community together, in spite of our differences and divisions.
Many of us who practice faithfully tend to worry about those in our families who are lost, who have strayed, who are no longer part of the sheepfold, for whatever reason. But what I have noticed over the years is that some of these faithful Catholics who worry about their loved ones who have strayed some distance seem to have forgotten this image of Christ the good shepherd. This is not the image of one who stays inside, like a king Herod or a prince in his palace who feasts on the finest foods and who loves having everyone fawn all over him, who has others serve his every whim. Rather, this is the image of a shepherd, whose life is hard and who stays outside, who must have a fearless courage to confront wolves, thieves and robbers, who has a single-minded devotion to his sheep, each one of whom he knows by name.