Year of the Priest: Shepherds

I want to share with you part of an entry from the Catholic Chicago Blog by Fr. Joseph Noonan, the Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Chicago:

Recently, a retired priest left his shoes in the sanctuary and processed out of his final Mass of his parish in his stocking feet! In his parting words, he challenged his congregation to invite and encourage vocation to the priesthood and religious life. After decades of loving service, in which he was fulfilled as a priest and Christian man, he asked his congregation, “Who will fill my shoes as a priest for the Archdiocese?”

The symbolism of those shoes can go all the way back to the time of Jesus and His disciples as well. Just replace the shoes with sandals, or perhaps footprints in the sand. Who will walk the path to priesthood? Who will answer God’s call to serve the Church as an ordained priest? The Catholic Church is constantly growing and the need for Shepherds (Priests) is growing as well. We need to realize that soon we might be “like sheep without a shepherd” as Jesus says in today’s Gospel from Mark.

The imagery of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is personally, not only as a seminarian, but as a Catholic Young Adult, one of my favorite images. Jesus surrounded by sheep with a lamb over his shoulder reminds me vividly of any Catholic Parish Family. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is present in the priests of this Archdiocese. The priest, in persona Christi, Latin for, in the person of Christ, is surrounded by his flock. That flock being YOU AND ME! So, who will be our “NEW SHEPHERDS?” Discerning the call to priesthood is such a special grace that I have received from God, and I constantly thank God for this opportunity and for this call in my life. A line from sacred Scripture which resonates this Sunday as we speak of sheep and shepherds is the question which Jesus posed to Peter. Jesus asks Peter, “Peter, do you love me? Yes Lord, he replied, I love you. Feed my sheep!” Who is going to feed the sheep, you and I, when our current priests are gone? Who is going to feed the sheep when, God willing, I am gone as a priest? We have to encourage vocations! We have to pray for vocations! Because, it is only together with much prayer and support, that we can begin to answer the questions, “who will fill those empty shoes?”