Understand What Vocation Is About

 

God loves the good shepherd.

Reflection on Today’s Readings, Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year B, April 21st, 2024
Texts: Acts 4: 8-12; Psalm 118: 1,5-9.21-23.26,28-29; 1 John 3: 1-2; John 10:11-18 

Today is fourth Sunday of Easter; it is also known as Good Shepherd or Vocation Sunday. We pray for vocations today. On this very day the church gives us readings which will help us to understand what vocation is about.  

Today’s first reading answers the question of ‘what is Vocation?’ Vocation is what we do in the name of Jesus Christ. St. Peter says, “If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well.”   

Vocation is not what we do in my own name or because of my father, mother, siblings, friends or any other person. It is what we do in the name of Jesus Christ. Whatever we do can become a vocation if we do it in the name of Jesus Christ. St. Peter, in his letter, says, “Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ.” 

Vocation is a means through which we make Christ present in the world

St. Paul also says, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17). When we do our deeds in the name of Jesus Christ, we make Him present, alive and active in the world. Hence, vocation is a means through which we make Christ present in the world. 

Jesus Christ tells us, today, that He is the Good Shepherd. Making Him present in the world includes being good shepherd in the world. Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep; he knows his sheep and his sheep know him. This is a call to be committed to whatever we do for God.  

God loves the good shepherd. Jesus says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.” God loves us when we do our work wholeheartedly. St. John tells us the dignity the love of God bestows upon us. He says, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” The love of God for us also transforms us into His likeness. St. John adds, “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  

Being good shepherd we are sure of eternal life

When we lay down our lives, we also have the opportunity to receive it again. We lay it down to take it up again. Jesus says, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:25). Being good shepherd we are sure of eternal life. 

St. Peter reveals why we must act in the name of Jesus Christ. It is because men are saved by His name. In the words of St. Peter: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This means vocation is the work of salvation.

Whatever we do that is not the work of salvation cannot be vocation.  
It is not anything that we can do in the name of Jesus Christ. St. Paul becomes a guide for us here: “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). This is also clear in the first reading as St. Peter says, “Concerning a good deed done to a cripple”. Let us do good deeds.  

Prayer 

Almighty ever-living God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before. Amen 

Fr. Andrew  Olowomuke