HOMILY PRONOUNCED BY MONS. DIEGO MONROY PONCE; GENERAL AND EPISCOPAL VICAR OF GUADALUPE, RECTOR OF THE SANCTUARY.
IV SUNDAY OF EASTER

Sunday, April 29th. of 2007

LISTENING AND FOLLOWING THE ONLY PASTOR

Dear brothers, today, we celebrate the worldwide day of the sacerdotal vocations. We must not forget that all the human beings are called to that, and the first reading from today remains it to us;

But this Sunday we focus in the calls to the services of leading inside of the Church: so, we are talking about the sacerdotal vocations, without forgetting the religious and the lay vocations.

Probably the present situation of crisis that we are living in these moments of the history of the Church, comes to our memory, not only by the shortage of sacerdotal vocations, but specially – and maybe it is the most serious thing- the crisis caused by the excessive attacks against the figure of the priests as pastors. My brothers, this is a painful fact, and we can not deny it, and it was caused by some events which would not have to darken the multitude of testimonies given by many priests that daily insist on fulfilling with generosity and true charity, and the service in favor of many brothers, specially the needy ones.

This Sunday, the fourth one of Easter invites us every year to reflect, to value and to thank for the figure of the Pastor from the image of God and from His son Jesus Christ as Pastors. The prophets already present to us in the Old Testament the image of God as Pastor of Israel; this one and the one of Jesus, the good Pastor, are images that we constantly have, it means His servants, the ones that have been ordained as bishops, priests or deacons. Jesus, the supreme and unique Pastor of the Church, He is the perfect model to wich we can never be able to equal, because he surpasses to us, and by a lot, because we also are ewes of His flock. 

One of the ways to practice this function of Pastor is the one to explain to God´s people His word which is their nourishment, and to lead them to the source of living waters to which the book of the Apocalypse talks about. My brothers, I invite you to approach that source to which we have access through the Holy Scriptures in the texts from today.

In the first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we have listened how Saint Paul and his companions decided from the first missionary trip to announce the Gospel not only to the Jews, but also to the pagans. It was the way through which Saint Luke, author of this book, lets us know the fulfillment of the mandate of Jesus (the day of His ascension),  about being His witnesses until the ends of the Earth (Acts 1,8; Mt 28,19) through the preaching accompanied by actions of power, according to which was inspected by the prophet Isaiah (49,6). This way, brothers, is as the sacred author present to us the universality of the salvation executed in Christ.

In the second reading is also present the topic of the universality of the salvation in the multitude that nobody could count, of men and women  of all kind of race, nation, town and language (v.9). Christ, the Lamb, is the Lord of everybody and all people obtain the salvation passing through the tests of the tribulation that include all kinds of persecutions and painful situations that the faithfuls must confront.

But as always, my dear brothers, it is the same Jesus who, in the Gospel, explains clearly to us where the salvation has its origin, it means, in the listening and in the courage to follow Jesus. Let us stop, brothers, a few moments to let that the God´s Spirit teaches us the reach of these words: to listen and to follow.

My dear brothers, before nothing, the Christians are believers that have listened and continue listening to Jesus. The Christians know the voice of Christ and we are learning more every time, to distinguish it from other voices that there are in the world. We do not confuse it with others. Jesus, in the other hand, knows well who are His ewes, because He knows us, one by one, establishing with every one a personal relation. It means that to God, we are not amorphous mass and that for the same reason we are not lost, before God, in the anonymity. All of us are called, but it can happen that no everybody wants to listen to His voice, as happened with the Jews with whom Jesus kept this dialogue and they asked him to say clearly to them who He is.

In this way, in a personal relation, it is imposible that we get lost, because in that intimate and deep relation with the Pastor, He communicates His own life to us. For that reason, when we listen His voice, we can follow Him. It means that we can be able to put aside our own securities, to leave ourselves into His projects and to be successful between a lot of opposition that we can find in the world. Because we experience His nearness and His friendship in this adventure of the life, we are learning that He is not indifferent to our existence.

As I said, my brothers, if it is true for all the ones that are opened to the truth and the love of God, it is very specially for all those that the Lord looks for,  and that he designated for the specific     service of the santification and conduction of His people. God has wanted that the men removed from between men, service to their brothers, specially in the search of the lost ewes, to the way of Christ Good Pastor, Pastor that came not to be served, but to serve, and to give life for them.

I invite you all, my dear brothers, to focus more our attention in the Pastors that live according to the model of the unique Pastor of the Church and of the humanity. I assure you, and you can verify it by yourself, that there are many more that the ones that scandalize. We thank to God for them. And our little girl may She keeps us always in her lap of mother. And to those who have failed, my dear brothers, help us with your mercy and your prayer. Do not stop asking in order to the young people, listening His voice, want to follow Him in this service very close to the one of Jesus, and very neccesary, because it is the same one that He practices before His father in favor to the whole humanity.

May Mary, the sweet Lady of the heaven, mother of the good Pastor, accompanies with Her maternal intercession all the pastors that God has chosen and consecrated in this service.

Amen