The Shepherd of the frail and sinners

Excerpt of the homily of Most Rev. Romulo Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao during the 50th anniversary of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish at BO. Obrero, Davao City.

Thus says the Lord God, I, myself will look after and tend my sheep. I, myself will pasture my sheep. I, myself will give them rest, says the Lord. The lost, I will seek.

The message is clear. You very well know your scriptures. The tone of this reading is this: That the Lord is somehow discouraged because behind this first reading is the fact that there were shepherds or religious leaders, at that time, who were not faithful to the Lord and to His mandate.

And that is why the Lord says, “I, myself will take the responsibility.”

This is my people. You did not do your job. So, it is a painful background that there were shepherds, leaders who did not do their job. That is why, my friends, as we remember the great, beautiful, and good priests in the past serving us, please pray for your shepherds that they would truly be faithful to what the Lord has given them in their ordination as priests.

When the Lord says, “I, myself,” fast forward, we know in faith that “I, myself” became Jesus — the Good Shepherd.

And in His own design, Jesus, the one and only Good Shepherd, shared, in His own design, the the shepherding by the gift of priesthood to people like us—frail and sinners. He is the Main One.

But, we cannot and we do not do the shepherding on our own. We are just invited by the Lord to participate in His shepherding—in His love, in His sacred heart for us.

In the New Testament, in the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, “Brothers and Sisters, the love of God has been poured out into our hearts.”

The love of the heart of Jesus has now been poured into our hearts. He is the only one Shepherd but He shared His love into the hearts of us all, especially to His priests.

But also, my dear friends, the figure of the shepherd is not only for priests alone.

I’ll borrow the thoughts of Cardinal Tagle who gave the homily in Butuan last Tuesday for the new Bishop of Butuan, “Because of our baptism, each one of us, day after day, would do our part of shepherding. And hopefully, our shepherding as ordained ministers would inspire you to do your own shepherding as parents.”