Names, roles, identity and purpose

April 13, 2008 -- Fourth Sunday of Easter

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. In what ways has Jesus been the shepherd of your life? 2. Have you had to struggle with who is "lord" of your life? 3. You were anointed at baptism and confirmation. How have these anointings impacted your Christian life?

Because of a variety of relationships, there are many different roles that we play and thus are given names that depict these functions. One of my friends is also a parent, a teacher, a coach, and a civil leader. Members of our family may be a mother, sister, aunt, homemaker, care giver, and committed citizen. Names and roles! And from them, we acquire a sense of identity and purpose.

Jesus is given a variety of names in our scriptural passages for this Sunday: Christ, Lord, Shepherd. Each of these titles provides a different aspect of Jesus' identity as well as informs us of some dimension of Jesus' mission.

Christ and Lord! "Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified" (Acts 2:36). As Lord, Jesus is to have a central place in our spiritual life. If we are honest, there are or have been times when other values such as power or possessions, prestige and pleasure, have exercised lordship in our hearts. We have genuflected before them. We have failed to realize that these goods are means to an end. During this Easter season we are challenged to examine our attitudes and behaviors to see whether or not they truly reflect the challenge to make Jesus the Lord of our lives.

Jesus is also called the Christ. Christ means "the anointed one." Jesus is the suffering servant who has given us an example so contrary to what our culture proposes. The anointed one did not insult when insulted. The anointed one embraced the cross and thereby freed us from our sins. The anointed one healed our wounds by taking upon himself the fullness of our human condition. Because of Jesus' obedience to the Father's will, we now have the possibility of being in a right relationship (righteousness) with God.

Jesus is the good shepherd: "I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me" (John 10:14). And again, in Psalms 23: "The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want." And in the first Letter of St. Peter: "For you have gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls" (1 Pt. 2:25).

An authentic shepherd has his heart set on the well-being of the sheep. On the one hand, the shepherd protects the sheep from danger; on the other hand, the good shepherd promotes the fullness of life of each and every sheep. Jesus is the caretaker and guardian and protector of the sheepfold. Because of his love, we are offered a unique relationship with this guardian of our souls.

Let's give the final word to Pope Benedict XVI: "The true shepherd is one who knows even the path that passes through the valley of death; one who walks with me even on the path of final solitude, where no one can accompany me, guiding me through; he himself has walked this path, he had descended into the kingdom of death, he has conquered death, and he has returned to accompany us now and to give us the certainty that, together with him, we can find a way through" (cf. Spe Salvi, On Christian Hope, #6).

(Bishop Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)