Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Christ is our good shepherd and we are the sheep that he gathers into his flock.
There’s a beautiful understanding of the mass that tells us that the entrance procession does not begin with the acolytes and the priest walking towards the altar. That’s rather its culmination. Instead, it begins when the people of God make their way to the church. You can picture the faithful from all walks of life, from all parts of town, leaving their home and coming together as one flock under one shepherd.
Sadly, in this time of social distancing, in which so much of the world is staying at home, in which masses have been cancelled until further notice, many of us cannot do this. The flock is scattered, in a sense. But although we cannot physically leave our homes and come together to worship, perhaps today we can lift up our hearts to the Lord in prayer. Just imagine your heart, my heart processing towards our Good Shepherd from our homes, towards the one who is our true home and our true resting place.
Let us pray for those whose lives are at risk and for those whose lives are especially burdened to the one who says to us, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”