30 April 2023 – 4th Sunday of Easter (Year A) (Good Shepherd/Vocation Sunday)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

Today we celebrate World Day of Prayer for Vocations. And this World Day of Prayer for Vocations was established in 1964 by Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council. And today we celebrate 60 years of that World Day of Prayer. And the theme that the Holy Father has set out for this World Day of Prayer is:-

Vocation, Grace and Mission.

And it makes us realise that vocation is a gift, purely given, purely received. And we who have received this gift are called to be committed in sharing out this love that the Father has showed to us. The expression of His love is called to be shared and to be proclaimed.

And as we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday today, dear friends, it is a time for us to reflect on this whole theme of Vocation. This vocation of love. And each and every one of us as a Christian disciple are called to embrace this vocation to love one another in the same way God has loved us.

And each and every one of us also need to pray for this courage to be emboldened, to bear witnesses to this vocation of love because each one of us who have received much, we are called to give much as well. And the essential part of every vocation, dear friends, whether you are a priest, whether you are a religious, whether you are a husband, a wife, parents, children, singlehood, each and every one of us are called to grow in this vocation to love. And that is the fundamental and essential element.

God calls us into love and in gratitude, we respond in love.

And all our vocations, dear friends, need to complement one another so that we can go forth in proclaiming the Good News. As religious, as family men and women, as people of goodwill, of people of other faith, all of us are called to respond in that love that the Father has for us. As mentioned just now, it is because we have been given much, we are called to give much too. But how have we responded to that invitation that God gives us?

And the first thing, dear friends, that we need to embrace as we embark on this journey and this vocation to love, is to Praise God. To praise God in everything that we do. By our words, by our actions, we are called to praise God, to give praise and thanks to God for every single thing that He has given to us. Because if we live authentic Christian life, dear friends, that love comes naturally from within us because of that relationship that we have in God. And the first thing is to praise God.

The second thing is to trust that God will provide in each and every moment, each and every struggles and situations of life. To acknowledge that God is the provider who provides and sustains everything and His grace is sufficient to make us take that step forward in faith. Even though sometimes it is difficult to love, sometimes it is challenging to love especially among those who are closed to us, those who don’t agree, those perhaps who are an obstacle for what we want to achieve. But when we are called to trust in the providence of God, good or bad, we trust that God will see things through.

And the third thing, dear friends, that we need to be reminded is we need to persevere in our Christian discipleship. Because Jesus who has gone before us, who has given us this opportunity to be embraced into this family of love, invites us with persevering in our faith even though sometimes we know in our family , in our community, it can be challenging of allowing people to come into that sheepfold. And we need to have Jesus to sustain us. To be persevering in faith because Jesus says “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.”

And for that, dear friends, we need to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. In the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles it says:

Hearing this, they were cut to the heart.

You and I, dear friends, need to listen to that voice of the Good Shepherd, leading us and inviting us to respond in love. Because as we are open to that grace of God, as we are open to that discernment of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we know it is the Lord who leads us into that sheepfold, inviting us to respond in love towards one another.

And if we love God, then that expression of love is shown towards one another.

And I am sure in this whole vocation of life that we have embarked on, I am sure today especially we will pray for young people so that they may respond generously to that call of the Good Shepherd as religious, as priests. But more than that, dear friends, we need to remember that this vocation to love is far, far greater than any vocation in life because if you are a priest, if you are a religious, if you are a family men or women, if you are a member in the family, in whatever vocation in life that God has entrusted you in, you need to grow in love. And are we willing to allow the Holy Spirit to mould and shape our hearts to say ‘Yes‘? And the more we say ‘Yes‘ to God, it reveals the openness of our hearts, how much our hearts is able to love. The capacity to love is expressed in the way we treat one another.

And as we reflect, dear friends, on this World Day of Vocation, I would just like to perhaps remember priests who have been in this community or in this community of ours, where so many have sowed this seed of faith so that we may be able to grow in our conviction of faith. The priests, the religious who have been here.

And as we remember them, one person I would like to single out is Bishop James Chan who passed on recently. He was the parish priest here in the 1970s and then he went to the Diocese of Melaka-Johor. And with his conviction of faith, with the mission that was entrusted to him, everything that he did was to allow the spiritual growth of the Diocese. And doing so, he was able to bring so many people into faith, allow them to experience the faith so that the mission that the Lord has entrusted to him may continue. And together with him, let us remember all the priests who have been here in the parish since its conception.

And on the other hand, we have so many people who have been dedicated in nurturing this community in love. Those who have slogged very very hard to grow through thick and thin in ensuring that the community binds together, holds together and is bound in love. And for that as well, for so many people who have been responsible, they too must be reminded, must be recalled because they too inspire us to not lose hope and to respond in love.

And I am sure among so many elderly within our community, one that comes to mind is our Aunty Wai Chun as well. She has been in the parish for almost 50 over years, serving with charity, in love. Even though there may be limitations, she responds in love and she is able to provide whatever sense of assurance, of presence that the community needs. And that is where we see how the priests and the lay vocations complement one another.

And what is interesting is Bishop James Chan brought Aunty Wai Chun to the faith or hired her in the parish when she was non-Catholic. And doing so we see how the mission continues to bring about a greater awareness of God’s mission in each and every one of us.

And the third thing, dear friends, that I would like to highlight is you and I here today. You and I are here because of the grace and the gift and the vocation that God has given to each and every one of us. And you and I have the responsibility to treat each other with respect, with love and to grow this community in the way God wants of it. To be welcoming, to be caring, to be praying for one another and to invite people into that sheepfold so that we can grow in love, same like the early church. We may have challenges, obstacles in that journey but we know that the community of love that is enlightened by Christ himself flourishes, matures and grows in faith.

We know in every aspect of those journey, dear friends, whether with the religious, whether with lay vocations, or whether with people who are here today, all of us need to praise God. Praise God with our entire being, praise God with our entire life so that we can live a life that is integrated because what we say and what we do must reflect the Good Shepherd. And we must also remember that if we trust in the Good Shepherd, that He will provide for us in whatever circumstances and situations of life, we too can grow as one community in faith.

And finally, when we are challenged with obstacles, challenges, misunderstanding, we know that we need to be persevering in our faith. Because as we persevere in our faith, we are indeed making that vocation of love into action. By we sharing our love, by respecting one another, by showing our commitment that this community has a future with God, we are able to respond to the invitation as a Christian disciple whatever the circumstances may be.

So we praise God, we trust in His providence, and we be persevering in our Christian discipleship. And in doing so, dear friends, we can grow in the awareness in our own vocation which is to love. And the one who leads us in that path forward is what we have sung in our responsorial psalm today:

The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.

Let that be our invitation to prayer. Let that be our commitment to love because we do what the Lord calls us to do. Because the Lord touches our hearts, stirs our hearts into action. And let our love be translated into the way that we treat one another as we listen to the Good Shepherd and respond in love. And the best thing that we can do to move forward, first of all is to begin with prayer. To go down on our knees to pray for one another so that our hearts may be open to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, leading us forward in faith.

And now I invite you to play the video by the Diocesan Vocation Team.

As we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd inviting us to respond in love, let us ask ourselves how we are called to grow in this vocation to love.

Click below to listen to homily and watch video:-

Click to live-stream Mass on 30 April 2023