Fourth Sunday of Easter

As the memory of Pope Francis lingers in our hearts, the words of today’s Gospel from St. John “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me,” capture well the meaning of Francis’ life and Papacy.

The crowds lining up to pay their respects to Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica gave witness to the reality that his voice was heard and recognized by migrants, refugees, prisoners, the poor and all those marginalized by church and society. For the past twelve years, crowds came to see him, and perhaps held the hope that his hand would reach out to give a blessing. They came to him not only in the recognition of his voice but, as he admonished his priests, because he had the “smell of the sheep” that made him leader, “one of the flock,” and worthy of trust. When we have the “smell of the sheep,” inclusion, reconciliation, and healing become realities of our ministries and the hallmark of our life in God.

This recognition renders this Gospel as most fitting for today’s celebration of Mother’s Day. We tend to think of only men as shepherds, but our scriptures give witness to women who were shepherds and whose voice called to their sheep and who had their “smell.” On this day, we may ask: who and where are our shepherds today – those calling new life to come forth with courage and support, in the midst of daily struggles and suffering?

We find them in the courage of Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Heidi Cerneka, who traveled with a fact-finding group to the Darién Gap on the Colombia-Panama border to assess the dangers of the migrants fleeing to find a better life. And again in the ministry of Dee Dungy as she accompanies the women refugees in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, sharing their stories and bonding as shepherds to one another.

The voice of Sister Hyun Jung Kim is heard in East Timor, where she has been given the designation ‘Foreign Grandmother’ as she travels the roads “seeing” the needs of the people in the villages and bringing healing strength. And in Guatemala, Sister Dee Smith, seen below, in the spirit of Isaiah, “like a shepherd,… feeds her flock and gathers them all in her arms carrying them close to her heart” as she cries in distress over lack of funding for the medicine needed for those she ministers to and cares for with HIV/AIDS.