April 2023

Peter, a Galilean fisherman, the disciple of Jesus, the witness of the Resurrection, cries out: Save yourself from this perverse generation! There is concern in his cry, not judgment. This is what Jesus taught. He healed the sick in the body. He healed sick souls. He raised the dead. He revived dead consciences. He fed with a bread. But first, with a word of truth, for He saw that “they were like sheep without a shepherd.” The apostles learned from Jesus caring for man. That is why Peter cries out: “Save yourselves!”. But does that mean: run away or stay yourself in your circle? Not at all. Peter’s call is actual even today. We need – remaining in the world – to save ourselves and whoever we can from the evil lurking around us.

Who will lead us? There must be someone whose voice the sheep will listen to. Someone who will know them by name. Someone who will lead them and lead them to a safety place. This is what Jesus said, pointing to himself. And He called himself the Good Shepherd, and the gate of the sheep. But He is not among us. Is He? And the promise: “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world”? We take this promise seriously. He is with us. But a man needs the presence of someone real in the dimension of time and space. And that’s our problem. Ours – people of every era. We need leaders and guides. How many times in the history of the world have Jesus’ warnings against those who are thieves and robbers come true. The last century was tragic – the world followed imposters who managed to deceive entire nations. So how can we save ourselves from this perverse generation? Whom should I follow to have life and have it abundantly? Not to go astray like a sheep, but to be converted to the Shepherd and the Guardian of our souls?

Christians have an answer that has been proven for centuries. Pointing to Jesus as the Good Shepherd, they call pastors those among themselves who, in the name of Jesus, lead them along the paths of the Gospel. No one can appropriate this dignity to himself. It is determined by the authority of the Church, which is rooted in the apostolic tradition.  And pastors, leading the people, should be the first to follow Jesus. Sometimes they are saints, sometimes they are sinners. Sometimes they are great in spirit, other times they are small because of human errors. But still needed. Without a shepherd, however poor, the flock will be scattered. No human society can exist without a leader. In this particular community that is the Church, however, the word “leader” is out of place. That’s why we used to talk about pastors. How many wonderful, great and even holy pastors has the Church had and still has? And if sometimes they do not live up to the mission entrusted to them, we must not forget that each of them “is taken from people, for people is established … He is subject to weakness. And for its sake he should offer sacrifices for sins as for the people as well as for himself.” The sacrifice is, in fact, one: Christ bore our sins on the wood of the cross and by the Blood of His wounds we were healed.