Lesson from Fr. Paulus | The Catholic Church Is Christ’s One Flock

Jesus Christ was sent to the Jewish people, to be their Messiah in accordance with God's ancient promises to his Chosen People.

Yet, God was not satisfied to save only one people; he wants his blessing to reach all nations, every corner of the earth. This is why Jesus says, "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold; these also I must lead..." Christ the Savior, then, has received lordship not only over the little flock of Israel and Judah, but over all the flocks of the earth.

In him we all come under one lordship, that of the good shepherd, who is the one pastor of the one flock. The effect of the wolf, the devil, is to catch and scatter the sheep; Christ frees and unites us.

And even if the wolf attacks the shepherd himself, as he did in Christ's passion, the shepherd has the power both to lay down and raise up his life, so the one flock will never perish. Because Christ the good shepherd is our Lord, the Church, the one flock, will never fail. Our membership in this flock is perhaps the greatest gift we have received from the Lord after the gift of life itself.

This is one of the most compelling reasons behind the Church's missionary mandate. We are all called to spread the good news of Christ, and to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19), bringing everyone into this one flock. Only the Catholic Church has been given the divine guarantee that it will never fail, never be permanently scattered and destroyed by wolves.

Other Churches and other religions may have sincere believers and parts of the truth, but only Christ's one flock gathered around his visible shepherd's staff - the pope - is guaranteed never to fail.

Three Ways to Increase the Flock

There are three things we can do to help increase the size of Christ's one flock, to help other lost sheep come under the care of the one good shepherd. They are the three Ways.

First, the way we treat other people. We are sons and daughters of Christ the King. And so, our manner, our way of holding ourselves, should be full of dignity, generosity, openness, elegance, and joy.

If we let God's grace work in our hearts, it will shine through our eyes, our words, our gestures, and we will become living advertisements for our eternal good shepherd.

Second, our work. Whatever we do - job, study, hobby, housework, sports - we, as followers of Christ, should stand out for our responsibility, dependability, and commitment to excellence and integrity.

We are children of God! We are ambassadors of the Creator of the universe! How could we ever let sloppiness, laziness, and indifference contaminate our daily activities?

Third, our words. Like Peter in today's First Reading, we should always be ready to use our words to spread truth, hope, and encouragement, to light or feed the fire of faith in the hearts of those around us. As Catholics, there is no room in our lives for gossip, useless tale-bearing, or biting and wounding criticism.

In the Eucharist, we receive Jesus Christ himself in our mouths; what a tragic, painful irony it would be if that same mouth were to go out and spit poison at those around us!

We are graced to be members of Christ's one flock, his Catholic Church. As Jesus renews his commitment to us in this holy Mass, let's thank him for that grace, and let's promise that this week we'll try not to hog it all to ourselves.