Everyone dreams of having a good pastor to guide them along the right path! Indeed, there are so many paths that seem seductive but which, in the end, are all dead ends. So many reassuring speeches, so many shining lights. So many words that, under the guise of apparent gentleness, are authoritarian and violent. This is how crowds are rounded up like sheep without a shepherd. That’s the Gospel phrase! (Cf. Matthew 9:36 – 10:1) Faced with these crowds lost on false paths, the Lord Jesus reacts from the depths of his being: he is overwhelmed with mercy. It expresses the thrill of Jesus’ whole being. This is why he presents himself as “the way, the truth and the life”. Better still, he affirms: “I am the good Shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me…”. It is knowledge that comes from love. The shepherd proves his goodness by giving his life for his sheep. In the Gospel, Jesus, overwhelmed with mercy, chooses the Twelve Apostles. He instituted the priesthood so that bishops, and with them priests, would be good shepherds. In other words, men who gave up their whole lives to be with Jesus. Their celibacy and interiority in prayer are eloquent signs of this. More than that, their pastoral charity drives them to reach out to each person, with immense respect and love, to show them the way to true life and true joy, the way to Heaven.

Ars, August 3-4 2024

+ Pierre d’Ornellas

Archbishop of Rennes