The Voice of the Good Shepherd in Changing Times

Today, on this Fourth Sunday of Easter, we read from Chapter 10 of St John’s Gospel, where Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd, sent by the Father to care for, guide, and protect us, who are the flock—the sheep. We refer to this as Good Shepherd Sunday.

Since 1963, this Sunday has been observed as a worldwide Day of Prayer for Vocations, especially for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. It was the idea of Pope Paul VI during the great Council of renewal in the Church, the Second Vatican Council, which began in 1962 and concluded in 1965, and has been unfolding ever since.

1963 was the year I began my second year of study and formation for the priesthood. In our intake that year, there were 30 students, with a total of 127 seminarians at the time. For the five dioceses of Queensland, this period is sometimes described as the “golden age” for vocations, though that description can be a little misleading. Some would like to return to those days, but it had never been quite like that before, nor has it been since. It was never the norm.

Today, we face a very different landscape from the 1960s and 70s. Numbers at Holy Spirit Seminary may have increased slightly this year, but they are still not enough to meet the sacramental needs of our dioceses and parishes, as many Australian priests age, retire, and pass away. We remain deeply grateful for the generosity of priests from overseas, as well as for the growing number of migrants whose strong and vibrant faith continues to enrich our parishes and the wider Church in Australia.

In my own Diocese of Toowoomba, we had the ordination of a young priest last year, Fr BJ Perrett, but currently we have no seminarians. Still, we are called to be hopeful about the future as it gradually unfolds. This hope is grounded in the Good Shepherd, who asks us to pray and to trust that there will always be labourers for the harvest. Vocations take many forms today—marriage, single life, religious life, as well as ordained ministry.

What will the Church look like in 2089, another 63 years from now? We do not really know. But we can be sure that today we are planting seeds that will sprout and grow in the years ahead. The ground here is a fertile paddock, where sheep are well fed, watered, and nourished, attentive to the voice of the Good Shepherd. That is the message I will be sharing with those I meet back home in Warwick and throughout my diocese.

I am writing this on the first anniversary of the death of our beloved Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, 21 April 2024. Pope Francis often said that bishops and priests should have “the smell of the sheep.” It is an earthy expression, but a true one—especially for shepherds of small flocks in the Middle East, where sheep and shepherd live in close proximity, unlike the vast sheep stations of Australia. In that setting, sheep and shepherd come to share the same smell, reflecting a deep bond of affection and trust.

The Good Shepherd knows each of us intimately—our lives, our needs, our concerns, our worries, and our weaknesses. He laid down his life for us. May we renew our trust in him, that he may continue to lead us, our Church, and our world in these challenging times.

Fr Brian Connolly