Professor Jean Galot, Rome

The entire pastoral mission, developed in many ways within the Church, is dominated by the evangelical words; "I am the good shepherd" (John 10,11.14).

The very fact that this solemn declaration is repeated twice attracts attention to its importance. Jesus emphasises the meaning of His personal presence on earth.

Among the affirmations of identity starting with the words "I am", this one in particular appears as a definition illuminating all activities. It reveals a fundamental aspect of Christ’s priesthood. The pastoral intention is not a secondary matter, but rather a summary of all aspirations expressed in the Saviour’s mission.

One must bear in mind that the expression used does not intend to literally indicate goodness: it could be literally translated as the "beautiful shepherd" or the "excellent shepherd". This is a shepherd having the perfection of all qualities. Goodness is certainly one of Jesus’ characteristic behaviours, but this is not what He wishes to emphasise on this occasion. He rather opposes His behaviour as a shepherd to that of thieves and bandits, who come to steal, kill and destroy. The contrast with the mercenary, who, since he is not a shepherd, abandons his sheep and runs away when he sees the wolf come, is not less evident. Not only did Jesus never follow his own interests in his relationships with humankind, but he proved His love saying: "The good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep". He achieved the ideal of the perfect shepherd with the gift of His own life. This attitude is so high that it exceeds the model of the shepherd attributed to God in the words of the Old Testament. God had been acknowledged as the sovereign representation of a shepherd and had often made manifest the distancing of his behaviour faced with the numerous defects of human shepherds. But the God venerated by Israel could not have committed Himself to a life of sacrifice offered to the sheep, because this route required the Incarnation. As a good shepherd, only the Son Incarnate could with His sacrifice on the Cross achieve these depths of generosity.

Obviously Jesus indicated this supreme gesture of love as a characteristic of the good shepherd. The whole of the Church’s pastoral path has therefore been orientated towards this model of the highest form of love, and priesthood has certainly been guided from above towards a generous gift similar to that of the good shepherd.