Watch Good Shepherd Sunday Sung Mass from Saint-Césaire - 9:30 am ET

The Incarnation was intended to come and save what Adam had lost. It is therefore redeeming in terms of its end and the means that the Saviour took to redeem souls. Saint Peter, whom the risen Jesus made the head and Pastor of his Church, explains in the epistle of the Mass that Christ is the Pastor of our souls who were like wandering sheep. It is He, the true God and true man, who came to give his life for them and to gather them into one flock :

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we who died to sin might live for righteousness, and his wounds have healed you. For you were as sheep that went astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd and bishop of your souls. "(1 Pet. 2:24-25).

The gospel is that of the parable of the Good Shepherd, who defends his sheep against the attacks of the wolf and preserves them from death. He is the faithful voice of the Father; he knows each soul in particular; he gives his life for his sheep :

"I have yet other sheep, which are not of this fold; these also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. "(Jn 10:16)

In order to draw souls to Him, the Good Shepherd stood on the wood of the Cross. It is there that he offers himself as a pure and spotless host and brings salvation in his sacred oblation. He deserves us to obtain the grace of a new life.

Even today, it is through the ministry of priests that Our Lord Jesus Christ applies the infinite merits of His Sacrifice for the sanctification of souls. It is at the altar that His ministers perform the perfect act of divine worship and lead the sheep to their Shepherd, who nourishes them with His Body and Blood.

The Church needs more than ever the many workers that the Master sends to his harvest.

Priestly vocation

Seminaries