I had a rather surreal experience on Thursday night. As some of you know, I’m a member of the General Synod – which means that I’m also part of the “Vacancy in See Committee”, who are part of the process which will appoint the next Bishop of Leeds (I’ll spare you the details, other than to say that that doesn’t necessarily mean I get a direct role in the appointment, because that’s handled by the Crown Nominations Commission – and that’s quite enough on that subject!)
Anyway, we had our first meeting, which was largely a briefing meeting on the process, on Thursday evening, when everyone else in College was at the College Mass. We were meeting on Zoom.
Now, you might recall, there was something else happening that was related to episcopal appointments on Thursday evening. It was fairly obvious that quite a lot of people had the livestream from Rome open in their tab, waiting eagerly for an announcement, and Bishop Toby, our chair, kindly agreed that we would pause as soon as the balcony doors in St Peter’s Square opened.And so we did. We watched the announcement, we saw Pope Leo come out to greet the people – and then we returned to the process for Leeds and to Bishop Toby encouraging us to meditate on Ephesians 2 and the way that Christ reconciles our divisions “in one body on the cross.”
It was, as I said, a bit surreal.
But you might ask why we all cared.
Well, I think – putting aside the general interest in current affairs, pageantry, and the sense of witnessing history – the answer is to be found in the themes of today. Today is often known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Our Lord tells the crowd that his sheep “hear his voice”, and promises that nothing will snatch those sheep from his care.
It is the call of bishops – of Leeds or of Canterbury or of Rome – to be pastors, and to share that pastoral cure of souls with their clergy. They are charged – as Peter was charged in the reading we heard last week – to share in the work of the Good Shepherd, to feed His lambs and tend His sheep. It is a huge and awesome responsibility – which is why it is so important to always pray for the bishops, because they need it, and can only hold that responsibility in the grace and strength of God.
And we long, I think, for pastors, for shepherds. These are worried, and distracted times – and though one might well ask when the world is not troubled and distracted, yet I think the news of political uncertainty, of a sense that American democracy and the rule of law is imperilled, the news of climate breakdown, and for us especially the challenges facing the Church of England and our own status in interregnum, might rightly make us feel unnerved. We feel, at times, like “sheep without a shepherd.”
So I was cheered when the new Pope began his brief address to the crowds by saying:
“‘Peace be with you!’ This is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for God’s flock. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your heart, to reach your families, to all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to the whole earth. Peace be with you!”
Whatever follows, there is something true and beautiful about the way Pope Leo chose to begin his new pastorate by pointing us to the Good Shepherd, Christ.
For while we long for good shepherds in our bishops – and we do right to pray that God will send us good and holy pastors to be the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of Leeds – we should keep two things in mind. The first is that the one Good Shepherd is Our Lord. Even the holiest bishop – or Pope – is only, and is only truly good, inasmuch as they are united to him and share in the work of reconciliation and grace which is Christ’s own. It is our Lord who we, ultimately, look to, who feeds and nourishes and protects us, and our bishops only point the way or pass on what they themselves have received.
And the other is that we are called to be shepherds in our turn, though always by participation in that one ministry. The other big thing that happened in my life last week was that my husband, Fr Jonathan, was collated as Vicar of Batley. And when you become a bishop, as you’re handed your licence, the bishop will say “receive the cure of souls, which is yours and mine.” There is, of course, a particular legal and ecclesiological point that applies particularly to vicars here – but in a sense it is true of all of us, both lay and ordained. All of us are called to, though in very different ways depending on our particular vacation, to at times be a pastor to others – but none of us does it on our own, or in our own strength. We are all both sheep and shepherds, called to love and serve, but always called to follow Christ and to be formed and remade in his image.
Which brings me back to our readings: not just to the Gospel, but to the reading from Acts. And so, I ask: how many shepherds, how many pastors, do we encounter in these two readings?
First and foremost, we have Christ, the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep, whose sheep know his voice, and who protects them; who lays down his life for the and, victorious over death, leads us forth to new life.
Then, of course, we have Peter. Charged by Our Lord to feed his sheep, given the power of the keys, the rock on which the church is founded. We see him here, exercising the miraculous authority entrusted to him by Christ, and raising Tabitha, or Dorcas from the dead.
But there is, I think, an third pastor or shepherd here, and that is Dorcas herself. Luke tells us that she is known for her acts of charity. She is a servant of the church – and in that service of loving care, she has become a key figure, without whom “the widows” and the wider church at Joppa, are bereft. How urgently they send for Peter! And how quick he is to restore Dorcas to them, where she no doubt continued to serve, and love, – and pastor, in imitation of our loving good shepherd, the church there.
Because in being called to follow Christ, and especially if we are called to ministry, means being called to serve. We are to be like the Good Shepherd, we are to serve and love those who are given to us.And we can only do that if we listen to the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd, follow him, and allow him to feed and sustain us.
So, this Good Shepherd Sunday, let us pray for Pope Leo, and for the Archbishop of York, and for those charged with selecting the Archbishop of Canterbury, and indeed fro all bishops. And let us also be ready to serve and to love, for all of us, in one way or another, are called to be both sheep and shepherds to one another. Amen.