HOW THE SHEPHERD KNOWS HIS SHEEP

Homily for Thanksgiving Mass
Ateneo de Davao University Chapel;

April 19, 2005

When students or teachers from Ateneo de Davao would visit us in Loyola House in Manila, they would ask me, “Kumusta na si Bro Elot? Nandiyan pa si Bro Elot?” And I ask them why they think of such questions, “So you think he will leave the seminary? How much did you bet that he will leave?” Well, those who bet for Bro Elot’s leaving the seminary discover today that they lost, because now, Bro Elot is not just Bro Elot, but Fr. Elot, Fr. Ritche Elot, SJ.

Today’s Gospel speaks of Jesus the Good Shepherd knowing His sheep. Is there a difference between Jesus’ knowing us His sheep and our ordinary knowing of each other? Certainly there is. But what is that difference? As I reflect on our respective vocation stories in the light of today’s Gospel, I discover that the Good Shepherd’s knowing His sheep, in contrast to our ordinary knowing of each other, is a knowing that penetrates, liberates, and sends.

Those who thought Fr. Ritche would not persevere probably based their judgment on what they saw five years ago: a Bro Ritche who teaches in casual sportshirts and rubber shoes, who drives around the city wearing his shades, who plays basketball rough and tough, who teases his students and fellow teachers, making some laugh, some cry. But these were all Bro Ritche on the outside. The Good Shepherd, however, sees through these externals and knows Ritche in a way that penetrates his heart and soul. And what does the Good Shepherd see which we don’t? A heart that weeps at the sight of children and old people begging on the streets. A heart that rages against the injustices in society. A heart that burns for the love of Christ. This is why the Lord calls Fr. Ritche to be His priest, something that many people truly find unbelievable. And now he is being sent to PGH to minister to the sick and the dying. For somehow, after years of formation and probation, that inner Ritche has slowly transformed the outer Ritche that many of you encountered five years ago. It is a knowing that penetrates.

Those of you who worked with and under Fr. Norlan remember him as the CLE teacher and Guidance head who went to school in formal polo shirt, sometimes, long sleeves, hair groomed with either baby oil or styling gel. People admired him as an eloquent, organized, systematic Jesuit. But then again, these are externals. The Lord sees through these and finds in Fr. Norlan’s heart tendencies towards pride and conceit, thinking himself better than others, and so wanting to do things by himself. Beneath the composure and confidence was an aching need to be free, to belong, to enjoy. Fortunately for Fr. Norlan, Jesus’ knowing is not only penetrating, but liberating as well. In confession and in the Eucharist, and in the company of his fun-loving third year high school students and of the Guidance staff, Fr. Norlan experienced Jesus’ liberating knowing, allowing him to be himself, to feel he belongs and to enjoy life. He hopes to bring the same liberating love of the Good Shepherd as he begins his mission of forming future priests, future shepherds in the St. John Vianney Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City. It is a knowing that liberates.

Fr. Gabby, as you can see, is every girl’s dream boyfriend: tall, tisoy, intelligent, gentle. He comes from a gated and guarded subdivision in Paranaque and graduated industrial engineering from Dela Salle university. As with Fr. Ritche and Norlan, the Lord penetrated the high and mighty walls of the heart of Fr. Gabby and liberated it from being imprisoned in the comfort and convenience of his soft bed, his perfumed car, his deadly good looks. Once he stepped in Payatas and saw the malnourished children who have nothing to eat, he literally fell in love with them, and did all he could to help them. He influenced his rich matron friends to adopt a feeding center and they pledged to support Payatas even in the absence of Fr. Gabby. Perhaps Fr. Gabby is the most penetrated and liberated among the four of us that he is the one chosen to be sent/ missioned to Cambodia, where a young Jesuit like him, Richie Fernando died a martyr. It is a knowing that sends.

Fr. Florge’s family name alone is a clue to the power this guy holds in his hands. He is a Sy, like Henry Sy of the SM empire. Though he is not related to Henry Sy, he is powerful nonetheless. If knowledge is power, then Fr. Florge is truly powerful (gamhanan gyud), because he is both a licensed medical technologist and a licensed medical doctor. He knows a lot, not only about medicine, but relationships, so you can also seek his expert advise not only for your stomach ache or tooth ache, but also for your heartache. But Fr. Florge is not only a man of knowledge, he is also a man of enviable talents. You must have heard of the running priest! Well, in Fr. Florge we have a singing priest, a dancing priest, a writer priest, an actor priest. If Fr. Florge had joined showbusiness early on as a child, he would already be a megastar or a superstar by now. But the Good Shepherd penetrated his heart and saw in him more than a voice, a dance step or a script. And he liberated him from the deceptive illusions of the fleeting fantasy world of fame and fortune. And having been penetrated and liberated, he is now being sent…to the faraway island of Culion, Palawan, to be parish priest and chaplain of the sanitarium. It is a knowing that penetrates, liberates, sends.

And so it is that the Good Shepherd has known these four sheep of his, with a knowing that penetrates, liberates and sends. This knowing is not a linear process that begins at point A and ends at Point B. Rather, it runs in a spiral direction, touching each area of our lives again and again, the process repeated over and over again, until, at least, approximately, we may truly be configured to Christ, the Good Shepherd, in whose priesthood we share.

Before you begin to think that this gospel/ good news is just about us, new priests, let me gently remind you that this is also about you. This is about us, all of us together! For we are your priests. Our priesthood makes sense because of you. Your joys and hopes are our joys and hopes. Your griefs and anxieties are our griefs and anxieties. For are not our stories your stories too? This is our story! And so we beg each one you to pray for us, to pray with us. Just as we have walked together the long and winding road to our ordination, let us continue walking together until at last we are greeted at the doorstep of the heavenly Kingdom, by the Good Shepherd who knows us in a way that penetrates, liberates and sends. Amen.