# Three Qualities of a Good Shepherd - Bishop Barron's Daily Sermons

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 17 Jul 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72754544/three_qualities_of_a_good_shepherd_bishop_barron_s_sunday_sermon_1.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you, friends, We come to the fourth
[0:02] Speaker 1: Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday because Jesus
[0:06] Speaker 1: says in the Gospel, listen, I am the good Shepherd.
[0:11] Speaker 1: A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
[0:15] Speaker 1: Now here's what I find really interesting. Shepherds. I've never
[0:20] Speaker 1: met a shepherd. I don't know anyone that knows of shepherd.
[0:23] Speaker 1: It's a livelihood that exists still, but it's not really
[0:27] Speaker 1: part of the experience of most people in the West.
[0:31] Speaker 1: But what is it about that image that nevertheless sings
[0:35] Speaker 1: to us across the ages, from the pages of the
[0:37] Speaker 1: Bible to the present day. Somehow, when we hear this
[0:41] Speaker 1: imagery of the shepherd, it speaks to our hearts, you
[0:45] Speaker 1: know Psalm twenty three, which we all love. The Lord
[0:48] Speaker 1: is my shepherd. I shall not want. And I think
[0:51] Speaker 1: of it a lot now that I'm a bishop of
[0:54] Speaker 1: a diocese, because when I come into Mass as the bishop,
[0:57] Speaker 1: I'm wearing the miter and I'm carrying the crow. And
[1:01] Speaker 1: the Krozier, of course, is nothing but a shepherd's staff.
[1:04] Speaker 1: It has the crook at the end because the shepherd
[1:06] Speaker 1: had to go get the sheep. If they wandered, it's
[1:09] Speaker 1: got the other animaly, he have to fend off animals.
[1:12] Speaker 1: So I identify as a bishop of diocese with shepherds
[1:17] Speaker 1: all the time. Well, what I want to do is
[1:19] Speaker 1: reflect a little bit about this image of shepherd in
[1:22] Speaker 1: relation to Jesus, first of all, and then secondly in
[1:25] Speaker 1: relation to leadership in the life of the church. And
[1:30] Speaker 1: my guide here is going to be the present shepherd
[1:33] Speaker 1: of the whole church, namely poulpe Francis, because he said
[1:36] Speaker 1: something a while ago that has stayed in my mind
[1:38] Speaker 1: ever since. He said, a good shepherd has to be
[1:44] Speaker 1: out in front of the flock. He has to be
[1:47] Speaker 1: also in the midst of the flock, and he has
[1:50] Speaker 1: to be behind the flock. Now what does he mean, Well,
[1:55] Speaker 1: he means out in front. If the shepherd is going
[1:58] Speaker 1: to be leading the sheep, well, he's got to be
[2:01] Speaker 1: taking them somewhere that they don't know about. He has
[2:05] Speaker 1: to know something. He has to know a way that
[2:08] Speaker 1: the sheep don't know. Otherwise, what's the point. Otherwise he's
[2:12] Speaker 1: just kind of wandering around with them. No, the shepherd
[2:15] Speaker 1: is out in front of the sheep to some degree. However,
[2:20] Speaker 1: if he's nothing but out in front of the sheep. Well,
[2:23] Speaker 1: then in time he becomes irrelevant to them, he loses
[2:27] Speaker 1: contact with them. He's so far out in front that
[2:31] Speaker 1: it's now kind of a matter of indifference to the sheep.
[2:34] Speaker 1: So at the same time he has to be among
[2:38] Speaker 1: the sheep, in contact with them. So famously Pope Francis says,
[2:43] Speaker 1: the shepherd has to have the smell of the sheep.
[2:47] Speaker 1: And then thirdly he says he has to be also
[2:51] Speaker 1: behind the flock. What does that mean? That means attentive
[2:56] Speaker 1: to those who have fallen away, attentive to those who
[3:00] Speaker 1: have gotten sick, have become lame, who are threatened by predators.
[3:06] Speaker 1: If he doesn't do that, pretty soon he'll have no
[3:08] Speaker 1: flock at all. So in front, yes, among yes, and
[3:15] Speaker 1: also behind yes. All three. So let's apply that little
[3:20] Speaker 1: hermoneutic to Jesus, who says, I am the good shepherd.
[3:26] Speaker 1: Is he out in front of the flock, no question
[3:31] Speaker 1: about it. You know, when I was coming of age,
[3:34] Speaker 1: there was a great stress placed on the familiarity of Jesus.
[3:38] Speaker 1: Jesus is with us, He's like our brother, he's our friend,
[3:42] Speaker 1: all of which is true. But the danger was we
[3:46] Speaker 1: could sort of domesticate Jesus, make him too much of
[3:49] Speaker 1: just a friendly guy. Read the Gospels under this rubric
[3:55] Speaker 1: and you'll notice how strange Jesus is is at marvelous
[4:00] Speaker 1: passage in the Gospel of Mark where the disciples are
[4:04] Speaker 1: with him, and it says they were amazed and afraid.
[4:10] Speaker 1: Go find that. I think it's in chapter ten of Mark.
[4:13] Speaker 1: They were amazed at him and they were afraid. Well
[4:17] Speaker 1: why because he wasn't just their their buddy, wasn't just
[4:20] Speaker 1: their pal, their friend, their brother walking with them. He
[4:24] Speaker 1: was also the one, in a very significant way who
[4:27] Speaker 1: was out in front of them, who was leading them
[4:31] Speaker 1: toward a goal that they only dimly could glimpse. Think
[4:36] Speaker 1: two of the scene of the transfiguration. So they go
[4:40] Speaker 1: up the mountain with Jesus, their friend, their brother, and
[4:43] Speaker 1: then he's transfigured before them. I know, his clothes become
[4:48] Speaker 1: gleaming white, and he's accompanied by Moses and Elijah. Who
[4:52] Speaker 1: is this who is this strange figure who's leading them,
[4:58] Speaker 1: in fact, toward a heavenly goal. Think of the risen Jesus,
[5:05] Speaker 1: you know to Mary Magdalen, no, they made Tannerie. Don't
[5:08] Speaker 1: touch me. I mean you can't hold and constrain me.
[5:14] Speaker 1: Jesus who passes through the locked doors, who comes and goes,
[5:18] Speaker 1: appears when he wants. Yeah, I'd be amazed and afraid
[5:23] Speaker 1: too in the presence of that figure. The point here
[5:27] Speaker 1: is the good Shepherd is out in front of the sheep.
[5:31] Speaker 1: Where is he leaving us a place where I is
[5:33] Speaker 1: not seen, ira is not heard? Good? Good, that's Jesus
[5:38] Speaker 1: who's leading the flock. Okay, the good Shepherd's got to
[5:44] Speaker 1: be among the flock too. Is that true of Jesus. Well,
[5:49] Speaker 1: you bet that. Jesus who eats and drinks, especially with sinners, prostitutes,
[5:57] Speaker 1: tax collectors, scandalous behavior for his time, for a teacher,
[6:01] Speaker 1: for a rabbi to be associating with, you know, public sinners.
[6:08] Speaker 1: Jesus intimacy with his disciples. You know, Lord, where do
[6:12] Speaker 1: you stay? Well, come and see and they stayed with him.
[6:17] Speaker 1: Jesus in the boat with the with the other, with
[6:20] Speaker 1: the apostles. Come come away for a while, spend some time,
[6:25] Speaker 1: quiet time with me. The sort of easy intimacy the
[6:29] Speaker 1: Lord has with his apostles, with his followers. Yes, he
[6:34] Speaker 1: has the smell of the sheep. He's among them, even
[6:38] Speaker 1: as he's also amazing and a little bit scary. He's
[6:43] Speaker 1: among them. You know, I've spoken before about Jonathan Rumy's
[6:47] Speaker 1: portrayal of Jesus and the childen. I think he's particularly
[6:50] Speaker 1: good at portraying this dimension of Jesus, shepherding that you sense, yes,
[6:57] Speaker 1: this is someone I'd like to sit down and and
[7:00] Speaker 1: eat and drink with, you know. So his intimacy with
[7:04] Speaker 1: the with the community. And then the last quality the
[7:08] Speaker 1: poll points out. A good shepherd's ahead, he's with, he's
[7:13] Speaker 1: also behind the flock, attending to those who've fallen behind,
[7:22] Speaker 1: attending to those who are wounded and afraid and excluded. Well,
[7:27] Speaker 1: look at the Gospels, everybody, how prominent this is in
[7:31] Speaker 1: the ministry of Jesus. So reaching out to the woman
[7:34] Speaker 1: at the well who was who was kind of ostracized
[7:37] Speaker 1: by her fellows, reaching out to the man born blind,
[7:41] Speaker 1: who is very much on the on the margins of
[7:44] Speaker 1: the society. How about reaching out to Zachias that this
[7:48] Speaker 1: chief tax collector, meaning someone who is particularly hated by
[7:51] Speaker 1: his people, come down as the keius I'm staying at
[7:54] Speaker 1: your house today. Think of the outreach to the to
[7:59] Speaker 1: the sinners, to the prostitutes. Think of the woman caught
[8:03] Speaker 1: in adultery. Let the one among you without sin be
[8:09] Speaker 1: the first to cast a stone at her. Jesus is
[8:12] Speaker 1: deeply attentive to those who have fallen behind. The point is,
[8:18] Speaker 1: indeed he is a good shepherd in all three of
[8:22] Speaker 1: these senses. Now let's look finally at those who have
[8:27] Speaker 1: the task of leadership in the church, and that's my
[8:31] Speaker 1: task as a bishop of a diocese. Should church leaders
[8:36] Speaker 1: be in some sense out in front of the flock. Yes, yes,
[8:41] Speaker 1: because we're not just wandering around with our people, not
[8:47] Speaker 1: just being a friendly figure, but trying to lead our
[8:52] Speaker 1: people someplace that they don't fully understand. This is exactly
[8:58] Speaker 1: why shepherds in the church should also be theologians and
[9:02] Speaker 1: should also be people of prayer, because see what does
[9:06] Speaker 1: the study of theology, What does prayer do? They lift
[9:09] Speaker 1: you up into this higher realm so you understand where
[9:16] Speaker 1: the church is going, not perfectly, but in a more
[9:20] Speaker 1: intense way, understanding where the church should be going. Bishops
[9:26] Speaker 1: priests that can't articulate a vision for their people, they
[9:29] Speaker 1: might be friends that they might be, you know, companions
[9:34] Speaker 1: to their people, but they're not leading them. I found
[9:38] Speaker 1: my years of leadership, whether it's this rector of Mondoline, Seminary,
[9:42] Speaker 1: auxiliary bishop out in la now Bishop in Winona, Rochester,
[9:46] Speaker 1: is a big part of the job. Maybe the principal
[9:49] Speaker 1: part of the job is providing a vision. The shepherd
[9:54] Speaker 1: has to be out in front. But then same principle,
[9:59] Speaker 1: if he's only that, he's only out in front of
[10:02] Speaker 1: the people, then he will lose contact with them. No, No,
[10:07] Speaker 1: the good shepherd has to be among his people. Indeed,
[10:11] Speaker 1: with the smell of the sheep. I think of this
[10:15] Speaker 1: in my own experience in leadership in the church. When
[10:19] Speaker 1: I was rector at Mondoline, I had the practice of
[10:22] Speaker 1: every morning before Mass would begin, I would get up
[10:25] Speaker 1: and I'd make announcements to the community. Well, that served
[10:29] Speaker 1: a certain purpose. I was indeed conveying certain bits of information,
[10:34] Speaker 1: but my main purpose in doing that was to signal
[10:37] Speaker 1: to the community. Here i am, I'm among you. If
[10:42] Speaker 1: you need something, I'm here. If you got a question,
[10:44] Speaker 1: I'm here to answer it. If there's a crisis breaking out,
[10:48] Speaker 1: well I'm here among you. And I think here I
[10:52] Speaker 1: follow Cardinal Meyer, who is the Bishop arch Bishop of Chicago.
[10:55] Speaker 1: Many years ago he spoke of the ministry of presence,
[11:00] Speaker 1: and that little phrase has stayed in my mind for
[11:02] Speaker 1: a long time. A large part of the ministry of
[11:06] Speaker 1: the shepherd is showing up. Something I've found now that
[11:11] Speaker 1: I'm bishop of this diocese, and as bishop, I'm the
[11:14] Speaker 1: spiritual father of the diocese. And just as a good
[11:18] Speaker 1: dad shows up at his kids events, at their games
[11:23] Speaker 1: and their tournaments and their concerts and so on, that's
[11:26] Speaker 1: a big part of the job for me as shepherd
[11:29] Speaker 1: of the diocese is to show up, is to be present,
[11:33] Speaker 1: to go to a paris, say Mass, and just be
[11:35] Speaker 1: there for the people. That last weekend I was at
[11:38] Speaker 1: a parish and just made my way around the room afterwards,
[11:41] Speaker 1: visiting all the tables. Okay, the good shepherd is supposed
[11:45] Speaker 1: to have the smell of the sheep. He's out in front, yes,
[11:49] Speaker 1: but also among and then thirdly, the good shepherd's got
[11:54] Speaker 1: to be behind the flock, especially attentive to those who
[12:01] Speaker 1: are struggling, who are sinful, who feel alienated. You know,
[12:07] Speaker 1: a lot of my ministry online, you know this has
[12:10] Speaker 1: been reaching out to the disaffiliated. There are armies now
[12:14] Speaker 1: of Catholics, especially young Catholics, who have left the church.
[12:18] Speaker 1: And that's really why I've developed this ministry of Word
[12:22] Speaker 1: on Fire, is to use the social media to reach
[12:26] Speaker 1: out to those who, for whatever reason, have fallen away
[12:29] Speaker 1: or left stormed away, or just drifted away. Because I'm
[12:33] Speaker 1: trying to be attentive to those who have fallen away
[12:37] Speaker 1: from communion with the flog. Something I think of here.
[12:42] Speaker 1: I might have cited it to you before, but Cardinal
[12:45] Speaker 1: George of Chicago speaking many years ago to students at Mondoline,
[12:49] Speaker 1: and he said, you know, it's great that you teach
[12:53] Speaker 1: the moral teaching of a church with such clarity. I'm
[12:56] Speaker 1: glad you do that, and he meant that, but he said,
[12:59] Speaker 1: if all you do is drop that teaching on people,
[13:02] Speaker 1: then walk away. You're not accomplishing very much. You're not,
[13:06] Speaker 1: he said, a pastor very good insight. The pastor, yes,
[13:12] Speaker 1: speaks the truth. He's leading his people, but he's also
[13:16] Speaker 1: very attentive to those who, for whatever reason, have a
[13:19] Speaker 1: difficult time embodying these truths. So Jesus, thank God, we
[13:25] Speaker 1: have the good Shepherd out in front of us. Uh
[13:29] Speaker 1: huh among us yep, behind us too, May the shepherds
[13:36] Speaker 1: of the church who are participating in the office of
[13:39] Speaker 1: Christ the Good Shepherd, have those same qualities, and God
[13:44] Speaker 1: bless you.

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