Pope: the 'true' bishop guards the faith and defends his flock from those who disorientate it

"The true shepherd holds vigil, is involved in the life of his flock, defends all the sheep, defends each one, confirms each one and if the stray or get lost, he goes to look for them and brings them back. He is so involved that he will not let even one go".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The "true" bishop guards the faith and watches over his flock, defending it from those who disorient it, said Pope Francis at Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, inspired by the passage from the Acts of the Apostles that describes a difficult moment in the life of the community of Antioch.

"Since we have heard that some of our number  who went out without any mandate from us  have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, ", writes Peter to those Christians and the apostles, decide to react to restore peace.

They send Barnabas and Paul and other trusted men to Antioch with the letter. And reading the letter the Christians rejoice - continues the account of the Acts - "for the encouragement that it infused". Those who had presented themselves to defend people as "orthodox of true doctrine" - continued the Pope - "believing themselves to be the true theologians of Christianity" had disoriented the people: the apostles, the bishops of today, confirm them in the faith.

"The bishop - said Francis - is the one who keeps vigil, the one that watches", he is the sentinel, "who knows how to look to defend the flock from the wolves that come". The life of the bishop "is involved with the life of the flock". But the bishop does something more, just like the shepherd he holds watch.  A beautiful word "to describe the bishop's vocation". "Hold watch means being involved in the life of the flock: Jesus distinguishes the true shepherd from a simple employee, who has to be paid and does not care if the wolf comes and eats one: he does not care. Instead, the true shepherd holds vigil, is involved in the life of his flock, defends all the sheep, defends each one, confirms each one and if the stray or get lost, he goes to look for them and brings them back. He is so involved that he will not let even one go".

The true bishop therefore knows the name of each sheep "and this makes us understand how Jesus conceived the bishop: close." And the Holy Spirit gave the Christian people the sense of being, the ability to understand where there is a true bishop: "How many times have we heard, 'Oh, this bishop! Yes, he's good, but does not care much for us, he's always busy', or 'this bishop gets involved in business, he's a bit of a business man and that's not going' , o 'this bishop deals with things that do not go with his mission', or 'this bishop is always suitcase-in-hand, always around, everywhere', or 'guitar-in-hand', everyone thinks ... this is the way it is ... God's people know when the shepherd is a shepherd, when the pastor is close to them, when the pastor knows how to keep watch over them and gives his life for them.

This is how the life of a bishop must be and also his death. The Pope cited the example of Saint Turibius de Mogrovejo, who died in a small indigenous village, surrounded by his Christians who played him the chirimía so he could die in peace. "Let us pray to the Lord - he concluded - to always give us good pastors, that good shepherds never be lacking in the Church: we cannot go forward without them. May they be men like that, workers, prayerful, close to the people of God ... let's say it in a word: men who know how to keep watch".