🗓️14 novSt. Josaphat, bishop and martyr

✝️St. Josaphat (c. 1580-1623), born in present-day Ukraine, was a central figure in the quest for Church unity. Originally from the Orthodox tradition, he became a Basilian monk and later the Archbishop of Polotsk. He dedicated his life to promoting the Union of Brest, which re-established full communion for many Ruthenians with the See of Rome while preserving their rich Eastern liturgical traditions. His fervent defense of unity and his reform of the clergy aroused violent hatred, culminating in his martyrdom at the hands of a mob in Vitebsk. He perfectly embodied the image of the Good Shepherd from today's Gospel, who does not flee from the wolf but lays down his life for his sheep, offering himself as a sacrifice for the unity of Christ's flock.

📖Epistle (Heb 5:1-6)

Brethren: For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on them that are ignorant and that err, because he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And therefore he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. Neither does any man take the honor to himself, but he that is called by God, as Aaron was. So Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high priest, but he that said to him: “You are my Son, this day have I begotten you.” As he says also in another place: “You are a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedec.”

🌿Gospel (Jn 10:11-16)

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. But the hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees: and the wolf catches and scatters the sheep. And the hireling flees, because he is a hireling, and he has no care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know mine, and mine know me. As the Father knows me, and I know the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

🕯️Reflections

🕊️The contrast drawn by Christ between the Good Shepherd and the hireling is not merely a poetic illustration but the very heart of the mystery of salvation and the priesthood. The Good Shepherd owns the sheep and loves them to the point of laying down his life for them; the hireling, on the other hand, works only for pay, and his interest lies not in the good of the flock but in his own safety and gain. St. Augustine deepens this distinction, identifying the "wolf" not just as a physical predator but as the devil, the tempter who attacks the soul. The hireling, who can be any leader seeking self-interest instead of God's glory, "sees the wolf and flees because he is a hireling and has no care for the sheep. He does not stand against the danger for the sheep, because he does not love them; he loves only the temporal reward" (St. Augustine, Tractate on the Gospel of John, 46, 5). St. Josaphat lived the radical opposite of this figure. Faced with the wolves of schism and hatred that threatened to scatter his flock, he did not flee. Instead, he stood firm, interposing himself with his own body and blood, proving to be a true shepherd after Christ's own heart.

⛪The Epistle to the Hebrews reveals the foundation of the true Shepherd's authority: the divine call. Christ did not appoint Himself High Priest; He was appointed by the Father, just like Aaron. This divine vocation is the source of His legitimacy and power to save, radically differentiating Him from the hireling who assumes an honor that does not belong to him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the ministerial priesthood is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ, configuring the priest to Christ the Head so that he may act in His person for the sake of the flock (cf. CCC 1548). St. Josaphat understood that his episcopacy was not a worldly honor or a position of power, but a vocation to be configured to the High Priest who "can have compassion on them that are ignorant and that err." His life was a continuous sacrifice, offered not only for the sins of the people but in union with the one sacrifice of Christ for the unity of the Church.

🌍The consummation of the Good Shepherd's ministry and St. Josaphat's mission converge in Christ's prophecy: "And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold... and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." This passage is the biblical foundation for the zeal for Christian unity. This is not a vague or merely spiritual unity, but a visible communion, "one fold" under "one shepherd." St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that unity is one of the four essential marks of the Church, for she has "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (cf. Eph 4:5). St. Josaphat understood that the separation of his brethren from the See of Peter was a wound in the Mystical Body of Christ and a contradiction to the explicit desire of the Good Shepherd. His martyrdom, therefore, is a powerful testimony that the unity of the Church, sealed by Petrine authority, is not a political or administrative matter, but a truth of faith for which it is worth dying. He gave his life so that the "other sheep" might hear the Shepherd's voice and be gathered into the one fold, fulfilling the prayer and mandate of Our Lord.

✍️See English version of the critical articles here.