The President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) has called on his brother Bishops and Clergy to be holistic in the “task of shepherding.”

In his Tuesday, June 13 homily at the votive mass of St Peter, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka reflected on St Peter’s model of shepherding. He said, “Shepherding, as explained in Ezekiel, seeks the well-being of the sheep instead of looking after one’s own advantage at the expense of the sheep.”

He continued, “As we gather here, Peter is reminding us that as elders and bishops, this task of holistic and sacrificial shepherding lies ultimately with us, and in turn, we are to encourage our collaborators to be holistic in this task of shepherding.”

The SACBC President encouraged his brother Bishops to ask St Peter to intercede for them in shepherding the flock. He recalled the Apostle Peter as “a fellow elder” who knew “the challenges and difficulties of functioning as a shepherd over a local church.”

He said, “We also request the intercession of Peter that our flock in the conference may not only be happy to be shepherded but that it, in turn, will also be a good influence that will attract the whole of humanity into God’s flock.”

Bishop Sipuka noted that guiding “young people” and ‘the lack of cohesion and unity among the flock of different races” remains a challenge.

“For us in the Conference, one difficult portion of the sheep that are difficult to guide is the young people. Some of us are reaching a point of frustration because of the seeming lack of response by the youth. Yet frustrated as we may feel, we are not to give up on them because we are called to tend them,” said Bishop Sipuka.

He added, “The other frustrating part of shepherding at the conference is the lack of cohesion and unity among the flock of different races.

“And so, as we gather here, let us ask St. Peter, a fellow elder who understands these challenges of shepherding, to pray for us for the grace of the wisdom to gather all the portions of the flock into one flock,” said Bishop Sipuka in the Tuesday, June 13 homily.