The image of the Good Shepherd is the most common symbolic representation found in early Christian art in the catacombs of Rome, before it could be more explicit. This depiction of Jesus continued to be used in the following centuries after the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire (313 AD).

In the Gospel of John, Christ speaks to us by referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd:

"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a mercenary, and not a shepherd, to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming, and abandons the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them away and scatters them. The mercenary runs away, because he is a mercenary and does not care about the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd, I know my sheep and those who are mine, they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and lay down my life for the sheep. I also have other sheep that are not of this fold, and these also I must bring them; they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. That is why the Father loves me, because I give my life to redeem them. No one takes my life from me. I give it up willingly! I have the power to give it up and the power to receive it back again;  this command I have received from My Father”

Let us remain united to our priests with prayer and obedience!