Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of John (10: 11-16) in which Jesus, the good shepherd, says ‘There are other sheep, not of this fold and these I must lead as well; they too will listen to my voice. There will be only one flock, one shepherd’. Afterwards, Fr Paul shares a little about the life of St Ambrose whose memorial we celebrate today.

Fr Paul says Ambrose was born in Trier (now in Germany) between 337 and 340, to a Roman family: his father was praetorian prefect of Gaul. Ambrose was educated at Rome and embarked on the standard path for Roman advocates and administrators. In about 372 he was made prefect of Liguria and Emilia, whose capital was Milan.

In 374 the bishopric of Milan fell vacant and when Ambrose tried to pacify the conflict between the Catholics and Arians over the appointment of a new bishop, the people turned on him and demanded that he become the bishop himself. He was a layman and not yet baptized, but that was no defence. Coerced by the people and by the emperor, he was baptized, ordained, and installed as bishop within a week, on 7 December 374.

He immediately gave his money to the poor and his land to the Church and set about learning theology. He had the advantage of knowing Greek, which few people did at that time, and so he was able to read the Eastern theologians and philosophers as well as those of the West.

He was assiduous in carrying out his office, acting with charity to all: a true shepherd and teacher of the faithful. He was unimpressed by status, and he also wrote a number of hymns which are still in use today.

Ambrose was a key figure in the conversion of St Augustine to Catholicism, impressing Augustine by his intelligence and scholarship. He died on Holy Saturday, 4 April 397.

So today, Fr Paul invites us to ask, ‘St Ambrose… Pray for us!’.