May 7, 2017

4th Sunday of Easter A Acts 2: 14, 36-41; 1 Peter 2: 20-25; John 10: 1-10 Do I listen to God’s voice? Do I wonder if I am listening to my own voice or is it God’s voice? Does God listen to me? Do I feel that God has time for me? Does God love me in a special way? How do I recognize God’s voice? Today’s Gospel is taken from Jesus’ Good Shepherd soliloquy, in this He is answering His care for us and how He is leading each of us closer to Himself. On the fourth Sunday of Lent, the Gospel was from the ninth chapter of John and told about the man born blind whom Jesus healed. That was six weeks ago, but it was the previous chapter in John. Today’s Gospel is from the tenth chapter in John. As you remember from the story of the blind man, the Pharisees put up huge obstacles in front of the people, trying to convince them that this man was a sinner, Jesus had violated the Sabbath by healing. Then the leaders threw the now healed man born blind from the temple. In other words, he couldn’t participate in any services he was ‘excommunicated’ from their faith. Today’s gospel, Jesus presents the Good Shepherd theme. This is in sharp contrast to Ezekiel 34:2 where God speaks to the prophet, “Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?” God is saying forcefully that the leadership has failed in bringing the people to God. So God dismissed these failed leaders and took over as the authentic shepherd of the flock. Now Jesus is understood to be the earthly manifestation of the good shepherd. So how do we look at God through this image? Good Shepherds know their sheep…God knows us: Father, Son and Holy Spirit knows us. We know God. Thieves and robbers are not known by the sheep since they don’t enter by the gate but they break in. The thieves and robbers referred to are the Pharisees who are considered false shepherds whose intent is focused on themselves. They have attempted to mislead the people against Jesus. They do not listen to Jesus, they do not care to listen to Jesus. Their leadership role is anything but leadership. Twice in the last paragraph Jesus uses the phrase “I am”…sayings to reveal His divine identity. We go back to the burning bush scene with Moses in Exodus 3, one of the most important passages stating God’s name. “But, said Moses to God, ‘when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what am I to tell them?’ God replied, ‘I am who am.’ Then He added, ‘This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” These two words, I AM, means GOD. In the last paragraph Jesus says, “I AM the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I AM the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved.” Jesus is God. This is what this phrase means. Now the Pharisees not only reject the teaching but also the identity of Jesus. Another beautiful aspect to the image of the Good Shepherd is how the sheep recognize the shepherds voice. We have such a wonderful parallel today. Today’s Sunday Homily Helps says: “Scientific studies, using tape recordings of newborn babies crying, have shown that only two days after a baby is born the child’s mother can recognize their own baby’s cry even when the baby’s cry is mixed in with lots of others. Like wise, mothers in a crowded hospital ward have been shown to sleep though the cries of other infants, but wake up when their own baby cried. We can be remarkably adept at recognizing voices when those voices are significant to us. Think about the number of times you knew who had called you on the telephone after his or her first or second word—even in the days before we had caller ID to help us!” Jesus hears our voice; Jesus cares for His own. I am His. Each person belongs to God. Peter in the first reading is explaining to the people more of the Pentecost experience. Many of these people could have very easily been in the Palm Sunday crowd exhorting Jesus as the Messiah to come who would free Israel. No doubt some could have been in the crowd with the High Priest’s demanding the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. Were they listening to Peter and feeling some sort of guilt? What should they do? Peter shows them the grace of God. God forgives…God cares…God is constantly leading each person closer to Himself…closer to heaven. Peter and the other apostles invite the people to repent and accept Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. God will then give them the gift of the Holy Spirit and they will be God’s children for the rest of their lives. All this constitutes the divine plan of God for all ages. The time has arrived, God’s time for the salvation of the world. Luke then tells us that about three thousand persons were added that day. Then Peter says in his letter how we had gone astray like sheep but the Lord has called us back, praise be to the Lord. The message of the Gospel is seen in the ‘rest of the story’: verses 11-18 of John 10: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.” So I reflect on myself: • How deep is my faith? Is it deep enough to continue on the road that God has laid out for me? • How do I feel when I fail in my attempts to live a gospel life? Do I realize that the Spirit is reaching out and helping me to bounce back? • Can others see in my life a good example of what it means to be a Christian? • Have I reorientated my life in the direction of love as Jesus teaches? • I reflect on the people who have lead me from the sheepfold, through the gate to Jesus. What life instructions have they left me with? Am I sharing them? What do I need to do that? Sacred Space 2017 says: “ The message of Jesus was revolutionary and challenged those who heard it. Many, including some of His disciples, chose to walk away. Peter’s answer is full of trust. He abandons himself to Christ. In my own life now, how do I respond to Christ’s question? Lord, to whom can we go? In my fainthearted moments I hear both Jesus’ gentle voice, giving me the freedom to choose, and the strength of Peter’s reply: You have the words of eternal life. Maybe Peter repeated these words often to himself. It can be a mantra of prayer for us, as can other favorite lines from the Gospels.”