FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER B
2021
The Gospels for the eight Sundays of the Easter Season from
Easter to Pentecost form a wonderfully cohesive progression from Jesus’
resurrection to our taking up Jesus’ mission to preach the Gospel. The first three Sundays of Easter always
feature appearance accounts of the Risen Lord.
This fourth Sunday is termed as Good Shepherd Sunday. We are invited to reflect on Jesus’ great
love and care for us and be assured that we will not be abandoned. Jesus will
be with us always. On this Good Shepherd
Sunday, we begin our mission of discipleship as we move us into the second half
of the Easter season and our preparation for the celebration of the descent of
the Spirit at Pentecost.
Today, we hear the words of the Good Shepherd. “I am the good Shepherd. I know mine and mine know me. I will lay down my life for the sheep.”
They will know and recognize my voice.
The Shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them
out. The sheep follow him because they
do not follow the voice of a stranger.
Who speaks the voices in your life in which you feel that
you are safe and very much loved? A
second important question: How well do
we recognize the voice of Jesus in our life?
Who in your family speaks words of unconditional love to
you? Who in our faith community speak
words to you to assure you that you are safe and very much loved? Who is the first person who spoke to you the
words: “I love you?” Who is the last
person to speak those words to you? When
was the last time you spoke the words “I love you” to someone?
Our challenge is how to discern the voice of the Good
Shepherd among all the voices in our society that want to demand our
attention. VOICES – We hear them all the
time, from our first conscious moment till the day we die. Voices hurt us, heal us, form our
self-concept, encourage, or diminish us. What
voices do our youth listen to in the video games and the music and the culture
that fantasizes and celebrates violence in all forms of our media?
We live in a country that has always been proud of its
willingness to use force – sometimes legitimately, sometimes illegitimately –
to get its way.
We need to face to the reality that we are a nation that is
addicted to violence. It sustains us and
entertains us. And every now and then
when it erupts in a place where we think it shouldn’t -- we throw us our hands and wonder what
went wrong.
Just
as with person who is addicted to alcohol or drugs, nothing happens until you
admit you have a problem. Our problem as
a society stems from the voices we are listening to that mold and shape us.
It
is not the voice of the Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace that molded and
fashioned the violence that happens far too often in the streets of our cities. Perhaps it is the voices of the video games
and the music and the culture that fantasizes and celebrates violence in all
forms of our media.
What would it take for the voice of the Good Shepherd to be
the dominant voice that we hear in our society?
Perhaps a better advertising firm?
An improved website? More
money?
Surely, it is much deeper than that. There is a critical need for moral leadership
in our society and in our church. We need to be able to hear the stirrings of
God’s love that is within – our inner voice.
For the voice of the Good Shepherd to be our dominant voice,
we need to tap into the inner resources of the mystery of God’s love that is
within each one of us. There is a
longing in the hearts of each of us to hear and to know the voice of the Good
Shepherd.
Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare “to
call.” Our vocation is our response to
the call of God in our lives. Usually
when we think of prayer for vocations, we are talking about prayer for
vocations to the ordained ministry and religious life. And I wish to speak to the importance of
ordained ministry vocations in a moment or two, but first I wish to speak of vocation
in the sense that we all have a God-given vocation.
By Baptism, God calls the entire community of the baptized to
be disciples, to be witnesses of His presence in our world. All of us have a vocational story to
share. Your vocational story is to be
found in the way you share the giftedness you have been given in the
relationships, in the work, in the ways you live your life. Your vocational story is your continuous
response to God’s call. To be aware of
your vocation is to be aware of the voice of God in your life on this day.
You who are moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers,
you have an awesome God-given vocation in your family life to witness to the mystery
of God’s love in your family life. My
question for you is there prayer in your home family life? Do you
as a family give thanks to God in prayer for the blessings of your family life?
If your prayer is unspoken in the hearing of your family, may I suggest that
you think about how as a family you could pray together in your home?
Family life is a precious opportunity to recognize the voice
of the Good Shepherd in your life. My
sister Jean shares that it was her son that was the voice of the Good Shepherd
in their family life inviting his mom and dad and his siblings to pray together
as a family.
It is beautiful when our prayer life invites us to be aware
of the voice of the Good Shepherd in our lives.
May we also be aware of the ways we can recognize the voice of the Good
Shepherd in the ways we are with each other.
In the actions of kindness, forgiveness, and service in which we receive
from others and in the ways that we share our love and service with others are golden
opportunities for us to discern the voice of the Good Shepherd in our lives.
Message here is that while moms and dads have a precious
vocation, all of us without exception need to be aware of the call of God in our lives in which we are to
witness to the mystery of God’s love in our world.
If all of us were to affirm that we have a vocational story
to share, this faith community has the potential to transforming the
communities in which we live to be place in which the dignity and life of each
person would be loved and highly valued.
In the context of celebrating all
the ways we hear and respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd in our lives,
may we encourage and pray that some of the young men from our faith community
will consider the call of God to the ordained priesthood and diaconate. For me, the vocation of my ministry as a
priest has been a source of grace, considerable joy, and a wonderful
opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. It has given me the opportunity to get to
know you and for us together to celebrate the mystery of God’s love in our midst. Without any doubt, the Church needs people to
respond to the call to the ordained ministry as a deacon and as a priest.
Each of us is called to lead
others to the gracious mercy of God.
Like the Good Shepherd, we do not do this by herding or forcing people
along. We seek to live lives of such
self-evident joy that others can trust that we are leading them in the path of
life eternal.
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, give us
the grace to gently lead others to become more aware of our love and of God’s
love.
Have a Blessed Day.
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