The Good Shepherd

                    4th Sunday of Easter

                  A cycle

 

 

 

In the Sundays after Easter the readings usually give us testimony or witness to the Resurrection of the Lord. Two Sundays ago we had the touching account of doubting Thomas. Last Sunday, we heard about the appearance of the Risen Lord to the disciples at Emmaus. They recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. 

 

In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter stands up in front of a congregation much like ours and proceeds to discuss the implications of the Resurrection.

 

“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain

That God has made both Lord and Christ

This Jesus whom you crucified.”

 

One way for us to understand the word of God is to try and put ourselves in the picture whenever we hear the word proclaimed. Although Peter is speaking to the congregation of Jews in front of him, we should consider that he is also speaking to us. He died for all of us and He was raised from the dead for all of us as Peter reminds us:

 

“For the promise is made to you and your children

And to all those far off,

Whomever the Lord our God will call.”

 

The word call should remind us of today’s gospel about the Good Shepherd. “The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” What does it mean to hear the voice of the Lord? Most of us are never going to experience a mystical one-on-one calling. Maybe we should rather focus on what Jesus actually said and did as recorded in our Scriptures. Where was our shepherd leading us? 

 

We know that he was a healer of both body and soul and he continually urged us to follow his example. He told us to love one another and our neighbor as ourselves. In a famous chapter in the Gospel of St. Matthew, he told us that whenever we fed the hungry, or clothed the naked, or visited the sick, we were doing it for Him. 

 

Today is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. The responsorial psalm is taken from Psalm 23: “the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. But in a way Jesus asks us to follow his example and not just be sheep but shepherds to the little flock entrusted to our own care. I know that Mother’s Day is celebrated next month, and there can be no better example of good shepherds in our midst than our own mothers. When we were young, we knew this instinctively. We followed our mother’s advice and guidance and went to them for shelter and protection. Little did we realize how much they suffered and bore so that we might live and prosper. 

 

In today’s second reading Peter again speaks of those who have been called to follow the example of Christ. The words especially apply to all mothers.

 

For to this you have been called,

Because Christ also suffered for you.

Leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.

 

All over the world today mothers are suffering for their children both young and old. We don’t often think of women as shepherds but the words that Peter spoke of Jesus could apply to most mothers. When they are insulted, they return no insult. When they suffer, they do not threaten. They patiently bear their children’s faults and imperfections in the hope that they might find happiness. And when their children go astray, they pray for them, search for them, and hope for their safe return.

 

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Note: In the  image from a stained glass window in Our Lady of the Assumption church in Fairfield, Connecticut, Jesus hands the shepherd's staff to Peter and tells him to "feed my sheep."

Reading 1.Acts 2: 14a, 36-41

Reading II. 1 Peter 2: 20b-25

Gospel. John 10: 1-10 (good shepherd)

The Good Shepherd

                                     4th Sunday of Easter

                                   

Feed My Sheep
Assumption Church
Fairfield, CT

In the Sundays after Easter the readings usually give us testimony or witness to the Resurrection of the Lord. Two Sundays ago we had the touching account of doubting Thomas. Last Sunday, we heard about the appearance of the Risen Lord to the disciples at Emmaus. They recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. 

In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter stands up in front of a congregation much like ours and proceeds to discuss the implications of the Resurrection.

“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain

That God has made both Lord and Christ

This Jesus whom you crucified.”

One way for us to understand the word of God is to try and put ourselves in the picture whenever we hear the word proclaimed. Although Peter is speaking to the congregation of Jews in front of him, we should consider that he is also speaking to us. He died for all of us and He was raised from the dead for all of us as Peter reminds us:

“For the promise is made to you and your children

And to all those far off,

Whomever the Lord our God will call.”

The word call should remind us of today’s gospel about the Good Shepherd. “The sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” What does it mean to hear the voice of the Lord? Most of us are never going to experience a mystical one-on-one calling. Maybe we should rather focus on what Jesus actually said and did as recorded in our Scriptures. Where was our shepherd leading us? 

We know that he was a healer of both body and soul and he continually urged us to follow his example. He told us to love one another and our neighbor as ourselves. In a famous chapter in the Gospel of St. Matthew, he told us that whenever we fed the hungry, or clothed the naked, or visited the sick, we were doing it for Him. 

Today is often called Good Shepherd Sunday. The responsorial psalm is taken from Psalm 23: “the Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. But in a way Jesus asks us to follow his example and not just be sheep but shepherds to the little flock entrusted to our own care. I know that Mother’s Day is next week but there can be no better example of good shepherds in our midst than our own mothers. When we were young, we knew this instinctively. We followed our mother’s advice and guidance and went to them for shelter and protection. Little did we realize how much they suffered and bore so that we might live and prosper. 

In today’s second reading Peter again speaks of those who have been called to follow the example of Christ. The words especially apply to all mothers.

For to this you have been called,

Because Christ also suffered for you.

Leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.

All over the world today mothers are suffering for their children both young and old. We don’t often think of women as shepherds but the words that Peter spoke of Jesus could apply to most mothers. When they are insulted, they return no insult. When they suffer, they do not threaten. They patiently bear their children’s faults and imperfections in the hope that they might find happiness. And when their children go astray, they pray for them, search for them, and hope for their safe return.

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Reading 1.Acts 2: 14a, 36-41

Reading II. 1 Peter 2: 20b-25

Gospel. John 10: 1-10 (good shepherd)

Christ the King

            Our Lord Jesus Christ the King

 

The Lamb in the Midst of the Throne
Rose Window, Assumption Church
Fairfield, CT*

The feast of Christ the King marks the end of the church year. Although Christians have always believed in the Kingship of Christ, the feast is a relatively recent one dating only from 1925. At a time when the very idea of Kingship was on the way out, the Pope chose to emphasize the Kingship of Christ.The Second Vatican Council re-emphasized the importance of the feast when it moved it from the last Sunday in October to the very last Sunday of the church year.

Naturally, the theme of today's readings is Kingship. The first reading from the prophet Ezekiel compares the role of a leader to that of a shepherd. The reading makes clear that a true king exists to serve his people, and not to be served by them.

            Thus says the Lord God,

            I myself will look after and tend my sheep.

           

In America we have never been partial to kings or the idea of Kingship. We pride ourselves on being a government "of the people, for the people, and by the people." It wasn't only that our founding fathers revolted against King George III of England but their aversion to kingship went even deeper.

Kings were supposed to be God's divinely appointed representatives on earth. Their coronations were religious ceremonies where the new king would be anointed with holy oils by a religious leader. Political philosophers spoke of the "divine right of kings" to justify their power. Old traditions held that the king even possessed miraculous healing powers. It was believed that merely touching his cloak could cure many physical maladies.

By the time of our Revolution it was clear that most kings were not what they were supposed to be. Many had come to their thrones not by divine right or election but through violence and usurpation. Many did not behave like representatives of God especially when it came to being good shepherds. A king was supposed to be the best and noblest man in the nation but often he seemed to be the worst. Even if they started out with good intentions, power corrupted them.

But what if there was a person whose teaching was both simpler and wiser than any of the world's great philosophers? What if this same teacher was able to calm storms at sea and even walk on the angry waters? What if there was a person who did indeed possess miraculous healing powers? -- if merely touching his cloak could cure both physical and spiritual ailments? What if there was a person who could feed the multitudes not only with bread for a day but with the bread of everlasting life? What if there was a person whose power was so great that he could even bring the dead back to life? Finally, what if there was a person who rather than being corrupted by power, surrendered his own life for his people? Shouldn't we call that person our King?

Today's gospel reading from the 25^th chapter of St. Matthew is one of the most famous in all of scripture. Here we have the image of our Lord in His glory, surrounded by angels, and sitting on His throne at the final or last judgement. He says:

Come, you who are blessed by my Father,

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you

From the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me food,

I was thirsty and you gave me drink,

A stranger and you welcomed me,

Naked and you clothed me,

Ill and you cared for me,

In prison and you visited me.

We know the response. When the blessed ask when they did all these things, the King replies, “whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.” What a King! He does not ask us to sacrifice ourselves for Him but only to follow His example and give our lives for others. Continually in the gospels Jesus diverts our attention from Himself and tells us that we must care for others. We can only come into His kingdom if we see Him in our neighbor.

Today’s second reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians seems to be all about death but it is really about life. St. Paul believed that originally we were not meant to die, that we had been created, every single one of us, to live forever in Paradise. But then sin entered the world and death followed sin. This is why St. Paul thought the Resurrection of our Lord was the central event in History. Our King has defeated death and because of that we can follow Him to everlasting life. We merely have to feed and cloth and visit all those who have been entrusted to our care.

The scene of the Last Judgement where the sheep are separated from the goats has been immortalized by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Even before that time innumerable churches had put this image high up in their beautiful west windows.  Usually in the back of the church, the west faced the setting sun which was identified with the end of the world or the final judgement. As they left the church the congregation could look up and see the Lamb of God in the center surrounded by Apostles and Prophets representing all the blessed. 

On this last Sunday of the Church year we can also look up at the Risen Lamb and think of the words from the Book of Revelation.

            The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them,

            And will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life,

            And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

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* Image by Melissa DeStefano. Click on image to enlarge.

Reading 1: Ezekiel 34: 11-12, 15-17

Reading II: 1 Corinthians15: 20-26, 28

Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46 (Inherit the Kingdom).