FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
7 MAY 2017
One of the great features of our new church
is that there are lots of images. Those
images can help us to visualize the spoken Word. That is true of today’s readings. The triumphal arch is dominated by the Good Shepherd,
seated on his throne and drawing his flock from Bethlehem and Jerusalem to
himself. In other words, through the
mysteries of the Incarnation (Bethlehem) and his death and resurrection
(Jerusalem), he wants to draw all people to himself in the heavenly
kingdom. The sheep clearly recognize his
voice and come to him.
That is what shepherds in the
ancient world would do. They spent their
entire time with their flock, guiding them to safe places for grazing and water. At night, shepherds would lead their flocks
into sheepfolds to protect them from robbers or wild animals. Because there were no gates in these
sheepfolds, the shepherds would take turns lying across the entrance. They were the gate, and shepherds sometimes
gave their lives to violent robbers or ravenous wolves.
Our Good Shepherd knows each of us
by our name and calls us to himself. As
Saint Peter says in the first reading, our Good Shepherd became the gate and
laid down his life for us. That action
of laying down his life for us is dramatically portrayed in the cross hanging
above the Altar. Having laid down his
life, he has become the Lamb of God, as pictured in the mosaic on the front of
the Altar. At this Mass, we welcome the
final group of our second graders to be fed by the Lamb of God in Holy
Communion for the first time. Fed by the
Body and Blood of Christ, they will be strengthened to listen to the voice of
the Good Shepherd and to trust in his loving care for them as they walk with us
on our pilgrimage to the new and eternal Jerusalem.
Saint Peter is very bold in his
homily. He calls Jesus both Lord and
Christ. Roman citizens referred to
Caesar as “lord,” and Peter’s bold proclamation that Jesus is Lord would
eventually cost him his life. Calling
Jesus the Christ got in trouble with his fellow Jewish brothers and sisters,
who denied that he was the Messiah.
Peter also tells his listeners that they had been part of crucifying
Jesus Christ. Cut to the heart by his
words, they ask what they should do. He
tells them to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. His words are so direct and strong that 3,000
people are baptized that day.
Having listened to this homily of Saint Peter with us at this Mass, our first
communicants will renew the promises made for them when they were baptized as
infants. Their white garments connect
them to their baptisms, when they were clothed with a white garment to indicate
that they had put on Christ. With them,
we renew the promises made at our baptism.
We confess that we have not always put the Lordship of Jesus Christ
above everything else. Too often, we
have put our trust in those things that do not last. We may not have been part of his actual
crucifixion, but we have denied knowing Christ when we have not lived those
promises, just as Peter had denied knowing Christ on Holy Thursday. Just as Peter learned from his sin and
accepted forgiveness from Jesus, we too can learn from our sins to turn again
to the Good Shepherd, who forgives us and protects us in the sheepfold that is
the Church.
As we continue to celebrate these
fifty days of Easter, we open our ears to the voice of the Good Shepherd
calling us to put our faith in his risen presence. It is not always easy to live our baptismal
promises. It is not always easy to
acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Christ.
There are many other voices competing for our attention. His risen presence is most clearly revealed
at the Eucharist, when the Good Shepherd speaks to each of us by name and feeds
us with his Body and Blood. Our first
communicants can help us deepen our Easter faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment