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Dear Friend, Everybody wants to
have a full and enjoyable life. To this purpose people are ready to try out anything
that promises a fuller life. Young people in particular are ready to
experiment and try out a variety of experiences in the hope that life will
become more exciting and fulfilling, often becoming quickly disillusioned.
Have we tried a spiritual path? Have we tried the ‘God experience’, which
promises to be the gateway to fullness of life? Have a fulfilling weekend experiencing the care of the Good
Shepherd! Fr. Jude Botelho |
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In today’s first reading from the Acts of the
Apostles, we hear Peter’s Pentecost sermon where Peter contrasts what God did
to Jesus with what the people did to him. While the people crucified him, God
raised Jesus from the dead, exalted him and made him both Lord and Messiah.
The listeners were awakened by Peter’s sermon and filled with guilt asked:
“What should we do?” Peter’s answer was: “You must repent.” Their response should be to reform, to
repent and be baptized. Repentance implied a change of heart, a conversion, a
turning away from evil and a turning towards God. The second reading contains
Peter’s advice regarding the practical advice about Christian living. The
general context is obedience to lawfully constituted authorities.
Specifically he is advising slaves engaged in domestic work to be obedient to
their masters. We have to understand that slavery was a fact of life at the
time of Peter and Paul. Peter never thought of campaigning against slavery.
What Peter did was to give a Christian meaning to Christians found themselves
being slaves. They could be inspired by the example of Jesus who suffered
silently in spite of being innocent. On the other hand slaves should treat
slaves with human dignity. Obedience can changes things! In today’s Gospel, which is the only parable in St. John’s entire Gospel, Jesus adds to the previous images of himself, his being both the Good Shepherd and the Gate to Life. As Good Shepherd he calls his own by name. Among the Hebrews, sheep were raised for wool and milk and not for meat; so like domesticated animals, they became almost pets to the shepherd. Palestinian shepherds did not use dogs to herd the sheep rather the shepherd himself led his sheep. The sheep would respond to the voice of the shepherd but not to another’s. “They never follow a stranger but run away from him; they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” The true sheep of God are able to discern the one who speaks with God’s voice. Jesus also calls himself the Gate of the sheepfold. “I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold. Anyone who enters through me will be safe, he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture.” Flocks of sheep were protected from wild animals of the night by a sound wall. There was no gate as such into the sheepfold. The shepherd acted as the gate. Sheep pass through the gate through the shepherd’s hands, which examine each one in turn, and the shepherd applies healing oil to any scratches or bruises, and gives each one a drink of cool water. When all have passed through, the shepherd lies across the entrance to become the protecting gate which shuts off all prowling predators. Jesus adds the warning that all who climb into the sheepfold in some other way than himself are thieves and brigands. Perhaps Jesus is referring to all those in the church responsible for bad leadership or foolish leadership, and all of us who have a little of the shepherd and a little of the thief in us. Knowing His voice One biblical commentator H. V. Morton relates an interesting
incident, which took place not far from Bethlehem. Two shepherds had
evidently spent the night along with their sheep in a cave. In the morning
the sheep were all mixed up, and the time had come for them to part their
ways in different directions. One of the shepherds stood some distance away
from the sheep and began to call. First one, then another and then four or
five animals began to run towards him, and so on until he counted his whole
flock. The sheep could recognize the voice of their shepherd. John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ Jesus is the only gate to the fullness of life. We may look for
fullness of life in other places but will not find it. In fact, Jesus came
into this world precisely to give us fullness of life. “I have come so that
they may have life and have it to the full.” By human effort we can work
towards physical wellbeing, intellectual development and emotional balance.
But it is only in the call of Christ to the soul that we can sense the divine
energy of his life within us. The fullness of life is reached only when we
let God’s presence within us be expressed to others, through our thoughts,
attitudes and actions. I am the Gate In his book The Holy Land, John Kellman describes a
field pen. It consists of a circular stone wall about four feet high with an
opening in it. Kellman says that one day a Holy Land tourist saw a field pen
near Hebron. He asked a shepherd sitting nearby, “Where’s the gate of your
pen?” The shepherd said, “I am the gate.”
The shepherd then told the tourist how he herded his flock into the
pen each night. They he lay down across the narrow entrance. No sheep could
leave the pen and no wild animal could enter it, without stepping on his
body.- Two things stand out in this beautiful story. The first thing is the
oneness that developed between the shepherd and his sheep. The second thing
that stands out is the deep dedication of the shepherd to his sheep. It
extended even to risking his life for them. Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’ "The
Shepherd imagery is deeply rooted in Biblical thought. God is the ultimate
shepherd of the people, providing guidance, sustenance, and protection (Ps.
23); kings and other leaders were to be shepherds of their people. Israel’s
hopes for the end times include a messianic figure who, like David the
shepherd king, would gather in the people. One of the interesting ways in
which the evangelist John refashions the traditions found in the other
Gospels is by making Jesus himself the subject of the parabolic images. In Matthew
and Luke Jesus tells of a shepherd who seeks lost sheep; In John, Jesus
himself is the ‘good’ shepherd who lays down his life for the ‘lost’. In the
synoptic Jesus tells parables about vineyards where God is the owner (Mark
12: 1-2), while in John, Jesus himself is the vine and the disciples are the
branches. The parable giver of the synoptic Gospels becomes the parable of
God in John. Though not proclaimed in this Sunday’s gospel, the distinctive
Johannine addition of the shepherd imagery of the bible is a shepherd who
will lay down his life for his flock, which includes sheep not of ‘this
fold’, so there will be ‘one flock’ and ‘one shepherd’. A Johanine disciple
is not chosen to govern but to be a faithful witness who brings people to
Jesus. The ‘pastoring’ is done by Jesus, who knows and listens to the sheep.
He is also their way, truth, and life, and true disciples form a community of
friends known by their self-emptying love.” – John Donahue sj Watching over them Cheryl Cassidy was a registered nurse. One afternoon she
arrived at the Arts centre to pick her daughter Rachael from her dance
lesson. She usually used to run another errand before picking up her daughter
–procure milk. On that day as she turned that corner, she changed her mind
and did not go to the milk booth. This decision saved her daughter’s life and
eight other lives. Instead of waiting in the car as she usually did, that day
she went into the dance studio. There she found her daughter along with eight
others overcome by carbon-monoxide poisoning. With the help of the family
across the street she was able to pull out each one out of the building and
revive them. Later referring to the watchfulness of God, Cheryl very finely
concluded: “Somebody was watching out for these girls besides me.” John Rose in ‘John’s Sunday Homilies’ May we believe that God cares
for us always and may we radiate his care to others! Fr. Jude
Botelho |
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Other Sunday Homily Websites Daily Reflections Immaculate Heart Retreat Center Gospel Commentary from Ireland Daily Scripture |
Recent
Sunday Reflections Third Sunday of Easter 06-April. 2008 Second Sunday of Easter 30-March. 2008 Maundy Thursday 20-March. 2008 Fifth Sunday of Lent 09-March. 2008
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