John 10: 11-18
Dear Friends,
Today and the next three Sundays of the Easter Season we are invited to ponder and pray about the mystery of the Resurrection through some passages from the Gospel of St. john. We are asked to go beyond the Resurrection stories to the deeper spiritual message that is so characteristic of John’s Gospel.
Of course, Jesus has risen, Alleluia! But what does that have to do with $4 a gallon at the pump or crazy in-laws or the exploding cost of college or the savage wars in Gaza and Ukraine?
Making the connection between the stuff of life and the Resurrection is the purpose of the Easter Season. We need to learn how to filter everything through the final victory that is offered to us in the Risen Savior. This is a long and challenging process of letting the reality sink into our grasp of life and experience.
What does it really mean for us that the final and absolutely definitive victory has already been won? The final score that counts is in. The bottom line that will withstand any adjustment is on the board. Christ has won! Jesus is the victor! Reality’s final expression will blossom in the victory of love over hate, life over death, the guidance and protection of the Good Shepherd over the fickleness of fate!
We are asked to see in the Resurrection a God whose tenderness calls us to life in the midst of all the inescapable presence of evil and conflict and confusion that fills our daily existence. The experience of hope and love that we encounter in the Risen Christ helps us to read the almost countless statements of God’s tenderness, compassion and mercy in the Scriptures with new depth and wonder.
In today’s Gospel passage we have Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd. As the Good Shepherd, he is a model for us of one who generously accepts his Father’s will. He is one who witnesses to the divine love. Five times in today’s Gospel reading he tells us he willingly is laying down his life for all the sheep. The message is clear. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, is revealing to us, first and foremost, the tender and caring love of our God.
A second life-giving fact of Jeus’ words today is his statement about other sheep. This is a call to share the divine universality of love for all. There are no outsiders, no illegals in the flock. All were welcome as we have seen in Jesus reaching out to the tax collectors, prostitutes and even the Gentile pagans. All fit into the flock embraced by God’s divine grace
The image of the Good Shepherd is rooted in a consistent message of a caring and loving God. These passages from the Hebrew Scriptures are clear examples of this divine love. “God wipes away the tears of the mournful.” (Isaiah 25:8) … “God collects our tears in his bottle.” (Ps 56:9) “My name and your name are written on the palms of God’s hands.” (Isaiah 49:16) … “God holds us as a mother holds a baby to her cheek and teaches us to walk.” (Hosea 11:3-4) … “God bears us up on eagle’s wings.” (Exodus 19:4) … “God loves with an everlasting love.” (Ps 118).
So much of life is a fundamental struggle and search for the deepest hunger in our heart. We all are seeking true love. Most of us have a lifetime of illusions and broken dreams in this search. Only slowly, do we take Jesus at His word that He has come that we might have life more abundantly. The Easter Season is a new opportunity to listen to the Shepherd who promises true life if we turn and enter the gate that is Jesus Risen.
To enter into the mystery of the Resurrection is to accept the guidance and loving care of the Good Shepherd. It is our passage from death to life, a life that is abundant beyond our dreams. That is why we need to be a people of the Alleluia!
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