4th Sunday of Easter (Cycle C, Year I)
Community Word: Disciples of the Risen Christ are sent to evangelize unbelievers.
Theme: We are disciples of the Risen Christ when we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him.
Promise: “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of My Hand. (Jn 10:28)
Reflection: Secure in God’s Love
It is said that Sacred Scripture can be defined in just one word – Love. This is true. Indeed there is nothing in Scripture that does not speak of love. Everything, from the Old Testament to the New, from the old Covenant to Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, the word of God speaks only of love, as if the whole book was written only to assure us of God’s presence and of His undying love for us.
Today, we are reminded once again of this love in the story of the Good Shepherd, who remains watchful over the flock he calls his own: “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep,” (vv.14-15). Understandably, in this particular passage, Christ was referring to those who believe in him and abide in his word. That is not to say that the Lord has no compassion for those who may have lost their way, or whose vision of their heavenly destination may have been clouded by the attractions of this world. Indeed Christ makes room for those who are, for the moment, lost: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (v.16).
Love is what this Gospel is about. It does not just speak about Christ as the Good Shepherd who watches over his own, but lays bare the kind of love that God has for his people. The Old Testament speaks of God as the Shepherd of Israel: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. (Ps 23:1) “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!” (Ps 80:1). We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Ps 100:3). Jesus as the Good Shepherd is prophesied in the Old Testament: “He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms” (Is 40:11).
As Scripture unfolds, we see the Bible speaking of the love story between God and his people, the kind of love that has no parallel and whose depth cannot be measured. It tells of a love enshrined in the sacrificial offering of the Shepherd himself who goes out to seek and save the sheep of his pasture (Mat 18:12, Lk 15:4). Jesus is that Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Pt 2:25).
As we read in the New Covenant, Jesus made three promises to those who will deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow him (Lk 9:23). He promised those who will abide by his terms that they will enjoy everlasting life, which means that those who will follow him will be ushered into the very life of God Himself.
What is most amazing about this Gospel passage (Jn 10:27-30) is the promise of everlasting life to those who will obey and follow him: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish” (vv.27-28). As he explained then, and is telling us now, death is not the end but only the beginning of a glorious and indestructible life. Christ promised his disciples and makes the same promise to us now that our lives are secure in him. Jesus said that nothing could ever take us away from his hand, not even sorrow and death, since he is life everlasting itself.
But why are many still thrown into the bowels of the earth where there is gnashing and grinding of teeth? Is it because they have not heard, or did not hear the Gospel of Christ preached to them? Or is it because they chose not to listen, or take heed? Were Jesus and his teachings rejected by many people of his time because they could not accept that a carpenter’s son from Nazareth could be the Son of God referred to in the Old Testament? Even his kin thought he was insane. He cured the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, cast out demons, and even brought people back from the dead. Yet the Jews remained unmoved, unconvinced.
But to those who listened and obeyed, Jesus offered peace and the joy of life without end. Cyril of Alexander, one of the earliest Fathers of the Church says: “He shows in what manner a shepherd may be proved good; and He teaches that he must be prepared to give up his life fighting in defense of his sheep, which was fulfilled in Christ. For man has departed from the love of God, and fallen into sin…,but after Christ was announced as the True Shepherd of all men, He laid down his life for us (1 Jn 3:16), fighting for us against that pack of inhuman beasts. He bore the Cross for us, that by His own death he might destroy death. He was condemned for us, that He might deliver all of us from the sentence of punishment: the tyranny of sin being overthrown by our faith: fastening to the Cross the decree that stood against us, as it is written (Col 2:14).”
St. Cyril is saying the same thing as our Gospel today – that there are two kinds of shepherds in this life, the bad shepherd who flees and deserts us when the going gets rough, and the Good Shepherd, Christ, who is prepared to lay down his life for us. What the Gospel passage is telling us is to take the time to listen attentively to the voice of the Good Shepherd and obey his Word, for we have everything to gain from listening to him and abiding by his commands and precepts.
While others may claim they are masters of their fate and the captain of their soul, it doesn’t mean we are to put our eternal lives at risk. It doesn’t mean we can live our lives in wild abandon, because at the end of the day we have to think about life’s end. Shall we end up cast in the furnace of everlasting fire, or are we going to rejoice in our glorious inheritance in heaven?
Let us not play with our lives and carefully heed the words of Jesus, because it is in Scripture that we will find the plan of God for us. If we say NO to God’s invitation to follow him, we condemn ourselves and deprive ourselves of the joy of an eternal life. If we say MAYBE, our tomorrow may never come. But if we say YES, we have God’s assurance that we will have a share of his endless glory in heaven.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you reflect on the word of God and commune with Him in your prayers daily?
What blessings have you received when you followed God’s will in your day to day decisions
and in a major decision that you have to make?
2. Recall an instance when you did not follow the will of God in your life. Share those circumstances and
what directions you took after that.
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
April 21, 2013 (Sun) Acts 13:14,43,-52/Ps 100:1-3,5/Rv 7:9,14-17/Jn 10:27-30
April 22, 2013 (Mon) Acts 11:1-18/Ps 42:2-3;43:3,4/Jn 10:1-10
April 23, 2013 (Tues) Acts 11:19-26/Ps 87:1-7/Jn 10:22-30
April 24, 2013 (Wed) Acts 12:24-13:5/Ps 67:2,3,5,6,8/Jn 12:44-50
April 25, 2013 (Thur) 1 Pt 5:5-14/Ps 89:2,3,6,7,16,17/Mk 16:15-20
April 26, 2013 (Fri) Acts 13:26-33/Ps 2:6-11/Jn 14:1-6
April 27, 2013 (Sat) Acts 13:44-52/Ps 98:1-4/Jn 14:7-14
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
