Homily: 4th Sunday in Easter – Cycle C
Friends, this weekend we are celebrating a number of
wonderful things: namely, our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, the World Day for
Vocations, and Mother’s Day. It’s an exciting
day! We also call today “Good Shepherd
Sunday”, since the Gospel reading for the day, regardless of which year in the
three-year cycle of readings we are in, is taken from the “Good Shepherd”
discourse in John’s Gospel. Certainly,
there are many great things to preach on today, but I am going to focus in on a
phrase from our first reading that, hopefully, will give us something to take
home with us to ponder and to work on this week.
In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear of
Paul and Barnabas making their way to Antioch to proclaim the Good News of
Jesus Christ to the community there.
Being Jews, they went straight to the synagogue to proclaim to God’s
chosen people that the long-awaited Messiah had come: Jesus of Nazareth, who
was persecuted and put to death, but rose from the dead on the third day and
now lives, having taken his place at the right hand of God in heaven. They came to proclaim to the Jews in Antioch
that it is only in the name of Jesus that they can find salvation. From the sound of it, they found a positive
reception that first sabbath day as it says that many who were there began to
follow them.
Paul and Barnabas spoke to those who began to follow them and
urged them to “remain faithful to the grace of God.” This phrase—remain faithful to the grace of
God—struck me as important. Of all of
the things that Paul and Barnabas could have told the ones who were beginning
to follow them—for example, “go learn to pray”, or “go study the scriptures”,
or “go serve the poor”—they chose to urge them to “remain faithful to the grace
of God”. I think that this is a great
Easter message for all of us and it’s a theme that connects with our other
readings today.
In the second reading, we continue to hear of John’s
visions, recorded for us in the book of Revelation. In this vision, we see a great multitude of
people, too many to count, who are identified as “the ones who have survived
the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb”. This description
is “New Testament speak” for the martyrs: those who have shed their blood for
Christ. And what does “having survived
the time of great distress” mean, except that they “remained faithful to the
grace of God”? These who are identified
as martyrs—and who, therefore, stand before the throne of God (that is, who
stand in heaven)—are the ones who have remained faithful to the grace of God
and, therefore, enjoy the reward for their faithfulness.
In the Gospel reading, we hear Jesus say, “My sheep hear my
voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish”. He continues to say, “No one can take them
out of my hand.” This is a beautiful
truth about Jesus as the true Good Shepherd.
What isn’t revealed here, however, is that, while no one can take one of Jesus’ sheep from him, his
sheep, nonetheless, can wander away
on their own. Jesus’ promise is amazing
and should give hope to everyone who comes to him; but it should also stir in
us a desire to “remain faithful to the grace of God”, so that, having become a
member of Jesus’ flock, we don’t find ourselves having drifted away from him
and no longer able to hear his voice.
For when we can no longer hear his voice—that is, when we have failed to
remain faithful to God’s grace—then we are no longer protected by his promise.
Friends, this really is the ongoing message of this Easter
season. Having feasted on the joy of
Jesus’ resurrection, we perhaps find ourselves like those first followers of
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch: excited but not quite sure what to do next. To us the same instruction is given: “remain
faithful to the grace of God”. What does
this mean for us?
Surely it means “Do not return to your life of sin”. Sin is incompatible with the grace of God and
so for us to return to the sin that we strove to leave behind during Lent would
be an infidelity to the grace given to us by God (which, in point of fact,
helped us to break free from that sin in the first place). I would say that it also means to be docile
to the Holy Spirit.
The grace of God, which we received at baptism, is the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This
Spirit dwells in us to guide us and point us to God’s will for our lives. He is not forceful, however. We may choose not to listen to the promptings
of the Holy Spirit, but rather choose to follow our own will: in which case we
stray from Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and make ourselves vulnerable to being
overcome by the Evil One who seeks to separate us eternally from God. If we make ourselves docile to the Spirit, however,
we remain faithful to the grace of God and, thus, close to the protecting hand
of Jesus—enabling us to walk more confidently: ready to share the Good News of
Jesus Christ to anyone who will listen.
Finally, I might also add, on this World Day for Vocations,
that “remaining faithful to the grace of God” is also the way that we come to
know and follow our vocation: whether that be to the priesthood or the
diaconate, to the consecrated religious life, to marriage, or to the
consecrated single life. We cannot
expect to know God’s will, which is made known to us through grace, unless we
remain faithful to God’s grace throughout our lives. /// Oh, and by the way,
holy vocations foster other holy vocations!
Therefore, if you want to promote vocations to the priesthood, then
remain faithful to the grace of God in your own vocation! When young people see others leading
joy-filled lives while following God’s will, it will inspire in them a desire
to know that same joy in their own lives and they, too, will begin to discern
God’s call.
Therefore, friends, let us spend some time this week
reflecting on whether we have “remained faithful to the grace of God”; and, if
we haven’t, to commit once again to do so.
In this way, we will stay attuned to the voice of Jesus, our Good
Shepherd who leads us to eternal life, and we will also be great witnesses—that
is, martyrs—to the joy
of a life united to Christ, which will lead others to him, so that there may
truly be “one flock” and “one shepherd” throughout the world. May God bless us all in this good work.
Given in Spanish at St. Joseph
Parish: Rochester, IN and St. Augustine Parish: Rensselaer, IN – May 11th,
2025
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