Homily originally presented May 3, 2020
Jesus, the Shepherd and Gate to Eternal Life!
For all of you adults viewing this celebration of Mass, think back to your days in the classroom. Did you ever have a Professor who would begin class by backing up a class or two, and reviewing some material already covered ... to refresh you on those topics and give you a basis for going forward with new material?
For you young people who are students now, do any of your Teachers begin their lessons by giving you a short review of the previous things you studied and hopefully learned?
When I was a student, I had some Teachers and some Professors who did this ... and I loved it! I really appreciated how they would review and remind us ...
of the main points from previous classes that brought us up to speed to connect it with the new material of the day.
So let’s take a moment and do that now as we prepare to break open the Scripture readings that the Church gives us for this the 4th Sunday of the Easter Season.
Think back to the 1st ... 2nd ... and 3rd Sundays of Easter.
What was the core message of those Scripture Readings?
The 1st Sunday ... Easter Sunday ... the tomb is empty –
so it appears that Jesus has risen as He promised! But did he really?
The 2nd Sunday ... Divine Mercy Sunday ... the Resurrection Appearances –
Jesus is seen by the Apostles ... twice ... and touched by Thomas!
so Jesus is alive ... Alleluia!
The 3rd Sunday ... the ignition of the Apostles –
yes the Apostles were transformed from timid to courageous ...
they became confident and courageous witnesses of the Risen Lord ...
ignited by the Fire of God’s love, His Holy Spirit.
We’ve been redeemed ... Jesus paid the price for our sins!
We’ve been restored to sonship with the Father! and
We’ve been invited to live in His House forever ... the gates of Heaven are open!
Whew! That’s a lot! So what’s left? What is there left for us to do?
Jesus tells us in our Gospel today. He says,
“I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved
and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
You may know that ... in the Gospel of John ... Jesus reveals who He is
in a series of some 15 different “I AM” Statements.
Today, Jesus speaks one of them ... solemnly declaring:
“Amen, Amen, I say to you, “I am the gate for the sheep.”
which certainly to the people of his time when there were many shepherds of sheep
and even to us today ... we can visualize cattle, sheep and pigs being guided by herdsmen ... into and out of their pens ...
so they can be safe at night ... and go graze during day.
Well, in saying He’s the Gate for the sheep, Jesus is not referring to animals ...
but to all of us, His people.
Yes, we are his flock. And the way we enter into safety .. is to enter into Him.
I’d like to share another visual with you that comes from a scene in the movie, “
“God is not Dead”.
that powerful Christian movie released in 2014.
The scene is where... a man, at the pleading of his sister, finally goes to visit
their Mother, who is confined in a Nursing Home with dementia.
Now this guy is handsome and rich and successful and ruthless with people
and he as the following conversation with his Mother:
“I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
“I mean it’s not like you even know who I am.”
“You … prayed and believed … you’re whole life … never done anything wrong …
and here you are …
you’re the nicest person I know … I am the meanest …
you have dementia … my life is … perfect.
Explain that to me.”
And in a graced moment, the woman comes out of her fog and says:
“Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble …
because he doesn’t want them turning to God.
She goes on:
“Sin is like a jail cell … except that it’s all nice and comfy …
and there doesn’t seem to be any need to leave.
The door’s wide open.
Till one day, time runs out … the cell door slams shut … and suddenly it’s too late!”
Wow! What profound insight … from a Mother … a Mother with dementia!
Even if you don’t see the movie, I ask you to check out this scene on You-Tube
and give it some thoughtful reflection.
It’s called “God’s Not Dead – Comfortable Prison Cell”
In John 10, Jesus says, “I am the gate for the sheep.”
And also, “I am the Good Shepherd.”
This scene fits well with our Scripture Readings today where we hear numerous references to the Shepherd & the Sheep & the Gate through which they come & go.
Certainly in the time of Jesus, and well before Him ...
shepherding sheep was a very common occupation …
and so, to speak of shepherding people was a very easy bridge to make.
Three of our Readings today make this connection!
Psalm 23 that we just prayed is known as: “The Lord is my Shepherd” … it was written by King David; as a young boy was a shepherd of sheep in the field … and with God’s anointing he became King and shepherd of God’s chosen people, Israel.
The Apostle Peter, who wrote our Second Reading and preached his First Homily in our Reading from Acts, was called by Jesus to be the lead shepherd of souls.
Recall how the Risen Jesus instructed Peter 3 times:
“feed my lambs … tend my sheep … feed my sheep.”
And in our Gospel today, Jesus speaks of Himself being both Shepherd and Gate
to get the people to understand the challenge before them …
the challenge of following the right Shepherd ...and entering the right gate.
You see, back then, it was customary for several shepherds to let their flocks
share the same pen with other flocks during the night … and then the next day … they’d take their own sheep out to graze for food on the hillsides.
But the shepherds never had to worry about their sheep getting mixed up with ...
other flocks because sheep will only follow the voice of their own shepherd!
Jesus refers to this when He says,
“The sheep hear his voice, as he calls them by name and leads them out.”
He adds, “When (the shepherd) has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.”
This is probably where we got the kid’s game called, “Follow the Leader”!
Sheep will follow a shepherd. And so will we!
The only question is: Is the Shepherd good or bad?
Jesus makes this distinction today as he refers to Himself as the Gate ...
and to God the Father as the Gatekeeper.
How do you get to the Father in Heaven? You enter through Jesus.
How do you get to the Gatekeeper ... by entering through the Gate.
Those who don’t enter into Him ... will not lead their followers to the Father
which is why Jesus calls them Thieves and Robbers.
Jesus says, “I came that you would have life and have it more abundantly.”
He’s referring to blessings in this life and the blessing of Eternal Life.
Yet, there are others who mislead you ... who which to steal you from Eternal Life.
Jesus is revealing that He is not only the Shepherd … but the Gate itself …
meaning that Jesus doesn’t just guide and guard the community of believers.
Jesus defines the community.
Only those who enter through Him will be saved!
He says, “Whoever enters through me will … come in and go out and find pasture.”
When we enter into Jesus, the door to his heart remains open,
and we can come and go as we wish, without fear of being trapped.
How different that is from what the woman described in the movie …
where, when we enter into sin, we enter into a jail cell.
For a while,
“The door’s wide open.
Till one day, time runs out … the cell door slams shut … and suddenly it’s too late!”
And we’re trapped!
We commit sin when we follow the wrong shepherd ... the great deceiver, devil.
Following him can feel “ all nice and comfy …
so there doesn’t seem to be any need to leave.”
But it’s a prison cell and if the door slams we’ll be eternally separated from God!
To help us stay out of Prison, Jesus left us a human Gatekeeper …
Peter, the first Pope.
Jesus gave him the keys to the Gate ... the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven!
And all of his successors hold the keys.
Today we still have the Pope as the Shepherd of the Universal Church on Earth.
By the way, do you happen to know the name of the Pope’s airplane?
Shepherd One!
The Pope is Shepherd One on earth.
Under him we have the Bishops as Local Shepherds
And under them we have Priests as Associate Shepherds.
Jesus wants us to follow Him and His appointed shepherds,
so we enter the right Gate, opened by His appointed Gatekeeper.
Listen again to the bold instruction of Peter, the first Gatekeeper:
“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Who is Jesus? Peter declares Him to be both Lord and Christ!
Jesus is God … the anointed of the Father … and Lord of all.
So if there’s one voice we need to listen to … it’s His … Jesus our Lord and Savior!
If not, we run the risk of being locked in a cell in the fires of Hell.
Peter passionately warns everyone today saying,
“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Yes, now as then, there are an abundance of voices trying to lead us.
Some are good, like the voices of:
our Parents, Grandparents, Godparents, Teachers, Coaches, and Priests.
But, as Peter warns, many are not good … like the voices of a corrupt generation … meaning those who don’t know God and those who deliberately go against God.
Sadly, our Country and the whole world is turning more and more away from God.
Here in America, Atheists are working to remove every reference to God from our land … silencing His name in our classrooms, trying to remove His name from our Buildings, our Money, and from our Pledge of Allegiance
and saying in effect “God is Dead”.
Jesus has a name for these people. He calls them thieves and robbers.
He says, “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that you might have life and have it more abundantly.”
The voice of the world is trying to steal you away from God and lock you in a cell
The voice of the Lord is trying to secure you a place in God’s eternal home.
Peter calls Jesus, “the shepherd and guardian of your soul.”
So, who are you going to listen to? The world … or the Lord?
We know who to listen to … and yet in our human weakness we get deceived.
So what are we to do?
That’s the very question that the people asked Peter in our reading today!
“What are we to do?”
And he told them exactly what to do. He said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you … and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Many listened to Peter and took that first step and were baptized.
Scripture says that “about 3,000 persons were (baptized) that day!”
And it’s still happening today!
Baptism is essential to receiving the Gift of God’s Holy Spirit, but then how do we sustain all the goodness and grace that we received on the day of our Baptism?
We do it by partaking of the repeatable Sacraments of Confession and Communion!
We all have the ability, just as animals do, to become familiar with the voice of a shepherd.
All it takes is some devoted effort and we can become so familiar with
the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd that we’ll be able to quickly discern
His voice from the other voices in the world.
Please listen to your Associate Shepherd … me ... your Pastor …
and take time to think about the message of Mass today…
and in the days ahead … talk about it and share it with others.
The Message of all messages is that
Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are His sheep!
Let’s rejoice in this Good News and follow Him
as He leads us to the eternal pasture … in Heaven.
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