Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church

Homily for April 13, 2008
Liturgical Year A- Cycle II
4th Sunday of Easter
By Fr. John Carney
 Topic: The Good Shepherd
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Gospel 
John 10:1-10

Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.  But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.  But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”  Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.  A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

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One of the most beloved images of our Lord is that of the Good Shepherd.  In fact, in the early Church, THE most common image of Jesus was that of the Good Shepherd. He was depicted with staff in hand and his other hand was outstretched over the sheep, leading them and guiding them.  One of the favorite Psalms of the Church is Psalm 23.  It comes from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Song of David.  Many, many times, I’ve been in a hospital with a person who is dying, surrounded by loved ones and I pray Psalm 23 and the mood changes inevitably.  It is like a tonic and you can see the fear just dissipate and the sense of peace come over the room.  The family and the person who is about to die, listen to the words of that beautiful Psalm 23.  Again, the early Christians loved the image of the Good Shepherd. 


I remember several years ago, when I was in Rome in the catacombs, I think of Priscilla, there is a mid-3rd century fresco of Jesus as the Good Shepherd that you can still discern; you can still make it out.  There is also a mid-3rd century fresco of Jesus as the Good Shepherd in the catacombs of Callixtus.  The catacombs, the maze of tunnels under Rome, of course, were places where the early Christians, our early brothers and sisters, used to meet for fear of persecution.  They would meet there to celebrate the Eucharist, to catechize, and many indeed were buried there.  We have had this wonderful image of the Good Shepherd for centuries.  As a matter of fact, the Good Shepherd, it gives you peace, doesn’t it?  Just thinking about Christ as the Good Shepherd, is peaceful.

 

What does it mean to be a shepherd?  Obviously, it means to lead, to lead those you love, to lead those you care for to a safe place, to a place where they can be nourished, a place where they can grow.  It is a place where they’ll find life and find it abundantly as the Scriptures tell us today. 

 

Jesus adds another image to the notion of the shepherd today by saying He is the gatekeeper.  In the time of Christ, in the Holy Land, of course, sheep were probably the major industry.  As you know, sheep have to be kept moving.  If you leave them in the pasture, they’ll destroy the pasture.  Unlike cattle, cattle graze and move, graze and move.  Deacon Don Lucero lets his cows out and he goes up every couple of weeks and checks on them.  They do all right by themselves.  However, you can’t do that with sheep.  They'll destroy the land.  You have to keep moving them. 


The pasturelands in the Holy Land, there were many corrals, or sheep holds, constructed of various materials of wood, rocks,stone and other things.  At night, in order for the shepherd to protect his sheep from thieves, wolves and other predators, he would call the sheep, call them into the corral and they knew his voice.  However, there was no gate.  The shepherd himself was the gate.  He would lie down and sleep across the entrance of the corral.  If you were to get to the sheep, you had to do so over his dead body.  I think, I don’t know, but, I’m guessing that that may be where that expression comes from.  I’m not sure though.  It certainly would be appropriate.  Jesus tells us He is the shepherd and He is the gatekeeper, that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Just Him and that He will lead and guide us to abundant pastures and to eternal life

 

That was true for the people He shepherded in His day.  Today is still His day and we are His disciples.  He loves us with the same love He did Peter and James and John and Paul and Mary and the other Mary and His Mother and Martha and He still shepherds us.  He leads us to safety and to pasture and to eternal life.  How does He do that today?   He promises us He will never abandon us or leave us orphans.  He tells us that clearly in John 14, “I will not leave you orphans.  I will come to you.  I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to be with you always.  The advocate, the Holy Spirit, that the Father will send in My name, He will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”  We have this Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who is leading us, reminding us of everything Jesus told us and leading us into the future. 

 

How do we hear that voice?  We hear that voice through Sacred Scripture.  We also hear that voice through the Magisterium of the Church, the teaching authority of the Church, most especially in the words of our Holy Father.  We believe that Benedict XVI, we Catholics and there are over a billion of us, we believe that Benedict XVI is the Vicar of Christ.  Vicar means one who speaks for, one who acts in the place of.  I say that with no embarrassment.  You know I don’t need to be excused for claiming him for who he is.  Think about this.  How else is Jesus going to be our shepherd today?  Some would say, “Well, the Holy Spirit will inspire each one of us individually.”  Oh my goodness.  And so, we will have kind of an election.  Oh no, we have enough of those.  How, really, how is Jesus going to teach us?  There are things He needs to teach us today that weren’t issues 2,000 years ago.  There was no issue on when life began or ended 2,000 years ago that I’m aware of.  There are many issues, many of the medical issues today and other things as well.  We need to be updated in light of the Scriptures most certainly.  We need to be taught.  The Church needs to speak for Christ.  Many times, we say “the Church” as if it is some kind of political organization.  The Church is the Body of Christ, it is Jesus Christ, as its head speaking through His vicar, Pope Benedict XVI.  It only makes sense that Jesus gave us, He asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the other advocate who will remind us of what He said and who will teach us all things.  He had to give us some mechanism so that promise could become a reality.  He has given us the mechanism of the Magisterium of the Church. 

 

We need to be careful of other voices, self-appointed gatekeepers and shepherds.  When the Pope speaks, He speaks for Christ.  That is Catholic teaching.  Yet many will just say, “Well, that’s his opinion.  And here’s mine.”  They have, in effect, appointed themselves as the Vicar of Christ, as the pope.  Beware of those voices.  They have led many people astray.  However, it can be comical sometimes as the political debates go on within the Church.  These false prophets and these wolves in Christian’s clothing are leading many astray.

 

I’m leading up to, of course, Pope Benedict’s visit this week to the United States.  As you know, he arrives in Washington on Tuesday and stays until Sunday.  I really encourage you to listen to him.  Do not just read the New York Times or Washington Post to find out what he told you.  Listen to him yourself.  If you have Direct TV, Dish TV, or cable,then you have EWTN.  Put your TIVOs and DVDs to good and holy work and tape these things.  I, personally, I find it so enjoyable in the evening to watch these.  There is a lot of pomp and ceremony that is quite interesting and quite beautiful.  But remember this, when Benedict is speaking, he’s speaking for us.  He is our leader.  He is our father.  We need to listen attentively to what he says. He is also speaking for Christ.  I mean, realistically, if someone said , “You know beginning Tuesday until next Sunday, there’ll be someone speaking for Jesus Christ,” everyone would say, “Wow, I’ve have to hear what he’s got to say.”  That is exactly what we believe is going to happen.  Listen to him and pray for him that his visit will be a good one and a safe one.  I don’t want to sound like we’re better than any one else.  We are Catholics certainly; we know how to sin with the best of them.  You know that.  Nevertheless, I feel so blessed to be Catholic, a member of this family.  I feel so blessed to have this old German man speak for me.  He does so with such eloquence and such intelligence and such goodness.  Pray for him and pray for our Holy Church that we love so much.