Fourth Sunday of Easter

Readings – Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30

From the Good Shepherd —  

                        My sheep hear my words.                                                                                                                They follow me.                                                                                                                                I give them eternal life.

Just as our mothers guided us in childhood, so God’s voice, the Good Shepherd’s voice, guides us on our faith journey.

As we mature in life, as we mature in faith, the guidance grows with us.  St. Matthew gathered together the Good Shepherd’s words to his first-century disciples and shares them with us. 

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Show yourself as serpents and as pure as doves.  But beware… for     they will hand you over to councils and scourge you…  You will be brought before rulers and kings for my sake.  Brother will hand over brother to death… Children will rise up against parents…  and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.  (10:16-18)

Jesus knew what would happen to his followers, to those called disciples, because the same had happened to him.  Expect the same!  Their journey would not always be to “green pastures” and to “still waters”.  Instead, the journey would be filled with challenges; their journey would be hard. 

It would be challenging, it would be hard, because his followers were not only to listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice, they were to live as he lived, to act as he acted.

  As noted in the Gospel according to St. John,

The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.

Remember the saying, I can still hear it in my mother’s voice, perhaps you can too.

Actions speak louder than words.

Actions speak louder than words.

So, while we are attentive as sheep to the voice of the Good Shepherd, we are also to act as people of faith, as lions of faith. 

You have probably heard these words,                                                                                            

If you want to know someone’s mind, listen to their words.                                                         If you want to know someone’s heart, watch what they do.

From I John 3:18,                                                                                                     

Let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed, and in truth.

From James 2:17,                                                                                                    

Faith that does not involve action is dead.

Listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice as sheep, then act as the people of faith, as lions. 

Final words.  Mothers loved us, cared for us.  They held us, they fed us, they walked our first steps with us.  They guided us by word and by deed.  They acted.  They lived their love day upon day upon day.  We need to do the same, even in our current chaotic times.  We need to live our love, though it may be hard, though “you may be hated by all for my name’s sake”. 

Be led by the voice of the Good Shepherd, and then be comforted with the rod and the staff. 

To those who walked with the Good Shepherd in the first century, he said,

I give [my people] eternal life, and they will never perish…no one can snatch [them] out of the hand [of the Good Shepherd]…

Jesus leads us with encouraging words.

Jesus guides us with a firm yet gentle hand.  Listen, follow, and act. 

The fullness of the beautiful green pastures and the still blue waters will one day be totally ours, but not yet.  Not yet.  Jesus calls, and there is much yet to be done on this earth as it is in heaven. 

Amen