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May 31^st 2020.  Pentecost Sunday
GOSPEL   John 20, 19-23

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

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GOSPEL   John 20, 19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . It is Pentecost, and we celebrate the fulfilment of the Easter journey with the joy of the consolation of the Holy Spirit! Curiously, this great consolation event happens to a small group of people who are paralysed by fear. The Holy Spirit conquers fear. Fear, in fact, is the great enemy of the beauty of humanity and the flowering of love. How is the overcoming of fear expressed? By the fact that the apostles are able to go out and communicate with others. Everyone is able to understand what is said in their own language. In other words, the Holy Spirit gives the disciples the capacity to speak to the deepest heart of their listeners. It is the Holy Spirit, not structures or institutions, that constitutes the Church. And the forgiveness of sins, the unconditional love of God for us, is the hub of His activity. The Holy Spirit does not turn us into superheroes. He does not sort out all our personal problems and defects. Instead, he makes us witnesses to the love of God and the forgiveness of sins. There exists a “horizontal” version of the forgiveness of sins in which humans can pardon each other and wish each other well. But the cancellation of sin, the reconstruction of broken relationships, can only be achieved by God. The Pharisees were right when they complained to Jesus, “Only God can forgive sins”! We can show each other mutual compassion, but only the Holy Spirit can regenerate what has been destroyed. In fact, the gift of the forgiveness of sins is described in terms of a new act of creation in this week’s Gospel. Jesus breathes on the apostles when he enters the upper room. When God performed the first act of creation, he breathed on Adam, making him in his own image and likeness. When Jesus performs this second act of creation, he does something extra: he gives them the power to pardon of the sins of others. “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven . . .”  In other words, if they do not bring this pardon to others, then who will do so? This capacity to regenerate life from above is the special call and privilege of the Church: no other body of earth can accomplish this work. May God grant us the grace to be true signs of mercy and pardon! Our acts will show if we are indeed bearers of mercy, or if we are fixated with a legalistic sort of righteousness.

The resurrection of Jesus is our pledge of rebirth and eternal life. But humanity continues to seek eternity, rebirth and completion in its own schemes, ideologies, technological achievements

‘He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. To those to whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven"’. In the Gospel of John, the day of resurrection is also the moment of the gift of the Spirit. We celebrate Pentecost at the end of a liturgical period which the Church conceives of as an extension of the "first day after Saturday", the beginning of the New Creation. These fifty days are a timeless time, the sign of eternity, where the anguish of the end, the looming finality of death are overcome, dissolved in a life that no longer has an expiry date - it is simply life and that's it. But what is the nature of eternal life? And how is it guaranteed? Humanity has sought and still seeks its recreation, its safe waters, its own version of eternal life and rebirth. But the more humanity falls in love with its own schemes for a terrestrial paradise, the more it tortures itself for their failures. Sometimes it takes several generations to fall out of love with yet another deception, yet another substitute for completeness. We are still recovering from the wounds of the ideologies of the twentieth century. And we are in full technological delirium, with the illusion of scientific omnipotence.

The risen Jesus breathes on us and gives us life, just as God the Father breathed life into Adam at creation. Our recreation in Jesus involves the forgiveness of sins!

But we Christians celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit as our hope and our fulfilment. John describes the delivery of the Spirit with the act - presently very dangerous - of blowing on someone. The gesture is the same that the Father made in the first act of creation, when he brought forth a man out of the mud. What changed the earth into human life was the breath of God. This breath imparted the divine life and made man more than just a creature. In fact, he is the very image of God. But that was not enough. That was just the beginning, the premise. With Christ, comes something more. The gesture of the Father of Genesis is repeated when Jesus transmits the new life, but it has a very specific characteristic: that of the forgiveness of sins.

What is the fundamental characteristic of the new life of the Spirit? Is it great faith, great discernment, great self-discipline? No, the principal mark is the forgiveness of sins. The new life imparted by Jesus is the life of forgiveness, love and mercy.

If someone has the gift of spiritual discernment or the ability to proclaim the Gospel, then it would be natural for them to think that they possess the Spirit, but this is not the crucial hallmark of the Spirit; something else is more fundamental. You might think you have the life of the Spirit because you have the faith to move mountains, but it doesn't work like that either: according to St. Paul, such faith – curiously - is not enough. If you are generous and know how to exercise self-denial, then you might be inclined to think you are in full possession of the new life of God; but even this, says Saint Paul, is not enough. So what exactly is needed? “To those whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven”. What flows from the cross of Christ and his resurrection is mercy. I can be ignorant and a bad communicator, weak and uncertain, sometimes even childish and immature, but if I exercise the forgiveness of sins and am merciful, behold, I have the life of God in me! The Holy Spirit radiates mercy. It is obvious: God is mercy! All the rest is only a side effect.

PREPARATION FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY MAY 31 2020
Here is the sixth short video in our series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This one is about UNDERSTANDING:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaHE8ELAEtU

Here is the fifth short video in our series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This one is about FORTITUDE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRGkAFp6nMg


Here is the fourth short video in our series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This one is about COUNSEL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9605jR1r9KI

Here is our third video on on the gift of KNOWLEDGE to prepare you for Pentecost!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1tbJCQbEi8

Here is our second video on on the gift of PIETY to prepare you for Pentecost!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykmDh_DGNK0&t=3s

Here is the first video on the gift of the FEAR OF THE LORD Please enjoy and share!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YXtyA9HFig

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Please help us to go viral with these videos for the glory of God!

Here is our third video on the gifts of the Holy Spirit to prepare you for Pentecost!

This video was made by a 12 year old girl. It is simple and beautiful, just three minutes long. Please share it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1tbJCQbEi8

Pentecost is coming! To prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit we have made seven short videos ( 2 to 3 minutes) on the gifts of the Spirit. Here is the first. Please enjoy and share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YXtyA9HFig



May 24^th 2020. The Ascension of Our Lord

GOSPEL: Matthew 28, 16-20

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Matthew 28:16-20

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they saw him, they worshipped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . At his Ascension, Jesus tells us that he is with us always, but sometimes we don’t feel his presence and we feel abandoned. Where is Jesus present? But do I really expect his presence with me to be evident if I am doing mundane things, or if I am doing things that have nothing to do with him? It is when we are carrying out our mission of evangelisation that the presence and power of Jesus become manifest! If we reject the Father’s love, refuse the lordship of Jesus and sadden the Spirit, then do not be surprised if we do not feel God’s presence with us! God is always with us, but his power and presence become more evident when we respond to him and unite ourselves to him in his work of salvation. Actually, Jesus shows a dramatic trust in us. He entrusts us with full cooperation in his work of redemption. The passage tells us that the disciples doubted  at the moment of the Ascension. The Greek verb for “doubt” used here indicates that they were unsure of themselves, possibly unsure of how they would proceed without their master. The doubt here is understandable. Jesus is leaving, but telling them at the same time that he is with them always. The feeling of uncertainty and doubt of the disciples is something that will be with us always because the mission that the Lord has given the Church is something far greater than we are. The mission of the Church, in fact, is a mission in which the power of God is made manifest. Our works of evangelisation are mediocre whenever we try to preach the Gospel using our own capacities and strengths. Yes, God has given us responsibility to use our gifts in the service of the Church, but we must use them to be channels of grace for others, grace that issues from Jesus at the right hand of the Father. It is the power of God that we must announce. The Ascension is very important because it has this twofold dimension: on the one hand we are entrusted with the great mission of the Church; on the other hand we are made aware that it is a mission that is far beyond us and can only be accomplished through the power of the Spirit that will be given to us. The Church is called to do great works, not because its members are capable of doing them, but because she lives by the power of one who is greater. The Ascension is the beginning of our synergy with the Lord; in other words, he has departed and now we have become his body and must work in cooperation with his Spirit, doing works that are beyond us, but managing to accomplish them because of his power working through us.

Jesus tells us that he is with us always, but sometimes we don’t feel his presence and we feel abandoned. Where is Jesus present? Is his presence with me going to be evident if I am doing mundane things, or if I am doing things that have nothing to do with him? It is when we are carrying out our mission of evangelisation that the presence and power of Jesus becomes manifest.
"And behold, I am with you every day, until the end of the world." This is a phrase that comforts and consoles, but often it seems unreal; sometimes one feels alone, abandoned. It is therefore important to understand well the meaning of this short Gospel passage for the feast of Ascension. The final sentence of Jesus echoes a formula inherited from the Old Testament, which speaks of a present God, but, above all, an ally of his people. The "God-with-us" which we find in the name "Emanuele" represents the fulfilment of the formula: "You will be my people and I will be your God". This formula was present in Israel since Sinai. The notion of union with God went through a long development, until the definitive fulfilment in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man - a perfect and definitive union. This might all sound very edifying, so why then do we feel lonely? Why do we wonder where Jesus is hiding? Let us pay attention to what Jesus says before that final sentence: "Go therefore and make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you". This is the place where he is present: in the task of evangelization, which is the central mission of the Church.

If we reject the Father’s love, refuse the lordship of Jesus and sadden the Spirit, then let us not be surprised if we do not feel God’s presence with us! God is always with us, but his power and presence become more evident when we respond to him and unite ourselves to him in his work of salvation

Let us try to understand this better: the place where we can recognize the power of God is not simply everywhere; we don’t expect God to accompany us in an evident way if we are just going for a walk; but in the mission that he has given us we can expect him to be present! Another Gospel says: "If one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees by the light of this world" (Jn 11: 9); and elsewhere he says again: "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life "(Jn 8:12).  It is not that God the Father does not always watch over us. It is not that Jesus is not the Lord of everywhere. It is not that the Holy Spirit is not always diligent with his inspirations. No, God never abandons us, that's for sure, but he is present with us in a particular way when we respond to his call to join in his work. We are vertiginously free: we can choose to walk in darkness, reject the Father, surrender ourselves to other lordships and sadden the Spirit.

Incredibly, the Lord gives us a share in his work! The salvation of others depends on my fulfilment of my mission. I can no longer be occupied solely with my own redemption: I have been called to be an instrument for the salvation of others. This work is not my own work of course. Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of the Father and it is his work that I am called to do. That is why he sends the Spirit on the Church so that she can accomplish her mission. There is a synergy here, a cooperation of our efforts with the Spirit.

A key point of the Ascension is the liberality with which the Lord places his trust in us, by giving us a share in his work. Surprisingly, the salvation of this world depends on the fulfilment of our mission as Christians. Saint Paul says: “How will they believe in one they have never heard of? How will they hear of him without someone announcing it?" (Rom 10,14). The Lord Jesus is always with us, but we (and the world) will only fully perceive him the day we take up our mission. On the day of the Ascension, the time of Christian creativity begins, when man learns to do things with the Lord, but to do them first-hand. It is the adult period of the history of salvation. In this age, the centre of our life is no longer our own salvation, but that of others. We are not in this world only to save ourselves, but to be instruments of salvation for others. This is true when we become parents: the most important thing is no longer our life, but the lives of those entrusted to us. And it is right here that the Lord’s presence beside us begins to become manifest.

Please check out our blog entry this week. It concerns the most extraordinary series of Marian apparitions in the history of the Church, those that occurred in Garabandal in Spain almost 60 years ago. Did Our Lady really appear? Why were the appearances so extraordinary? Our blog gives clear answers to these mysteries. Also, it address the question of whether the fulfilment of the Garabandal prophecies is near.
https://www.immaculatemother.org/post/what-really-happened-in-garabandal-sixty-years-ago

May 17^th 2020. The Sixth Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL: John 14, 15-21

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: John 14, 15-21

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Jesus says, “I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete”. What is a paraclete? In ancient Semitic society, the paraclete was a lawyer who stood close to the defendant. The defendant had to defend himself, but the paraclete whispered vital counsel to him. Our Paraclete is the Holy Spirit. He does not do what we need to do ourselves. He does not replace our free will. But he gives us precious counsel when we act. In fact, what he murmurs to us is the Word of God, the same Word that took flesh in the womb of Mary! But I will not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit if my head is full of worries, anxieties, and seductions of this world. I will only hear his voice if I am seeking to live a relationship of love with the Father and the Son. Jesus also says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another counsellor to be with you forever” The key cannot be anything else but love. Opening the heart to the Father and the Lord Jesus opens the doors to the Spirit. How does this wonder begin? With gratitude. Our love for God is always a love of response. It is not our initiative but something we do when we contemplate what he has done for us: "We love because he loved us first" (1 Jn 4:19). Those who keep this fact in mind begin to enter into a dialogue with the Holy Spirit, the greatest counsellor in the world!

A paraclete was a lawyer who stood close to the defendant and counselled him on how to proceed with his defence. Our Paraclete is the Holy Spirit. He does not do what we need to do ourselves. He does not replace our free will. But he gives us precious counsel.

“I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Paraclete”. What is a paraclete? To understand this, you need to know the details of ancient Semitic law, which involved procedures different from ours. In fact, "Paraclete" is translated into Latin as “Advocatus”, which means "summoned near". This referred to the legal expert who stood close to the defendant and whispered legal advice to him during the trial. Nowadays, a defendant completely delegates all dialogue to his lawyer and he (the defendant) opens his mouth only when he has to testify himself. By contrast, in the biblical world the accused had to participate fully in the various stages of the trial. But those who were wealthy could hire themselves a paraclete, a person who stood by him and who spoke in his ear, advising him how to respond. A paraclete was a luxury for the elitist few. A passage from Luke’s Gospel refers to this: “When they bring you before synagogues, magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourself, or what to say, because the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say" (Lk 12,11f). We can deduce various things from this. The first is that the Holy Spirit does not do everything for us. He counsels us on how to act, but he does not replace our free will. God is a Father. He is not paternalist, he does not take things from us because he does not trust us, he does not infantilize us. His Spirit is the wonderful adviser who illuminates us and shows us the way, always leaving us free to say no to Him. The decisions of life are not delegated to the Holy Spirit, but we enter in synergy with him, and he teaches us the art of truth, of which he is master. The second things we should notice is that we are indeed privileged because we can afford the best lawyer! We are children of the King of kings, our aides are top class. In fact, the law firm that we have on our side cannot be afforded by everyone because he is "the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive because it does not see him and does not know him".

The Paraclete whispers precious counsel to us. In fact, what he murmurs to us is the Word of God, the same Word that took flesh in the womb of Mary. But I will not hear the voice of the Holy Spirit if my head is full of worries, anxieties, and seductions of this world. I will only hear his voice if I am seeking to live a relationship of love with the Father and the Son. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another counsellor to be with you forever”

To have such help, one must be in the world but not of the world. Like the seed among the thorns (the parable of the Sower), if I am a slave to the things of the world, if I permit the worries of the world and the seduction of wealth to suffocate the Word, then I will bear no fruit (Mt 13:22). In other words, the counsel of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit is also offered to my ear, but that voice is a gentle murmur that can be drowned out by the scream of the anxieties of the world, which shamelessly raise their voices around me and distract me. How can I hear that voice, that breath which is the Lord’s? How can I receive that word that gives life and through which Christ incarnated himself in the womb of the Virgin Mary? The key to all this is given in the beginning of the Gospel passage: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always ...". The key cannot be anything else but love. Opening the heart to the Father and the Lord Jesus opens the doors to the Spirit. How does this wonder begin? With gratitude. Our love for God is a love of response: "We love because he loved us first" (1 Jn 4:19). Those who keep this fact in mind begin to enter into a dialogue with the Holy Spirit, the greatest counsellor in the world!

May 10^th 2020. The Fifth Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL: John 14, 1-6

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: John 14, 1-6

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Jesus tells us in the Gospel not to be troubled at heart. However, this is not easy for us! Each one of us has an innate restlessness. We fear the uncertainties of life. We don’t know where we are going. Jesus tells us that the answer to our instability is to make our dwelling with him. But how do we do that? Is this dwelling just a place where we will go at the end of our lives? No, Jesus is not only talking about our ultimate destination. He is talking about a state of existence that we can already enter right now. In fact, he is already preparing us to enter into our dwelling place with the Father. Even the pandemic is being used by him as a stimulus to abandon ourselves into his hands and start to live in his presence. Everything in life is Christ’s way of taking us into our dwelling place with the Father! If I ask: “How can I find the way to the ultimate goal of my life? Which path must I follow?” The answer is my relationship with the Father. Jesus knows the Father, so if we walk with Jesus, keeping him always in our hearts and minds, then we will be sure to arrive at our wonderful destination.

Each of us has an innate restlessness. We fear the uncertainties of life. We don’t know where we are going. Jesus tells us that the answer to our instability is to make our home with him. But how do we do that? Is that just a place where we will go at the end of our lives?

Jesus tells us: “Do not let your heart be troubled” - not easy! In the context of the current pandemic, it is worthwhile to consider well this invitation of Jesus. In our translation, the disturbance of the heart mentioned by Jesus sounds like an inner attitude - in fact it is the heart we are speaking of, after all - but in the Greek original, the verb refers more to a jolt than to an attitude. It implies a collapse of support and the consequent upheaval of the structure. What could produce such chaos? Jesus responds by saying: "There are many dwellings in my Father's house." The collapse in support that would threaten the heart would therefore lead to the need for a new home, for a safe shelter. In fact, this is the primordial trauma of the human being, his first cry, experienced in birth. One leaves the womb and immediately faces, without understanding it, the question of destination: where am I going? where are you taking me? what will happen to me? This is not just a problem for infants, but for all of life. Even today I never really know where I'm going to end up: what will become of me? So many things create fear in me.

But Jesus is not only talking about our ultimate destination. He is talking about a state of existence that we can enter right now. He tells us that he is coming back for us while we still live this life and he will take us there. He is already doing that! He is already preparing us to enter into our dwelling place with the Father. Even the pandemic is being used by him as a stimulus to abandon ourselves into his hands and start to live in his abode. Everything in life is Christ’s way of taking us into our dwelling place with the Father.

Jesus resolves all of this by speaking of the Father, because it is only in His house that there is the answer to our innate restlessness, as the Psalm says: "Only in God is my soul at rest" (Ps 62,2). But this beautiful concept can also sound abstract and distant. It is very important to realize that the “dwelling” that Jesus speaks of is not only a future goal for us. That would already be wonderful, but Jesus adds: "When I have gone and I have prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you with me". This is not a journey to be made by ourselves, as a task to be achieved with our poor resources. It is the work of Jesus! He will return and take us with him. They are two ways of understanding our life: as a long test of strength after which we finally arrive at salvation, or allowing ourselves to be taken day by day and brought to the Father. Everything that happens to us in life is the Lord’s way of taking us to His home. Everything. God can use the most disparate of things, even a pandemic.

How can I find the way to the ultimate goal of my life? Which path must I follow? The destination is my relationship with the Father. Jesus knows the Father, so if we walk with Jesus, keeping him always in our mind, then we will be sure to arrive at our wonderful destination

Then the Lord goes on to say that we already know the path to this wonderful house of many dwellings. Thomas, the one who must always check to see if something is genuine or not, asks the most logical of questions: “We don't have any idea where you are going; how can we know the way?” But Jesus has other ways to explain things: he doesn't give us a map, he doesn't give us a shortcut. The road that we must follow is the same one that he travels. In a certain sense, not even Calvary or the tomb is the place of passage, but even more fundamentally the relationship with the Father, regardless of everything else. Jesus is saying: “I know the way because I know the Father and you know the way to the Father because you know me”. As simple as that. It is not necessary to have memorized all the bends and junctions. When I know Christ, when I keep him in mind, then I know where to turn, where we stop, how to walk. The rule is to stay with Jesus, whatever it costs. Then I am guaranteed to arrive at my destination.

May 3^rd 2020. The Fourth Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL: John 10, 1-10

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

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.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd. Many of the details in this discourse are very interesting. This shepherd, we are told, is the one who enters the sheepfold by the door. Many of the thoughts and influences that affect us are manipulative and contorted. This is a sign that they do not come from the Holy Spirit. Jesus, by contrast, “enters through the door”. He does not force us, or use manipulation to prompt us to follow him. He will lead us out to good pasture. In other words, he will lead us to life, life in all its fullness. The theme of a door is very important. We humans are better at building walls than doors, because we are driven by our fears and insecurities. We construct a safe world around ourselves, a world in which our objects and our projects are safeguarded, but this system becomes a cage and we try to carry our cage with us everywhere we go. These things that give us security are the “thieves and brigands” that Jesus mentions in the passage. These empty things do not give life. In fact, they suck the life out of us. When we exit from the lockdown, will all of our fears and fixations with our personal cage still be intact? Jesus alone calls us to true life. How does he call us? By speaking in a deeply personal way to the guardian that is our heart. Our hearts are fearful and defensive. Jesus does not deal with us by forcing us or threatening us. A good shepherd leads his sheep, he does not drive them from behind. Love requires freedom and he wants us to respond to him in love. So he invites us to follow him by speaking to our hearts, by calling each of us by name. When a person truly loves us, then he knows us deeply. Jesus touches us by speaking the name written in our hearts that is deeply personal. He does not drive us with fear or coercion. Rather, he stimulates our desires and waits for us to respond to him in freedom and love. How often we have presented God as someone who makes demands! But he is not a thief who wants to steal from us! He only wants to give.

Jesus is the door that leads to life. We tend to build walls and security systems to protect our fragile selves. We surround ourselves with our securities, which become cages. Jesus is the door that leads us away from our cages and towards a life that is not rooted in fear and insecurity.
“I am the door: if anyone enters through me, he will be saved; he will go in and out and find pasture”. A door is a break in a wall, it is the place where you go beyond where you are now. But you cannot enter one place without leaving another. The phrase Jesus uses (“go in and go out”) might be misleading because it seems to be about entering and exiting whereas, in fact, he is talking about only one action: going out, saving oneself and finding pasture. This is an Easter text, a reference to an exodus, and a good passage to reflect upon in the midst of Covid-19 and the current lockdown! It is a good opportunity to focus on why and how Jesus is a door. The language of the door, the portal, the solemn entrance is very common in history, just think of the Roman triumphal arches, or places like the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (a paradoxical monument in a city characterized for many years by a wall). In the ancient Near East, the gate was the most important place in the city. A computer or tablet or smartphone without ports, i.e. input/output connections, is useless. In this time, trapped in the house, a thousand of these electronic doors have opened and sprightly octogenarians have learned to do video chats. But Jesus is the true door who assists us in finding pasture, in other words to find “life and have it in abundance". Humanity tries to opens doors, but in reality tends to close them, more than we realize. We builds castles that become prisons, and much of our feverish activity is driven by fear and insecurity. Gradually, the systems we build to protect ourselves become our cages, and like a snail we take these cages with us everywhere.

The things that give us security are “thieves and brigands” because they do not give life. In fact they suck the life out of us. Jesus calls us to true life. How does he call us? By speaking to the guardian that is our heart. Our hearts are fearful and defensive. Jesus does not operate by forcing us or threatening us. Love requires freedom and Jesus wants us to respond to him in love. So he invites us to follow him by speaking to our hearts. He leads us to himself, he does not drive us.

There is a risk that we will come out of this quarantine with all our fears intact. Our insecurities can become a tyrant that dominate our lives.  Many men and women spend their days defending their objects or projects, without regard for what is really important in their lives. Those empty things are the "thieves and brigands" of whom Jesus speaks. They are false shepherds that do not give life but suck it away with their emptiness. But Jesus is the true shepherd and he knows how to speak to the guardian, which is our defensive and frightened heart. How does he speak to our hearts? "He calls each one by name", says the passage. There is something about us that only God knows. It is often said that "God only knows ...". True, only God knows some things, in fact only Christ knows who we really are. Saint John Paul II said that "He alone knows what is in man". In fact, Jesus gave his life for us because he knows how important we are. Only those who love you know you deeply. Christ calls us by name and leads us out: only He can throw open the door and let in fresh air, new thoughts, new and liberating intuitions. It is worthwhile to disobey our deceptive certainties, open our cages and let ourselves be carried away by Him. If he is the shepherd, the goal is certain.