April 26^th 2015. GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY. Fourth Sunday of Easter

GOSPEL John 10: 11-18

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­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 10: 11-18

Jesus said:

‘I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep.
The hired man, since he is not the shepherd
and the sheep do not belong to him,
abandons the sheep and runs away
as soon as he sees a wolf coming,
and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep;
this is because he is only a hired man
and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd;
I know my own and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.
And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and these I have to lead as well.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be only one flock,
and one shepherd.
The Father loves me,
because I lay down my life
in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me;
I lay it down of my own free will,
and as it is in my power to lay it down,
so it is in my power to take it up again;
and this is the command I have been given by my Father.’

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

Kieran’s summary . . . The Gospel contrasts the Good Shepherd with the hired hand. The Good Shepherd cares for his sheep and lays down his life for them. The hired hand is only in it for his own profit. Once the situation ceases to be beneficial for him, he disappears. Jesus comes from the Father, an environment in which the natural mode of relationship is self-giving love. We, by contrast, live in a world where everything must be bought and paid for. When we are kind to others, we expect something in return. We tend to relate to others in ways that benefit ourselves. Then we project this same mode of relating onto God! When we place ourselves before God, we tend to think that he will only love us if we do this or do that. We approach God with fear and trembling, with the mentality of the orphan who distrusts relationships and focusses on what he can get out of the situation for himself. We must cease to relate to God like that! Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has died out of love for us! He does not care what we do or do not do. He offers us his unconditional love and pardon at no price! We have been traumatized by a world in which nothing is given freely. Let us immerse ourselves fully in the sea of love that is offered freely by God!

Jesus is the corner-stone, the Good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep. The hired shepherd works only for his own advantage and disappears when the situation is no longer of benefit to him

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, the first reading gives us a key for understanding the Gospel. Here, Peter says that Jesus is the stone rejected by the builders that eventually becomes the corner-stone. Jesus is the sure and only means of redemption. There is no other name under heaven that saves us. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and this signifies that there are plenty of bad shepherds. The passage from John’s Gospel, in fact, makes the contrast between the Good Shepherd and the hired man. The hired man does not give his life for his sheep because he is just that – a hired hand. He runs from the wolf because he doesn’t care about the sheep; he works only for profit, for his own reward. The Good Shepherd, by contrast, cares for his sheep. They belong to him and he to them.

Jesus very mode of being is to relate to others in a self-giving way. Our mode of being is more like the hired hand: we relate to others in a self-preserving way

The text goes on: “I am the Good Shepherd, I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know Him. I lay down my life for my sheep”. It is the relationship between Jesus and the Father that is the basis of the relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep. Jesus is to the sheep as the Father is to him. It is like a person who lives a life of great earnestness and sincerity. Wherever he goes in the world, he continues to live life and to relate to others in this way. This is Jesus very mode of being. He comes to us and relates to us just as he relates to the Father. We, on the other hand, are like orphans. We tend not to relate to others in this giving and protective way. We are more like the hired hand who relates to others to the extent that it suits him, or is profitable for him. Inside we have a great emptiness and coldness. The environment that we come from is a self-absorbed one. We find it difficult to go beyond that which benefits us. We are filled with fear of that which is not to our advantage.

When we experience the unconditional love and pardon of Jesus towards us, we are enabled to relate to others in a similar way.

The letter to the Colossians speaks of a new creature in Christ who lives a new kind of existence; a person who does not relate to others as a hired hand does. This is a creature that comes from a relationship in which he knows he is treasured, and he is enabled to relate to others in the same way. When someone receives the mercy and pardon of God, he begins to understand the need that others have for forgiveness. He begins to understand the life-changing transformation from the coldness of merely following regulations to the warmth of receiving forgiveness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who touches the coldness within us, the sure corner-stone upon which we can build a life of authentic relationships. Jesus comes from the Father where there is true love and knowledge of the other. Let us not forget that in Hebrew, “knowing” another person refers to a relationship of great intimacy between people. The Good Shepherd loves us with this kind of knowledge, this kind of profound union. From where can we find the capacity to relate to others in a way that is different to the kind of relationship typical of the hired hand? We can learn to care for others when we experience the care that Christ has for us.

Jesus’ nature is pure gift. He emanates from the life-generating love of the Father and continues to pour this love onto us. He could never act like a hired hand!

At the end of the Gospel we are told that: “The Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will”. It is a completely free act on the part of Jesus. The incarnate Word, true God and true man, generated from the Father, gives himself freely to us. He continues the stream of joy and love that emanates from the Father. It is a curious thing that the “command” that Jesus receives from the Father is the command to love! This is Jesus very nature, that of being pure gift. Christ is the fruit of the generosity of the Father. And this is how he relates to us, not as a hired hand!

We must cease projecting our own mode of relating onto God. We come from the realm of hired hands, where everything must be bought and paid for. When we stand before God we continue to think that we must buy his love. But God loves us regardless of what we do or don’t do.

But sometimes we place ourselves before God like hired hands, measuring the things we have done and the things we have failed to do, in a state of fear before him. This is nothing other than the manifestation of the inner mentality of the orphan, standing before God in a distrustful and trembling manner. But how can we doubt the intentions of God when we consider the cross of Christ? How can we fear someone who has died out of love for us? We project the ambient from which we have come onto God. We live in an environment where everything must be paid for; things are only done if there is a reward in exchange. We are traumatized by the lack of unconditional giving. The relation with God, by contrast, is a full immersion in gratuitous giving! We are accepted by God for who we are, not for this ability or that. Just as a mother loves her child because he is her child, not because he is beautiful or smart. We must learn to feel that we belong to Jesus! The Good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep because they belong to him, and they know that they belong to him. I belong to the Good Shepherd! Every person is a treasured possession of God. Let this Gospel prompt in us an Easter transition from the coldness of our own solitude to the warmth of his mercy.