May 7th 2017. FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

Gospel: JOHN 10:1-10

                                                                                                                                                                             

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 10:1-10

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 the first reading, the words of Peter regarding Christ cut his listeners to the heart. The Gospel reading speaks of a Good Shepherd who knows how to speak to the hearts of his sheep. There are two types of shepherds, Jesus tells us: the Good Shepherd who speaks to us and leads us to have abundant life; and the imposters who do not speak to us at the profoundest level of our beings and do not lead us to life. How often we live life on a superficial level! We listen to the voices of the flesh, the world, idolatry and evil. These voices lead us by short-cuts to a “life” that is not authentic, to a state of mediocrity. Conversion involves coming into contact with that which is most true and meaningful about ourselves, and it is only Christ who speaks to us on this level. Formation of the heart involves learning to discern the voice of God within us. When we evangelise we must strive to speak to the heart of the person. When we pray, we must seek to allow the word of God to find our hearts, to speak to us at the level of the heart. This Easter, let us allow our hearts to be pierced by the voice of the Good Shepherd who wishes to lead us to abundant life.

In the first reading we hear of listeners being touched at the level of the heart by Peter’s words

This Sunday’s Gospel is that of the Good Shepherd whilst the first reading is from the second chapter of Acts. In this well-known passage from Acts, Peter tells the crowd that God has made the Jesus they have crucified both Lord and Christ. The listeners are “cut to the heart” and ask what they need to do in order to change. In Scripture, the “heart” is not simply the centre of sentimental life. More often it refers to the deepest identity of the person. It is the location of thoughts and sentiments, but also the spirit of the person, that which is most pure, noble and true. Thus, Peter’s words touch his listeners at the deepest level of their being – they are wounded at their most intimate level.

Too often, we live life on a superficial level. The bad shepherds are those “thieves and robbers” who lead us astray and dissuade us from living life at the deepest level

There is something important that we need to remind ourselves. It is very easy to remain on a superficial level of life. It is relatively simple to go through our daily lives without ever entering deeply into the zone of the heart, without arriving at the core of our own being. In the story of the Prodigal Son from Luke, we are told at one point that the wayward son “re-entered into himself”. It is a sad fact that we spend much of our existence detached from what is true and most important about ourselves. Conversion is a process that brings us to the central nucleus of our own being. It involves an awakening from a state of listlessness and apathy in which “thieves and robbers” can keep us at a superficial level of living, keep us separated from the freedom within our hearts, the deepest part of our being. Our Lord Jesus is the one who knows how to speak to our hearts, to that within us which is most true. The other voices coming from idolatry, evil, the flesh and the world, are the voices of that which is really alien to us. We only listen to these voices when we are not in contact with ourselves, with our deepest truth. Jesus permits the person to return to himself. He pierces or touches the heart so that the person begins to live on the level of the heart.

True life is lived at the level of our hearts, the hearts that only Jesus knows how to speak to. If we do not live at this level, we are living a life of mediocrity. Only Christ can speak to us at the deepest level of our being and help us to have life more abundantly

The truth is that all too often we betray ourselves. We are the “thieves and robbers” of our own existence. Jesus leads us to ourselves and away from traps and deceptions. He leads us out of the system of existence that does not bring authentic life. When we seek to evangelise we must strive to speak to the heart of the person. When we try to pray, we must seek to allow the word of God to find our hearts, to speak to us at the level of the heart. It is only at this level that we behold that which is truly important. We return to our priorities and to that which is beautiful and valuable within ourselves. The “life” that we often live is a mere shortcut that does not pass through the centre of our being. It is a form of mediocrity. Fundamentally, a person who does not convert to Christ is living a mediocre existence. He is not himself but something much less. Jesus is the shepherd who, instead of focussing on leading us away from danger, is dedicated to leading us to ourselves. Jesus does not just lead us out of this grey world of the things that we make do with, the things that help us survive and nothing more: he is the voice that draws us into the depths and speaks to us as our Lord and God. The business of formation of hearts involves helping people distinguish what the Lord is saying to them. When we manage to discern the Lord speaking to our heart, it is not that we discover his voice for the first time, but we recognize his voice. It is a voice that is there within our hearts. It is the truth about me. Only at this level can I feel authentic before him. During this time of Easter, let us allow ourselves to be carried away from the grey areas of self-deception that we too often inhabit. Let us allow is words to touch our hearts, to be pierced by them so that we begin living an authentic life.