May 3rd 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.
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.”
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.
“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.
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