By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
The call to Follow, Obey and Respond
4th Sunday of Easter: May 3, 2020
Acts 2: 14a, 36-41; 1 Pet 2: 20b-25; Jn 10:1-10
The Post Resurrection scene is particularly important for us to reflect upon, because it provides us with an incomparable clarity of our identity as a believing community! Especially with a situation as that of today, with uncertainty all over with the health emergency we are faced with, we are all looking for a way out of this, a ray of hope that could emerge, a light at the end of the tunnel that would broaden and get closer!
Precisely against this background, on this Shepherd’s Sunday, the Lord invites us to realise and understand our special and challenging vocation to be the flock of the Divine Shepherd. The second reading reminds us, “you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” Have we?
The Shepherd Leads…we follow: Be patient in doing good and especially when you suffer for doing good, and that is the way to follow your shepherd, says St. Peter. At times when there is a particular crisis, all the goodness that you have manifested till now, all the generous disposition that you had sported until this moment, could be forgotten and everyone around you might turn against you, might become critical of you and denounce you before your face! What do you do? St. Paul would say, writing to the Thessalonians, “do not be weary of doing what is right” (2 Thes 3:13).
The Lord leads us by example. Doing good was his nature, no one could stop him from doing it. His own did not accept him, they did not understand him, they labelled him ‘out of his mind’, the disciples deserted him, many hated him and the authorities sought to kill him! But he held on to his mission of doing good! He knew doing the will of the One who sent him was an absolute mission and he went about it without fear, discouragement or doubt, in spite of the threats and trials. Not only that he did not stop doing what he was doing, he did not even consider it absolutely necessary to stand there and prove to everyone that he was doing good, that he was right and that he was justified! That was infantile and immature, according to him – let him who has ears listen and let him who has eyes see! The Shepherd leads and we as his followers, are called to follow the same path.
The Shepherd Directs…we obey: There are moments and circumstances when we go astray or give into delusions. It could be due to deliberate choices or deviant desires or discouraging experiences…but the fact is we go astray, linger off bounds, leave the flock for a while, check out other pastures, be deceived by mirages, feel a bit lost. The Shepherd’s voice bellows behind us… as St. Peter speaks up and calls the attention of the people, in the first reading today. To be the Shepherd’s flock means to heed to that voice of direction. As the Lord promises through Isaiah: and when you turn to the right or when you turn to your left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “this is the way; walk in it” (Isa 30:21).
The Word comes to us; directions come to us constantly; it is the capacity of the Shepherd’s flock to hear, to listen, to understand and to put it into practice. Those who listened to the apostle were “cut to their heart”, the reading says. They took it to the heart and obeyed it to the full. They were more than ready to change their course, redirect their lives and walk behind the shepherd. There are those who listen and allow the Word to go right through their beings causing a transformation; there are those who listen and understand but feel weak to allow the transformation happen within them; and there are those resistant lot who do not allow the Word to even enter their hearts, giving reasons and excuses, justifications and compromises, in order to prove themselves right to the world around, caring the least about that subtle inner voice that cries out to them to heed to the Lord. Which category do we belong to – the resistant ones, the rationalising ones or the ready ones?
The Shepherd Calls…we respond: I came that you may have life and have it in abundance, declares the Lord in the Gospel! We are called to live our lives to the full, and that is the sign of the Shepherd’s flock. Amidst fear and anxiety, amidst loneliness and strife, amidst darkness and dreariness, amidst confusion and calamities, amidst struggles and strains, we are called to live to the full, live the moment, live grateful, live mindful of the blessings and make the most of all the goodness that we have received from the Lord.
The Lord offers us life and life in all its fullness, we are called to respond to this offer by accepting it and living it. Living to the full means living in faith and not in fear; living in love and not in selfishness; living in hope and not in darkness; living in service not in show-offs; living in compassion not in indifference; living in goodwill not in suspicion; living in joy not in gloom; living in fellowship not in seclusion. Let us embrace the whole suffering world with our arms of true love and compassion, however short and small they may be, because we have a Shepherd who is mighty big, bigger than the entire universe.
As people of the Shepherd’s flock, our lives have to be a witness to life in abundance. The world has to learn from us, and not laugh at us. We cannot conform to the world but the world has to be challenged by our lives! Let us pay heed to the Word today and follow, obey and respond to our Shepherd. Let us also pray for shepherds to be raised among us, shepherds after the heart of the Divine Shepherd.
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.