Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Acts 2.14, 36-41;
Ps 22;
I Pet 2.20-25;
Jn 10.1-10
Whose voice do you listen to?
The image of a shepherd with his flock is one which our Lord uses several times in parables, calling himself the Good Shepherd. And in today’s gospel, He calls himself the gate of the sheepfold, guarding and protecting His flock. This image is very appropriate for today’s mass, for today is kept around the world as Vocations Sunday, a day when we particularly think about the call of God to become priests or to enter religious life.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus is the gate. Only diligent people will use the gate – they would have no need to jump the gate or make a hole through the fence. He is the keeper of the gate – the gate opens, he calls them by name and leads them as a group through the gate. The beauty of this is that the sheep can recognize their shepherd’s voice. They don’t recognize anyone else’s voice.
Jesus came to give us new life in abundance through His suffering and death, what is the greatest sacrifice you have made for God? We are totally His, and as we continue to recognize His voice, may we follow Him on to our heavenly home.
Thus, in faith, we follow the Good Shepherd. We allow Christ to hold on to us, and so He becomes our bridge from time to eternity, our escape from dependence on this passing world, our passport to eternal happiness in the world to come.
Happy Vocation Sunday Padre. More years of God's Grace in His Vineyard.Amen
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, padre
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday to you