Homily for Sunday, 8 May 2022– Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C (Good Shepherd Sunday)

Readings of the day: Acts 13:14, 43-52; Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 5; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30

Appropriately, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter, our readings present us with all kinds of images and metaphors of shepherds and shepherding; of lambs and sheep. And, every fourth Sunday of Easter, especially if I am in an urban area with few if any sheep or shepherds (like Edmonton), I think how amazing it is that this image of shepherding; of sheep is still one of the most pervasive images we have of Jesus. This is true even of people who have little or no experience of sheep or shepherding.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. We have art and icons that depict Jesus slinging a lamb over his shoulders, carrying it to safety. Today we hear the end of Jesus’ Good Shepherd Discourse from John’s Gospel. Jesus makes bold claims to be no ordinary shepherd. While the best of shepherds, we could presume, would protect their sheep from predators and other threats to their life and well-being in this life, only Jesus can claim that he, the Good Shepherd, guarantees his sheep “eternal life”: “They will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

If we continue in John’s Gospel just past the end of today’s reading, John says that the Jewish leaders who listened to Jesus became infuriated with him: They “took up stones again to stone him.” Going back to the Book of Leviticus in the Old Testament, stoning was the penalty prescribed for blasphemy; for claiming to be God.

Today Jesus clearly claims to be one and the same with the one God of Israel: “The Father and I are one.” To address God in this way, let alone claim to be God, was preposterous and a great evil in Israel of Jesus’ time. Such a claim would violate the great commandment-prayer of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD is God; the LORD is one.” If the LORD is one, Jesus, this man of Nazareth, could not possibly be the LORD, God of Israel, so the Jewish leaders thought, in a way reasonably.

Put another way, as I remember Dr. Denis Lamoureux, Science and Religion professor here at St. Joseph’s College, saying, Jesus’ claim to oneness with the one God of Israel would have left the people hearing Jesus with three ways to interpret his claim: First, that Jesus is out of his mind; second, that he is a liar; and third, that he is in fact God.

We know the answer as to which of these three options is true. Or at least we presume and believe it, or else we would not be here: Jesus is God. But we (I think we need to understand) have the gift of hindsight that the people who first heard Jesus claim, “The Father and I are one,” did not have.

Even before Jesus got to this decisive line, “The Father and I are one,” his use of shepherding metaphors were clear references to the depiction of the God of Israel as a shepherd in the Old Testament. We can think of one of the most memorable Psalms of trust and consolation, Psalm 23: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The prophet Isaiah also depicts the God of Israel; our God as a shepherd: “He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.” And we know that when the St. Louis Jesuits write a hymn after a Bible passage, it is a memorable passage: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock, and gathers the lambs in his arms; holding them carefully close to his heart, leading them home.”

There are other people in the Bible who are shepherds. We might think of Moses, “tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law” before he climbed Mount Horeb and encountered God in the burning bush. And King David is first introduced as a shepherd in 2 Samuel. But these great biblical shepherd figures are really stand-ins for the God of Israel. David was the shepherd-king after the LORD’s own heart. God worked through Moses to shepherd the people of Israel back to their homeland from slavery in Egypt.

The main point in all this, though, is that, when Jesus applies the image of the Good Shepherd to himself, it is no accident. Already, well before Jesus explicitly identifies himself as one with God the Father, he has claimed to be one with Israel’s God by invoking these Old Testament images of God the shepherd.

These are images that carry over into the New Testament. One of the most frequent ways of depicting God; depicting Jesus in the New Testament is that of the shepherd. We hear this today from the Book of Revelation, but with a counter-intuitive twist. In John of Patmos’ vision of the “great multitude” of the saved—the “great multitude” of those who had given their lives for our faith—the Lamb seated on the heavenly throne is also the shepherd. This lamb, also the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ, “will guide” these martyrs for our faith, all who are saved, “to springs of the water of life, [where] God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The image of the sacrificial lamb who becomes the chief shepherd, and who leads the saved to springs of living water, also recalls several Old Testament depictions of lambs and shepherding, and other images of agriculture; growth and giving of life. If we were at the Easter Vigil, the mother-of-all-church-celebrations that begins this fifty-day celebration from Easter to Pentecost, we would have heard (not really a shepherding metaphor, but) the majestic song from the prophet Isaiah to which we respond, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Psalm 23 refers to the LORD as shepherd leading the Psalmist “beside still waters.” Our Psalm today speaks of us as God’s “people, the sheep of his flock.”

In the familiar story of the first Passover, the people of Israel are prepared to escape slavery in Egypt, shepherded by Moses and Aaron. The LORD tells the people of Israel to slaughter a lamb per household and eat it hurriedly. The people of Israel are also to put blood from their lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. The LORD will pass through Egypt and “strike down every firstborn” of Egyptian households but leave the firstborn of any house showing lamb’s blood at its entrance.

These images that compare God; compare Jesus to a lamb, a shepherd, or both at the same time continue in history through the prayer of the Church; our liturgical prayer as a community of faith and individual prayer. Our prefaces that introduce our Eucharistic Prayer during Eastertime are especially rich in these images of the Lord as a lamb. The preface we will pray today says that Christ “never ceases to offer himself for us, but defends us and ever pleads our cause before [God]: He is the sacrificial Victim who dies no more, the Lamb, once slain, who lives forever.” In our prayer after communion, we will pray, “Look upon your flock, kind Shepherd, and be pleased to settle in eternal pastures the sheep you have redeemed by the Precious Blood of your Son.” And, of course, just before we receive communion (and at the beginning of Mass, during the Gloria), we pray together, “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us… Lamb of God… Grant us peace.”

So we remain familiar with these images and metaphors of lambs, sheep, and shepherding to describe the Lord and his relationship with us, down to the present day. And it does not matter whether we have ever (or often) seen a real shepherd or sheep.

We understand, we believe, and we celebrate, sisters and brothers: Jesus Christ is both lamb and shepherd. He is the Passover lamb sacrificed once for all, “who dies no more.” Yet he is the shepherd who “leads us by still waters” to nourishment, peace, protection from evil, and to eternal life. He is not out of his mind, or a blasphemer, or a liar. He is God; the Good Shepherd-“Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” In him and only in him, the Good Shepherd, do we find salvation.

Homily for Tuesday, 11 August 2015– Memorial of St. Claire

Tuesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Deuteronomy 31:1-8; Responsorial Canticle: Deuteronomy 32:3-4ab, 7, 8, 9, 12;  Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

To all grandparents here especially, and to all who have seen grandparents in action: Have you ever noticed how grandparents delight in their grandchildren? Is there not something special about a grandparent-grandchild relationship? Perhaps, unlike parents with their own children, a grandparent can spoil their grandchildren and then return them to their parents (all wound up, of course) at the end of their stay with Grandma and Grandpa.

In our first reading today, Moses has developed a grandfatherly relationship with the people he is leading home to Israel from Egypt. At “one hundred and twenty years old,” Moses is finally ready to retire; to hand over responsibility to Joshua for leading the people of Israel into the land God has promised them. Clearly Moses delights in the people of Israel. He shows concern for them and for young Joshua. The grandfatherly Moses’ parting advice to the people of Israel and to Joshua is to trust always in God: “He will never fail or forsake you.”

We know that Jesus did not have his own children or grandchildren. And yet he, even more than Moses, shows great delight in and concern for children; for the “little ones.” We hear in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus’ response to his disciples’ question, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”? Jesus places a child in their midst and says: “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

Jesus’ concern for and delight in the “little ones” reaches to those who have gone astray like lost sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who will leave “ninety-nine” sheep in the hills to search for and to bring home the one lost sheep. Jesus is like the father or grandfather who loves his children; his grandchildren without condition; who delights in them.

In this respect my grandfather (Mom’s dad), Frank Salt, who would have turned eighty-nine years old today, was a lot like Jesus or Moses. My Grandpa perhaps did not quite have the patience of Jesus or of Moses, but like them he delighted and had great loving concern for his children; his grandchildren; his great-grandchildren.

During one of my last visits to my grandparents’ home before they moved to be closer to my parents, Grandpa was, like Moses in our first reading, more noticeably unable “to move about freely.” But one sure way to increase his energy was to speak with him about his grandchildren or his great-grandchildren.

Not long before this particular visit, my sister Deanna and brother-in-law Tyler had visited with my niece Molly, who was then just old enough to walk and to get into everything! Grandpa and Grandma put out old magazines so that Molly wouldn’t get into the new ones, and then watched with great sport (and laughed about it weeks later when I visited) as she shredded all their old magazines.

What delight Grandpa had in his new great-granddaughter! It was like the delight Jesus and Moses had in the children; in those they led; the delight of a grandfather. Grandparents: I only ask that you take more time than Moses to enjoy your grandchildren. Do not wait until age one hundred and twenty to retire!

Homily for Sunday, 26 April 2015– Fourth Sunday of Easter

World Day of Vocations

Readings of the day: Acts 4:8-12; Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18

During this homily, the children of St. Kateri Parish were invited forward. I gave part of this homily seated in front of the sanctuary of our parish's St. Cecilia Church, with our parish's children gathered around. The children of St. Kateri School, our parish's school for students from Pre-K 3 to Grade 6, served in various ministries at the Mass during which this homily was given.

Who here has ever seen a shepherd? This is one of the difficulties we have because we live in a city. I imagine that not many of us have seen a shepherd. All the children here: Does anybody here want to be a shepherd when you grow up? Well, it doesn’t pay very well, but you get to spend lots of time outside every day. This is fine, as long as it isn’t cold or rainy. Being a shepherd isn’t a nine-to-five job. Do we remember other stories in the Bible about shepherds, like when the shepherds who found out about Jesus’ birth went to the stable in Bethlehem at night? And shepherds end up smelling like the sheep after a while. Sheep, if any of us have ever been near them, are a bit stinky to say the least! But being a shepherd is good and worthwhile because, if you heard in our Gospel reading just now, who calls himself “the Good Shepherd”?

Jesus, our God and Lord, is the Good Shepherd! And what makes Jesus not just any shepherd but the Good Shepherd? Jesus isn’t a shepherd for the money, like the “hired man” in our Gospel reading. Jesus isn’t a shepherd because he likes to spend a lot of time outside, although he was outside all the time, traveling from place to place on foot. But Jesus is the Good Shepherd because his shepherding; his service; his speaking; his teaching; his healing the sick; his looking for the lost; the sinners is always about others. It is never about him. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus is so selfless that he is prepared to “lay down [his] life” for others; for his friends; for his enemies; for us. He does “lay down [his] life” for us. Jesus died on the cross for us, to save us; to give us a chance at heaven!

Now, I don’t know about this shepherding business. I suppose I have my moments when I think of others and serve others before myself. But I am not sure I would be prepared to die for anybody; to lay down my life for anybody. What about us? Would we be able to lay down our lives for the people who are unkind to us, even repeatedly? What about people who annoy us? What about the bully at school or at work (hopefully none of us bully each other)? I might be able to lay down my life for my best friend, or for somebody I really like (like all of us here)… But, even then, I am not sure. And besides, there aren’t many chances to gain work experience as a shepherd around here. We are in a city after all. When was the last time any of us saw a real-life shepherd?

And yet in Jesus’ time, when he said “I am the Good Shepherd” and “I lay down my life” for my sheep, the people who heard Jesus would have known exactly what he meant. How is this?

In Jesus’ time, sheep pens, to keep the sheep from going too far, were quite simple. The sheep would be surrounded by a barrier of stones, maybe a foot high, in the shape of a rectangle. On one side of the rectangle, there would be an opening in the pile of stones. At night, to protect the sheep from being attacked by wild animals like wolves, the shepherd would lie down across the opening in the pile of stones. So it would have made perfect sense to the people hearing Jesus when he would say, “I am the Good Shepherd… I lay down my life.” If a wolf were to attack the sheep, it would need to attack the shepherd first. The shepherd, if he cared for his sheep, would literally lie or sit down across the opening to the sheep pen to protect the sheep with his own life. “I lay down my life” for my sheep, Jesus says. And so the people who heard Jesus would have known exactly what he meant.

[Sit on the step of the sanctuary.] To give us a better idea of what Jesus meant by saying, “I am the Good Shepherd… I lay down my life” (although there are no sheep here in the church, no piles of rocks, and hopefully no wolves), I am here, sitting on your level. But look around for a moment… What do you notice? Am I above you? No, I am on your level, but you are also on my level. To be like the “Good Shepherd”; to be like Jesus Christ in the way we love and care for each other, is not just the responsibility of us priests. We are all called to be like Christ the Good Shepherd to one another; to think of the well-being of others even before our own; to be kind to one another; not to do things that hurt one another on purpose.

We are the Good Shepherd in our world, to one another. Put another way, we are Christ to one another, each and every one of us. About five hundred years ago, a Carmelite nun in Spain, St. Teresa of Ávila, spoke about each of us as the hands and feet of Christ; the presence of Christ in our world:

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

with compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

We are, here and now, the body; the eyes and ears; the hands and feet of Christ in our world; the hands and feet of the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us because he loves us and cares for us. Here and now, we are sitting on one another’s level. Here and now, we are, in the words of our second reading from the First Letter of John, “the children of God.” We are God’s presence; Jesus to each other.

How can we be Jesus, the Good Shepherd, “children of God” to each other? How can we be the body; the eyes and ears; the hands and feet of Christ to one another? We do not need to work a great miracle as Peter does in our first reading, from Acts, healing the crippled person. But we can speak kind words to others. We can try to get along with one another, especially people who think differently than we do; with whom we disagree or people who annoy us. We can give to the poor or spend time with somebody who is sick or sad, to console this person. We can spend time together as families; eat a meal together and pray together every day.

There are many ways that I haven’t mentioned in which we can be Christ to each other. We can keep the wolves out of the sheep pen by lying across its entrance (figuratively) like the Good Shepherd, Jesus. What are the wolves who attack the sheep? Meanness and bullying; gossip; saying things that are not true to hurt another person… How do we stop these “wolves” from attacking? We look out for one another. We show at least one person every day that we care for this person by doing something on purpose that is kind and loving toward her or him. We work to build a parish; a school; communities; a city; a country; a world where nobody is in need of basic necessities to survive and thrive.

This is how we all become like the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who lays down his life for us; who lies across the entrance to the sheep pen to protect his sheep. This is how we place ourselves on the same level as one another; lead each other by care and kindness. This is how we are “children of God”; the body; the eyes and ears; the hands and feet of Christ to one another.