5th Sunday of Easter: "Remain in Me"

 

"Remain in me, as I remain in you"

John 15: 1-8

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042824.cfm

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Almighty ever-living God,

constantly accomplish the Paschal Mystery within us,

that those you were pleased to make new in Holy Baptism,

may, under your protective care, bear much fruit

and come to the joys of life eternal.

(Collect of Mass)

Technology, for all its wonderful potential, is a part of our lives that we feel we can never go without, or so we assume.  Like automobiles, telephones, television, the internet, cell phones, and all the many forms of “social media,” which have become far more contentious than inspiring, have found themselves forever embedded in the human experience.  For all the many ways that we find ourselves connected with other people through technology, there have been many analyses that have shown us it has the potential to draw us farther away from one another.  We become isolated in our virtual worlds and suffer the pain of great loneliness relying on false relationships.

The essential human connection of looking at another person, hearing the tone of their voice, responding to their gestures, a friendly handshake, a laugh, a compassionate hug, none of that is possible through technology. Even in this time of “zoom” and face time meetings, it just isn’t the same as human presence.  God did not create the human being as a virtual machine but as a living and organic person who finds fulfillment through other human contact.

Our Gospel this Sunday presents another favorite Christian image of Jesus as the vine and the branches: “I am the true vine . . . remain in me as I in you . . . you are the branches.”  If you recall last week, we heard Jesus present himself as the “Good (noble) Shepherd.”  Such allegories are most helpful as we recognize the risen Christ is not visible to our human eyes, but we are able to understand how he is present to us through relationship. Our readings this Sunday all provide a means to do that.

Our first reading from Acts relates the problem of Saul as the most controversial of Christian converts. Saul, now Paul, had experienced an unexpected vision of Jesus that radically changed the direction of his life. He was no stranger to the Christian community, and they rightly feared him as a danger before his conversion. So, why would God choose this fierce enemy of the early Christian followers to be now his messenger of salvation?  The suspicion of the Apostles is understandable: this must be a trick, a way for Paul to infiltrate the community of disciples and destroy them from within!

What ultimately changed Paul, the Apostles and history, though, was a now established relationship with each of them and with the will of the Holy Spirit as they experienced it.  United in the faith, the mission of Christ can now be carried out in its fullness as we read that Paul was embraced as a fellow missionary and traveled freely through Jerusalem with the Apostles, despite opposition from Greek speaking opponents.

As that mission grows, it opens new relationships with the God of Israel to the larger world, the gentile communities far and wide.  Everywhere Paul went he labored to establish communities of convicted Christians who now embrace the new Way shown to them and connect them with one another in love and selfless service after the example of Jesus.  As we know, thousands even went to their deaths rather than deny this new relationship they had experienced with Christ and his disciples.  And the Church expanded its mission and continues to our own day.  Not without human sin and flaws of course but continually attached to the vine of Christ and drawing life from the Spirit.

The beautiful image Jesus uses today is that which reinforces the necessity of our attachment to the grace of God, his very life.  The vine and branches tell us that Jesus is the vine, his Father is the vine grower, and that the mystery of his work is that we are called to grow in the grace he offers us.  We must remain in him for away from Christ, “we can do nothing . . . If you remain in me and my words remain in you . . . you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”

As wandering sheep, the shepherd goes in search of us lest danger and temptation pull us farther away from the source of life. The same is true if we detach ourselves from the source of life who is a vine which pumps his grace and life in us to bear fruit in the Christian journey.

Jesus reminds us that he and he alone is the source of true life and unity.  In Christ alone we see the Father work and it is best for us to remain attached to the vine of Christ lest we wither and die apart from him.  Attached to the vine the good we do will be rooted in his Gospel and by its power will bear much fruit.

Think of Paul’s experience which began along the road.  Remember Paul’s violent actions towards the followers of Jesus and his now powerful conversion.  Such things begin with a new awareness but take time to reform and reshape.  Through sacrifice and prayer, Paul became a new man as Jesus called him to graft the branches of new believers on to himself as the vine.

To keep the commandments of love is our ultimate goal each day.  Attached to the vine of Christ in and through his Church is to stay constantly at 100% power and to never be unplugged from the source of life itself.  There we draw life from his word, the sacraments, and from the inspiration and support of a Spirit filled community.  Life is here, not there.  Truth is here, not there.

The greatest good we do in the name of Christ always becomes greater than we may even realize.  We encounter the living Christ each Sunday at the Eucharist, where we draw the life, he promises. We see this in the ministry of the Saints, and we know it if we simply look around at the generosity and sacrifice of others for the sake of a common good in his name.

 

4/21 - 4th Sunday of Easter: Jesus, the Good and Noble Shepherd

John 10: 11-18 

The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042124.cfm

"I know mine, and mine know me"

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Almighty ever living God, 

lead us to a share in the joys of heaven,

so that the humble flock may reach 

where the brave Shepherd has gone before.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

God, for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Mass)

On a trip to Ireland and Scotland several years ago, I will never forget the numerous white little dots all over the hillsides of sheep grazing contentedly on rich green hills.  Here and there you could spot shepherds among them. It seems the sheep population is in higher numbers than the human population on those Isles which are famous for wool sweaters and jackets.

The shepherds of those flocks each have a distinctive sound they would make, a kind of click or whistle in their voice that was singular for his particular flock.  The sheep came to learn that sound and whenever their shepherd would call to them, they would gather to join the flock.  If there was another shepherd with a similar but different call, they would not go to him but only to the one they recognized. No prodding or pain for the sheep, only the sound of safety and caring leadership.

 In our readings this Sunday we hear of sheep and a shepherd.  But it is meant to be an image far more significant for our lives than some pastoral scene along a green hillside in Ireland. Gentle, yet strong and matchless among all is the shepherd we hear of today.

Our Sunday readings on this Easter season Sunday present an image of goodness to us.  Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd,” a very familiar Christian image.  I don't think there is any image more ancient and beloved throughout the Christian world than that of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. It was favored during the early Christian era, as depicted on the walls in the catacombs outside Rome and is certainly one of my favorites as well.  There is nothing fierce, disturbing, threatening or judgmental about this image. This is a shepherd whose word alone bears authority but it is not spoken with threat but pronounced with love. But this shepherd is not just a gentle spirit we may see in a child’s bedroom.

Shepherds were well known to the ancient Jews, they were a common, though a very lowly part of society.  In fact, the Kings of Israel were referred to as shepherds and everyone knew that was an image of authority.  Yet, their experience of earthly Kings, apart from King David who was himself flawed as we all are, was one of poor leadership and in some cases outright sinful leadership through the mixture of pagan worship with Jewish belief in only one true God.

For example, David's son Saul began with the best of intentions after the example of his own father yet eventually things went sour. Good leadership demanded these kings led by good example themselves, holding to the truth, not compromising the law of God given to them, resisting a mix with other false gods, and truly caring for the people acknowledging God as the one true King of Israel. Yet, overall, the “experiment” with human kings for the Jews failed and God himself then, through the line of the best of them King David, became the most perfect shepherd of all in Jesus Christ and most perfect and good shepherd who truly cares for his flock.

"I am the good shepherd,” we hear Jesus say today, “A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep . . . I know mine and mine know me . . . I will lay down my life for the sheep . . .” There is a deeper more universal tone in that this shepherd, unlike all others, will offer his life. This is a tone of self-sacrifice, of deep intimacy with those he leads, and an expression of boundless love for the sheep. In Jesus laying down his life for us on the cross and taking it up again in his resurrection, he has forever bonded divinity and humanity together. This shepherd is focused on care for the sheep and not only those in his flock but all those who stray away and those who do not belong to the original fold (the chosen people) but are now gathered into a flock much broader (Gentiles) so that there will be one united flock and one caring shepherd.  That flock is now called the Church. Look around at the congregation some Sunday and we see such a diverse flock all gathered to hear and be fed by the good shepherd king. 

Five time in the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus repeats that he lays down his life for his sheep.  He does so voluntarily of his own will.  Our Lord is a shepherd who cares not about financial profit but about the lives of every single sheep in the flock - he cares about you and he cares about me.  He will sacrifice his own life for our sake and he will even care for others:  "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold "(Gentiles?).”These also I must lead . . ."

Our first reading from Acts of the Apostles, has Peter boldly filled with the Holy Spirit, confronting the leaders of the people with the stark admission that this Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, is now risen and that a man now healed was done so through his name; his name alone who alone brings salvation to all.  That Jesus death and resurrection was the act of salvation as divinity and humanity were forever joined in Christ and therefore as God looks upon humanity, he sees the self-sacrificing shepherd, the face of his Son.  It is a powerful and life-changing image for us all and a challenge to see the same in each other.

Even more, Jesus implies that he is the "noble" shepherd.  He lays down his life for the sheep in the face of fierce danger (the wolf comes).  Jesus has resisted the temptation to compromise and for our sake, in a noble and courageous way, followed his Father's will to the end.  Even the cross, despite its horror, became a noble throne for the King Shepherd.  He is far more than good - He is noble: honorable, self-sacrificing, moral, decent, kind. This shepherd leads us by example and invites us to trust in his way.

So, we pray this weekend for leaders of our church and in particular that more young men and women will hear the call to service in the Church – to ordained ministry and to consecrated life as women and men religious.  Yet, the shepherd’s call is for all of us so do we hear it?  What other voices have been calling to us that may clearly lead us in another way? We live in a very noisy culture these days and it’s often hard to listen.

Trust this shepherd, stay in the flock of the Church where you will encounter him.  He is the risen Christ, the way, truth and life, the living bread, the Word of God among us, and the noble shepherd. As he lays down his life for us we can be assured that if we follow his voice, he will lead us ultimately to life beyond this one - to far greener pastures indeed than you may find in beautiful Ireland or Scotland!