4th Sunday of Easter C - Homily 3

Homily 3 - 2016 

We Christians in the Western world think differently from those in the Churches of the East. We think differently from the Jewish people at the time of Jesus and Paul. We can blame, if we like, the ancient Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle especially. We are obsessed with detail, definitions and logic. It has helped us in many ways, in science and technology, for example, but not in everything. And, surprisingly perhaps, it is not all that helpful when it comes to relating to God. The Catechism is a classic example of Western thinking, where we have everything clear, defined and all tied up – including God, the Blessed Trinity, resurrection, you name it. There is little room left for mystery. And God is essentially mystery, totally beyond our capacity to comprehend – but not beyond our capacity to relate.

Where we think in definitions, the Jews of Jesus’ time, and even Jesus himself, were more likely to use images and examples. Some of those images we love, the Good Shepherd being one of them. But we tend to define even the images – and get ourselves into trouble. Look at today’s Second Reading, where we were introduced to “the Lamb who is at the throne”, and to an array of martyrs who “had washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb”! We are told that the Lamb “will be their shepherd, and will lead them to springs of living water” where “God will wipe away all tears from their eyes”. If we had started to read a little earlier, we would have been told that the Lamb in question “had been slain” yet was at the same time “standing upright”! Try to make intellectual sense of all that! For Jewish people, images invited reflection, perhaps suggested a mood, but they weren’t defining anything. They were not so much meant to clarify or illustrate, but to challenge us to get in touch with something far more mysterious – and significant.

I sometimes wonder if the Good Shepherd image, interpreted through the lens of Western eyes, is responsible for the passivity of so many Catholics. The priest has become the shepherd, the one in charge, and the laity are the flock, there to be looked after. The priest knows the Church’s laws and makes the decisions; he says, “Yes, you can” or “No, you can’t”. Individual conscience goes out the window. We have not encouraged or educated each other to be adults, to think carefully and deeply for ourselves, to be responsible, to be accountable.

Today’s short passage talks beautifully about the relationship between Jesus and us, and invites us to feel our way into it. He “knows” us. Let us come to terms with that, not just understand it intellectually. He “gives us eternal life”. That is present tense stuff - now. What is eternal life like? Is it meant to, has it helped, to make us more mature, more sensitive, more responsive, more adult? Or is it only for some vague “later on”. Can we ease into the mystery? He talks of our “belonging” to him, being safe with him. What is that like? He hopes that it will lead us to “listen to his voice”. Do we take that seriously? Have we learnt to distinguish his voice from the thousands of other voices bombarding us? How have we set about doing that? and, Are we satisfied? Has what we have heard from him led us to want to “follow” him? In theory at least, we know where that is likely to lead.

Just last week, Pope Francis released his response to the recent Synod of Bishops meetings on the Family. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but I have heard that some bishops are dissatisfied that he hasn’t told them what to do, what to think! He has even encouraged married couples themselves to develop and responsibly to follow their consciences!