I imagine that every one of us here would like to deepen our spirituality, that is, to improve our closeness to God. But how can we do it? At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, the presider (the priest) sings the Doxology, “Through him, with him, in him . . . “ The “him” refers to Christ. And right there we have the invitation: through Christ, with Christ, in Christ.
Well, the gospel today gives us a way to make that happen. Let’s break apart the gospel. Every year this forth Sunday of Easter is called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” Today the reading comes from John 10:1-10. But notice that in John’s words today, Jesus doesn’t talk about being a Good Shepherd. That happens in the verses right after the gospel today, John 10:11. Here, he calls himself the Sheep Gate. What’s a sheep gate?
Back in the time of Jesus and still in some areas of Israel today, shepherds would build large pens out of big rocks to have their sheep sleep securely at night. And the pens wouldn’t have a door or gate on them, instead the shepherd would lay across the opening, as he slept. So that anyone coming in or going out would literally have to go over him, or through him.
These pens were often shared by many flocks and hence by many shepherds. So a fellow shepherd would go through the opening, but intruders or thieves would try to sneak in by climbing over the wall of stones.
So imagine that you are a sheep, as Jesus said in the gospel when we go THROUGH him, in or out, we will be saved. Going through Jesus can mean that we go through the same trials that he did. That is, not to demand that life be easy. It’s not. Life is hard. For example, when we get frustrated when things don’t go our way, or give up when there’s a challenge. Those are like climbing over the pen wall and want life to ALWAYS be easy. So we look for quick fixes or temporary highs. But to go through Jesus is to trust that goodness will prevail, that grace will happen, that there’s resurrection on the other side of our crucifixions.
Jesus is the "gate" of humble justice, selfless compassion and ready forgiveness that leads us to a closeness with God.
Let’s continue . . . an example of being WITH Christ is how Jesus talks about the sheep following his voice, like sheep who follow the voice of their shepherd. You see, as these pens were shared by many flocks, in the morning the shepherd wants to lead his sheep out. These sheep follow this shepherd, those sheep follow that shepherd.
And we are invited to follow the voice of Jesus. That is, to walk with him. Most often we know what Jesus would say, “Be kind, forgive, let go, have compassion.” But too often we follow other voices. Voices that tell us, “To get even, grab onto to gossip as truth, look out for yourself only and forget about others.” Often the voices we listen to come from Social Media that can really deceive us, or mislead us. Ask yourself, “Is this what Jesus would want me to do, or say?”
Finally, we are to be IN Christ. At the beginning of today’s gospel, Jesus talks about shepherds in general. So imagine, what if you were invited to be shepherd as well as sheep. Of course, not THE shepherd but rather ones to work along with Jesus, or rather to do our work IN Jesus. Imitating him, acting as he would act, love as he would love.
St. John Henry Newman wrote many years ago
“God has created me to do some definite service;
God has committed some work to me,
which has not been committed to another.
I have my mission.
God has not created me for naught.
I shall do good, I shall do God’s work.
I shall be an angel of peace,
keeping God’s commandments
and serve God in my calling.
Therefore, I will trust God,
whatever, wherever I am,
I can never be thrown away.
If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve God,
If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve God.
God does nothing in vain. God knows what He is about.”