Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Today’s Scriptures continue the theme of Good Shepherd Sunday. While reflecting on the passages I was reminded of a poem by Teresa of Avila entitled Christ has No Body. It begins this way: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours…” It occurred to me that Christ has no human voice but ours as well. Oftentimes if people in the world are to hear and recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd, it is completely up to us to make that happen.
In today’s reading from Acts of the Apostles, Peter has a vision that opens his mind to the action of the Holy Spirit in a completely new way. His brothers in Judea wanted to know why he had entered the home of Gentiles and shared a meal with them. They were pagans and thus did not have access to the realm of the Kingdom. So how does Peter respond to his fellow Jewish Christians? After relating his vision to them he says, “If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God? (Acts 11:17) It has been revealed to Peter that the rules and traditions and laws cannot determine membership in God’s Kingdom. Only God himself can decide this. But who among us has never (even secretly) felt this same about certain individuals or groups of people? But God does not discriminate when he offers the invitation to grace. It can be very tempting to unconsciously exclude others unlike ourselves from the reach of the fullness of God’s grace. Unfortunately, this mindset can lead us to dampen the expression of our own call to disciple others if we avoid or pass on the opportunity to bring the Gospel to the person or group we have unconsciously excluded.
In the passage from the Gospel of John Jesus is telling the Pharisees the only way to enter the Kingdom is through him. He is the way to salvation. Jesus likens the Pharisee’s oppression, maltreatment and imposition of unreasonable laws on the people to thievery and slaughter. Not only does this keep the people from following their “Good Shepherd” but it prevents them from even hearing his voice. The Pharisees use their power to coerce the people using fear. The responsorial Psalm presses the point further and in a slightly different way: “It was not by their own sword that our fathers won the land, it was not their own strength that brought them victory; it was the work of thy hand, thy strength; thy smile shone upon them, in proof of thy favor.” (Ps 44:4) Just as we do not decide who is saved, neither is it our own work that wins our salvation. It is a free gift bestowed by God through Jesus Christ.
I often think about all the people I know who are unaware of this gift. Some have never heard the Gospel. Some have been misled by culture or dysfunctional family lives. Some are in the grip of addiction or mental illness. When I look back on my own life it is obvious I had no part in coming to know Christ beyond accepting his personal invitation…and even that was unmerited grace. The obstacles to freely accepting God’s gift are not of God’s making. Often they are not even our own making. But basic to the life of a disciple is helping others recognize obstacles that keep them from becoming aware of the gift of salvation. The best way we can do this is to help them recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd that will lead them to the salvation that is offered to all of humanity.
O Gracious Holy Father
Thank you for the grace
to recognize the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
Deepen my desire and resolve to bring all others I encounter
to recognize his voice as well.
With the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
In Jesus’ name.
Amen
--Gail Lyman