April 21, 2013 at Saint Mark Catholic Church in Norman, OK
Acts of the Apostles 13, 14, 43-52 + Psalm 100 + Revelation 7, 9,14-17 + John 10, 27-30
That powerful and imaginitive view of heaven that springs out of John’s Book of Revelation almost overshadows the quiet and gentle three verses of John’s Gospel we just heard. The reading from Acts of the Apostles describes the growth and diversity of the young church which Paul and Barnabas moved into the realm of the Gentiles where many converts were made. Bringing those gentiles into the embrace of the community of believers was not easy and it brought many challenges and opposition. Some of the Jews resented the success of Paul and Barnabas and their resentment became a difficlty for these apostles. Yet these two were not distracted from their goal. It probably only made them more focused and determined. The result was the spread of the gospel and an increase in the membership of the Christian community.
As I said, the Book of Revelation teases our imagination and proposes an image of this community growing in diversity among its membership. That multitude from every nation, race, people, and tongue is us still living with the same challenge and with some opposition just as before. It is not just the overt and “in your face” kind of racism we hear and feel with the present arguments over immigration. It more subtle and more diguised as we see our society more and more segragating itself. Marketing experts have been the first to recognize it developing stratagies for advertisement focused on the little special interest groups in which we find ourselves. It is clearly obvious that we are rapidly arranging and chosing our housing in order to live with people who think like we do, talk like we do, sharing the same political, cultural, economic and religious values we hold. Even in the work place it is becoming increasingly difficult to find places where this is any diversity of thought. Unity in Diversity has become nothing but a cliche and cheap slogan as the difficulty of holding that blance is just too much trouble for many who are unwilling to bend, listen, compromise, and discover in someone different anything that is good, valuable, and helpful. This can only produce a new low level of ignorance and intolerance, that is already evident at the highest levels of governance. Blind and deaf to any voice but our own, we are left to talk to ourselves and exclude anyone who does not look like us, think like us, and talk like us. This kind of world bears no resemblance at all to the community that Paul and Baranabas embraced and John could envision in the Book of Revelation. What we Catholics can teach the society in which we live is that the genuine and very real differences among us mark us as unique not as seperaations that push us apart. The differences actually add to the color and the texture of the communitiy of believers rather than alienate and marginalize us. We are all God’s people, the flock he tends, there are no dominant or superior groups within us. I always like to think of like music. Two, Three, Four, or Five part harmony is always a lot richer and more fun than unison singing; and when the choir blends the parts into one, the consequence is a harmony that is very pleasing to the ear and soothing to the spirit.
So today, still in Easter Season, the risen Lord is before us again both as the Shepherd and as the Lamb that was slain. He is the Good Shepherd precisely because he is the victorious Lamb who paid for the undiputed right to lead by the shedding of his blood for the flock. If we hear his voice and follow him, he will lead us to springs of living water and wipe away every tear from our eyes. If we hear his voice, we shall certainly be among the white robed multitude that have been washed in the blood of this Lamb. White robes! Get the image. White is the result of the perfect combination of all the colors of light in perfect balance. The truth and the reality is that we are all indeed, a diverse and great multitude all sheep of the same good shepherd. The very thought of it ought to draw us even closer to each other and to the shepherd. It ought to motivate us to protect each other and respect each other more than we might ever consider until we look around as see what we have become through the blood of the Lamb. It ought to give us every good reason to stand and sing, shout and proclaim: “ Alleluia! This is the day the Lord has made. (let us rejoice and be glad.)”