May 7, 2006 At Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK THERE IS NO AUDIO AVAILABLE THIS SUNDAY
Acts 4:8-12 + 1 John 3:1-2 + John 10: 11-18
I honestly believe that there is nothing more terrifying to a human being than even the suspicion let along the conviction, that he or she is alone, set adrift in a pointless world. So, the revelation of Christ as Shepherd is welcome and comforting. Somehow that image above all others makes the promise “I will be with you always” imaginable and possible. We are in the hands of a God who knows us better than we know ourselves, who cares for us more graciously than we could ever care for ourselves.
This is the insight that sparked the enthusiasm of the apostles in their earliest preaching. The kind of enthusiasm we hear from Peter in the first reading. John had just finished healing a cripple; an act that got them arrested and demanded an explanation. Peter’s response is that there should be no surprise at that healing, because healing, wholeness are a natural consequence of faithful awareness of the presence of God. What looks like healing is more than a mere cure. The cure is an outward sign of a much deeper inner reality. It is a sign of God’s mercy that endures forever.
This saving power, this mercy, is nothing less than steadfast covenant love. It is the kind of love that broke open the world in the death and resurrection of Jesus and overflows as healing grace; it is the kind of love that compels the shepherd to put himself at risk for the sake of the sheep. It is a love that recreates us as children of God. This love has already taken hold of us. Through baptism we are God’s children now. Easter celebrates this reality. What we will eventually become has not yet reached fulfillment. But we have had a hint of it this weekend in this church. In the long and steady procession of family and friends and children coming to this altar for First Communion, more than once, I had to pause, swallow slowly and look down after tears of joy and love in the eyes of mothers and fathers brought tears to my own eyes. Love is all around us, and the love of which this Gospel speaks is manifest again and again in the love of every parent for their children for whom they would and do sometimes lay down their lives.
When salvation is brought to its fulfillment, there will be a great illumination, and we will recognize the marvelous dignity that is ours. We will see that we have been made like God, and we can now act like God acts. We can bring the saving grace of God to a world in desperate need of healing. We can do this in our families, in this parish, at work and countless other situations of our lives.
Our limited and sometimes impoverished language, English does not always carry nor allow the richest sense of words translated from other tongues.
It is unfortunate that at some time in the past someone chose to translate this Gospel using the word: “Good” for a word in Hebrew that more accurately means, “Beautiful.” In our tongue, “Good” means too many other things like, competent, tasty, or morally correct. Not so in John‘s Gospel. What he describes as the image of God’s care for us made manifest in Jesus is nothing short of noble and beautiful. That is the real, literal meaning of the original text.
God’s love for us is not “good” – it is nothing less than beautiful and as noble as the loving gaze of parents on their children at their finest moment. It is a beautiful God, a beautiful shepherd with all the sense of intimacy that word will allow that comes before us this week of Easter Joy. If it does not transform us all into beautiful people who are the earthly reflection of that Beautiful Shepherd, then faith has failed us and we are fools to be here.
After communion……………
Throughout the world this day, communities assembled in worship like our own unite in prayer for Vocations. You most graciously celebrated my ordination anniversary two weeks ago, and continue to share the joy of my life day in and day out. I’ve always believed that a pastor’s most joyful day is First Holy Communion, and my own tears and thrill today is evidence again and reminder that I my life and vocation is nothing less than a wonder, a miracle of love, and a gift beyond price. I teach our children at very opportunity to look into the future with their gifts and ask always what God wants them to become, who God wants them to be, and how to use the gifts most completely. You who wish happiness for your children must know that “Happiness” comes first of all on and always from being who you were made and called to be and nothing else. Pray for your children this way. Teach them to consider always in every decision what God asks of them. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is the question we Catholic Disciples of Jesus ask, not “What do you want to do?” A life in consecration to God, to the Gospel, to leadership in the community of faith, and to prophetic service is being asked of some in this parish family. That call is a sign that God is very near and God’s blessings are abundant. Parents, pray for it in your homes.
I believe that one of the signs of God’s nearness and presence in the church is the calling of great men and women to heroic lives of witness and service. We in Oklahoma have been touched by the hand of God in man from Okarche who was a beautiful and noble shepherd who did not run like a hired hand from his sheep.
On this day of prayer for Vocations, I want to call you to prayer about another Vocation, the calling to sanctity, holiness, and “sainthood.” The process for acknowledging the courage, faith, and holiness of our own Father Stanley Rother has begun in earnest. The ushers are passing among you now cards in his memory with a prayer we can and ought to use until that day when all the church will proclaim what we believe: that he is among the saints living in God’s presence.
When I say this prayer, I ask Stan to stir the hearts of our children to follow his example and step forward with their gifts to say to God : “Here I am, send me.”
Never forget what goes unsaid in the Gospel of this day. It was a shepherd who came forward to reveal God’s love and mercy, not a prince or a king. It is a shepherd God still chooses to continue God’s work, not a CEO, a President, or some powerful celebrity with a short and shallow life drowning in fame and fortune. It is shepherds we still need: simple, faithful, good, beautiful, and willing.
Are they not among us?
From the back of card you have received, let us pray together:
Heaving Father, source of all holiness, in every generation; you raise up men and women heroic in love and service. You have blessed your Church with the life of Stanley Rother, priest, missionary, and martyr. Through his prayer his preaching, his presence and his pastoral love, you revealed your love and your presence with us as Shepherd. If it be your will, may he be proclaimed by the universal church as martyr and saint, living now in your presence and interceding for us all we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.