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Post date: Apr 27, 2021 3:34:30 PM

April 25, 2021 Homily by Fr. Karl Schray

Today is the 4^th Sunday of Easter which means it is Good Shepherd

Sunday. This day the Gospel is taken from the 10^th chapter of John’s

Gospel. He always refers to himself as the beloved disciple.

Not that he was any better than the rest, but simply because he and Jesus

happened to hit it off together. John was the only one of the twelve who

lived to a ripe old age and died peacefully when he was over 90 years old.

When John started to write, Matthew, Mark, and Luke had become

part of history. He would have read and re-read their accounts

of Jesus’ life, as well as recalling the events he witnessed.

Therefore, he was quite content to leave out a lot of the miracles and

parables they recorded.

John wanted to concentrate on telling us what Jesus was really like.

After the apostles realized that Christ really conquered death and

had indeed risen, sixty years had passed, and the Church had spread

all over the then known world,

mainly thanks to the writings and preaching of St. Paul.

John’s emphasis was always showing Jesus to be caring and

a strong leader. It is no surprise then that his favorite picture of Christ

was as a loving shepherd and we the wandering sheep.

Jesus always used images that were familiar to the people.

In ancient Palestine, wherever you looked flocks of sheep could be seen

wandering over the hillsides and without exception every flock

had its own shepherd who was never off-duty day or night.

These are the points Jesus wants you to take home from this

Chapter 10 : “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd is the one

who lays down his life for his sheep.

But a hired hand runs away

at the first sign of danger leaving the sheep to fend for themselves.

I am the gate of the sheepfold. Anyone who enters through me

will be safe. They will go freely in and out and will find pasture.

I am the good shepherd and I know mine and mine know me.”

Through Jesus the Good Shepherd, we have a picture of what God is really like. He is not someone distant & aloof but someone caring, loving, and forgiving. Like the shepherds of old, he knows us all by name and is always there to rescue us when we get into trouble. He is interested in our problems. With that picture in mind, you will soon get the idea of

what prayer means and how to feel happy doing it.

Today is also Vocations Sunday--- meaning that the Christian life is a

two-way movement—call and response. God calling us to justice, truth, purity, love; and then the quality, the generosity of our response.

A vocation in life is not confined to priests or religious.

It is our response to God’s call in the circumstances of our lives, whether we are young or old, single or married, clerical or lay.

Most people are called to a lay vocation and I can see from looking around

me the richness of the tapestry you weave together, the individual contribution that each one of you makes to the glory of God

and the fullness of community life.

Christian life—call and response!

We are all called to love and serve, will we respond?