HOMILY FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: MORE THAN GOOD
Fr. Andrew Ekpenyong
1. Joke. Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous literary characters of all time. This fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson were on a camping trip. In the middle of the night, Holmes wakes Watson up, and says, “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” “I see millions of stars, my dear Holmes.” “And what do you infer from these stars?” “Well, a number of things,” he responds. “Astronomically, I observe that there are billions of galaxies and billions of stars and planets…. Meteorologically, I expect that the weather will be fine and clear. Theologically, I see that God is all-powerful, and man, His creation, small and insignificant. What about you, Holmes?” “Watson, you fool. Someone has stolen our tent!” This joke draws our attention to various vocations in life, including those who contribute to the common good as law enforcement officers, as they work to reduce crime. Pope Francis in his message for today, 21st April 2024, the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations, began by thanking our Lord, the Good Shepherd for “all those men and women of good will who devote their lives to working for the common good.” Of course, he then mentioned “those consecrated men and women who offer their lives to the Lord in the silence of prayer and in apostolic activity….those who have accepted God’s call to the ordained priesthood, devoting themselves to the preaching of the Gospel…”
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2. The Good Shepherd. In today’s Gospel reading (Jn 10:11-18) our Lord says pointedly: “I am the good shepherd”, “ego eimi poimḗn o kalós” in two verses, John 10:11 and 10:14. Our Lord explains that He lays down His life for His sheep. Yes, He died to save us. He saves us from our worst enemies: sin and death. Yes, the Good Shepherd is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Good Shepherd even converts some wolves into the best sheep. Think of Saul who persecuted the Church, changed by our Lord, to the ardent Apostle Paul. The Good Shepherd is more than good to us. He has put us in His inner circle of grace: the Church. But our Lord reminds us that He has other sheep outside this fold: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.” This statement is very comforting. It means that my atheist and agnostic friends, those who have lapsed from Church worship, those who are dead in sin, etc, are not automatically lost. Our Lord will bring them to the fold. Whether they come in now or later, that is in God’s hands. Of course, St Peter rightly proclaims in today’s 1st reading (Acts 4:8-12) about our Lord: “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:12). Of course, regarding His sheep that are outside the fold, He will give them salvation in His own way, as He leads all who follow Him to the eternal sheepfold: Heaven.
3. More than Good. Of course, dear Sisters and Brothers, you do not have to be a priest, a bishop, a pope or anything like that, in order to be like Christ, the Good Shepherd. All of us, parents, teachers, coaches, nurses, colleagues, friends, are called to be good shepherds to those entrusted to our care. And priests, bishops, the pope, are all expected to be good sheep, listening to the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd knows not only the sheep but also the enemies of the sheep, the wolves. Wolves kill sheep brutally. I believe that Christ our Good Shepherd in caring for the human family today, wishes that we all be concerned about our most deadly killers, the wolves against the human family, the wolves of as-yet-incurable diseases, endemic infectious diseases, terrorism, war, migrant crises, hunger, poverty, insecurity, loneliness, drug addiction, homicides and many others. It may also be important for each of us to identify our individual wolves. As we celebrate Christ our Good Shepherd, who nourishes us, heals us, and saves us, we pray to become more like Him, in caring for others. We pray to identify the wolves endangering us and others. The wolves could be our bad examples to others. Lastly, we pray for vocations to the married life between man and woman, to the consecrated life, vocations to the priesthood and religious life. These vocations are life-long commitments to become good shepherds as spouses and parents, religious brothers, religious sisters, priests, and ministers of the Gospel. We thank God for answering our prayers for increased vocations to the priesthood here in the United States, in some places such as the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, where Bishop Earl Fernandes in an interview with Vatican News last month, March 2024, reported a doubling of the number of seminarians in just 2 years of renewed pastoral efforts and prayers. Prayer works. May the Lord of the harvest send more laborers for His harvest. (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2). Amen
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