Good Shepherd Sunday Reflection

Good Shepherd Sunday
The 4th Sunday of Easter
From the Readings of Acts 4:8-12, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18
By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD
Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/ Franciscans of Divine Mercy
Reformed Catholic Church International of New England
www.missionstsergius.org

This Sunday is sometimes called GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY because of the Gospel reading from John. When we take both the second reading and the Gospel reading together, we have a very stung and encouraging affirmation of God’s infinite mercy and love for all His children.
The second reading for the fourth Sunday of Easter extols us to contemplate on these words “Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
John is telling us that just as Christ was not acknowledged and respected in His time, so also are some of God’s children today not respected or even allowed to fully participate in the worship of their God or sacraments that Christ gave us because of divorce or their sexual orientation. There are some in society that would even prevent some from having the same legal benefits of others. John also makes it clear that eventually we will find that God views us all with the same regard and infinite love and accepts and welcomes us into His presence as long as we have lived THE GREAT COMMANDMENT “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22: 35-40)
Christ, as the son of God, came to this earth to shepherd us or guide us on a safe journey to heaven. He did this by clarifying the Old Testament teachings, not setting them aside, but letting us know exactly what God desired from us. In John’s gospel, we hear his say the following; “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays down his life for his sheep. …..I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd. The Father loves me, because I lay down my ….and this is the command I have been given by my Father.”
Christ, in this passage, confirms that he came not only for the few, but for ALL.
On this fourth Sunday of Easter we are being called by God to open our hearts and minds and free them from man made prejudices and regulations that discriminate against any of God’s children. We are called also to forgive those who discriminate against us because they have not fully opened their eyes to God’s inclusive love and are still living in the darkness of ignorance brought on by misinterpretation and translation of scripture from the original languages the books were written in.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles ends with these words; “This is the stone rejected by you the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone. For of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)
Just as the people who refused to accept Christ as the promised of the ages and dismissed his call to have mercy and compassion for the poor, sick, aged and infirmed and to reach out to the entire human race with friendship and love we should not follow their example. We need to welcome ALL God’s children regardless of their race, creed, nationality, marital situation or sexual orientation and recognize them as children of God and therefore our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need to remember that Christ founded not many churches or beliefs but ONE belief which was handed down to us by the apostles who established the first “churches”. In Ephesians 4:5-6 we read; “"There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all" therefore it is incumbent upon us to heed the words of St. Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth “Brothers and sisters, I ask all of you to agree with one another. I make my appeal in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then you won't take sides. You will be in complete agreement in all that you think.”
Christ, The Good Shepherd, came to enlighten and guide ALL of God’s children and would never let any of His sheep be scattered or driven from the flock because of discrimination or a failure to welcome then as God created them so neither should we. We need to find the means to come together again as one faith, one church, and one family of God and make what Christ said in today's second reading "there will be only one flock, and one shepherd" come to be a reality again as it was in the first 300 + years of Christianity. We need to stop all the bickering that has divided God’s family and church just as Paul instructs the church at Corinth. AMEN