03/05/2009 - 4th. Sunday in Easter
Season - B
1st. Reading Acts 4,8-12 Psalm 117 2nd Reading 1Jn 3,1-2 Gospel Jn 10,11-18
The Good Shepherd Sunday - Prayer for Vocations
"who is in heaven": St. Paul writes that we are "seated in heaven".
Therefore we do not look at heaven as it was a foreign territory, but as the
Passing which is already ours. Jesus is already there, present, as the head
of the body, the Church, of which we are the members. Saying who is in heaven"
we affirm that the Father is waiting for us, there he opens his arms to welcome
us when we are tied for ever with his Son. That heaven was open upon Jesus in
the Jordan, and they stayed opened until he returned back there, and it is still
open for those who die and live in him. In that heaven Jesus himself saw Abram
with the poor Lazarus, a place of consolation and of eternal joy of those who
suffered on earth and yet remained faithful to God. In heaven the myrtry Stephen
contemplated the Son of man standing at the right hand side of the Father, and
in heaven John saw a great sign, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under
her feet and a crown of twelve stars! Again, John saw the holy city coming down
from heaven, full of the glory of God. God is not in heaven to live in solitude
or far away from us and all humanity, on the contrary, for him to be in heaven
is a better position to embrace us all. From heaven the Father looks down, says
on of the Psalms, to see whether there is a man who search for God! We don't
see him, but he follows us with care and desires to meet us so that we come
to know his love for us. If he is in heaven, it does not mean that he is distant,
because the biblical prayers even say that he made earth as a foot stool! The
<place> where God hides embrace the earth. Here we move, and we need to
move carefully, slowly, with a spirit of adoration, because we can ruin the
place where God rests his <feet>. Every corner of earth is therefore for
us a place of worship and adoration. Heaven and earth meet and embrace, thanks
to the presence of the <feet> of God. It is a way of saying it, but it
helps us to understand that we are to fear the Lord always and everywhere of
course. There are no holy places and profane places from the time God our Father
who is in heaven use the earth as his footstool!
How come Peter and John healed a man crippled from birth by invoking the name
of Jesus? He answers to the chiefs of the people in front of whom there were
to appear in chains as if they were criminals. The man was healed so that even
they, the chiefs, could believe that God had risen Jesus who was crucified.
Not only: that same Jesus who was rejected by the chief priests is place as
the headstone in God's building. He is the Savior, the only savior for all of
humanity, the only one who can free them from their sins. The miracle in Jerusalem,
at the gate of the Temple, was meant to be a sign, as all the miracles that
Jesus did. Now, with this witness, even the chief priests have again the occasion
to believe that Jesus is alive and working in their midst. But even this time
the only ones to believe are the poor, the humble and the simple.
Today we listen to that Jesus whom Peter proclaims to the chiefs of Israel.
He is the same one who had accomplished one of the most big signs, that is,
of giving back sight to a man who was born blind. Because of this he attracted
towards himself a lot of enmity from the religious people of his days. To these
enemies he reveals himself with words, that between known images, recalls the
identity of God, of that God who loves his people and every creature. In fact,
God, through the prophets, has presented himself as the shepherd who takes care
of his sheep, as the shepherd who goes and looks for that lost sheep, the one
who is sick, the one who had just delivered, the shepherd who defends the flock
and leads it to green pastures. This is how God spoke of himself, and the people
had chiefs who only took advantage of the poor who suffers, who is left alone,
not given the love the need. Now Jesus presents himself as the true shepherd,
the one who make present to the people the love of God. He is the love of God
promised by the prophets, love that takes care of all, who does not exclude
the poor and the oppressed, who offers himself by giving his life. Jesus is
God with us, is the God who loves us, who makes us big with his love, worthy
to be called and be his children. Even the apostle John speaks to us today of
the Father's love that comes to us through Jesus, a love that allow us to see
him, even so, to become like him.
Today we are called to pray with one heart with all the Church for those whom
Jesus has chosen, called and sent to make his presence as the Good Shepherd
with signs and wonders: may they be strong and generous in faith to spread hope
and work out love. And we pray that the Father continues to give us men who
look after our soul, our relationship with him, of our oneness with his other
children. Let us pray that the Father raise up by the power of the Holy Spirit
young men who give their lives to serve the Christian community, so that the
sign of the Good Shepherd may never come to disappear, so that we can always
find a priest who can listen to us and feed us with the Word of God!