{"id":1592,"date":"2015-04-26T12:51:39","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T16:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=1592"},"modified":"2015-04-26T12:51:39","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T16:51:39","slug":"4th-sunday-of-easter-year-b-homily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/4th-sunday-of-easter-year-b-homily\/","title":{"rendered":"4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

4th<\/sup> Sunday of Easter, Year B<\/a>
\nActs of the Apostles 4:8-12
\n1 John 3:1-2
\nJohn 10:11-18
\nApril 26, 2015
\nWorld Day of Prayer for Vocations<\/p>\n

Jesus proclaims \u201cI am the good shepherd.\u201d\u00a0 We take this as a basic statement.\u00a0 After all, the 23rd<\/sup> Psalm begins \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d and we know Jesus to be our Lord.<\/p>\n

While it seems simple for us, it was blasphemy to the Jews who had not accepted Jesus.\u00a0 We should note that Jesus didn\u2019t just say, \u201cI am a <\/em><\/strong>good shepherd\u201d but that He is \u201cthe<\/em><\/strong> good shepherd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone can be \u201ca\u201d shepherd but to say \u201cthe\u201d good shepherd was to make oneself out to be God and that was blasphemy.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t realize Jesus was God, consubstantial with the Father.<\/p>\n

The image of the good shepherd comes from those who tends the flocks, literally \u201cshepherds\u201d but it means so much more here.\u00a0 Shepherds are the ones in charge of the people, called to lead them in God\u2019s ways.\u00a0 It was often the kings or priests who were called to shepherd the people.<\/p>\n

The problem is that some of the people who God had called to shepherd His people were not doing a good job.\u00a0 They lead the people to get want they wanted for themselves rather than for the good of the people.<\/p>\n

This was nothing new in Jesus\u2019 time on Earth.\u00a0 We can read the Parable of the Shepherds in chapter 34 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel.\u00a0 There God speaks of those who are failing in their role as shepherds and proclaims that He Himself will shepherd His people.\u00a0 We see this come to fulfillment in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Being a shepherd for God\u2019s people is a demanding task.\u00a0 It is not for someone just looking for a job to make money.\u00a0 Jesus speaks of those who run at the first sign of trouble.\u00a0 We have to be committed to be shepherds.<\/p>\n

How far does the commitment need to go?\u00a0 In the eight verses in today\u2019s gospel, Jesus says three times that the good shepherd \u201clays down his life.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus gives us the perfect example of this in His Crucifixion.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 life is not taken from Him.\u00a0 Remember what Jesus says when He is on trial?\u00a0 Pilate acts as the one in power but Jesus tells him that he would have no power to crucify Him if it had not been handed over to him.\u00a0 Jesus\u2019 life is not taken from Him.\u00a0 He freely gives it up for us.\u00a0 That is how dedicated Jesus is as our shepherd.<\/p>\n

How do we look at our jobs or other commitments?\u00a0 Are we like the hired hand who runs at the first sign of the wolf or are we committed to the tasks before us?<\/p>\n

Do we see what we do as a \u201cjob\u201d or a \u201cvocation\u201d?<\/p>\n

Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.\u00a0 We are all called to serve God by living our lives as Jesus teaches us and sharing our faith with others.\u00a0 Do we live as good stewards of the gifts, our time, talent, and treasure that God has given us?<\/p>\n

Is it always easy?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 I know for me being a priest is hard and I don\u2019t do as well as I should but I continue to believe it is what I am called to do. \u00a0Being a priest means not being married or having children but I am OK with that.\u00a0 I believe celibacy is necessary because I could not do what I do as a priest and pastor and still have time to be a good husband and father.\u00a0 I freely make the commitment of celibacy.<\/p>\n

Some people don\u2019t understand why.\u00a0 I remember when I announced my decision to quit my job with the state to go to seminary.\u00a0 Many of my co-workers thought it was wonderful.\u00a0 One day I overheard a couple people talking to each other about how they couldn\u2019t understand why I would quit a good paying job with great benefits to become a priest.\u00a0 I thought about going over to them and telling them why but then I realize what John says today in the second reading, \u201cThe reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 They didn\u2019t understand why I would do this because they couldn\u2019t see it from the perspective of faith and a vocation.<\/p>\n

The reality is that it can be a struggle to talk about our faith today.\u00a0 When it comes to church teaching on controversial issues like abortion I have literally had people say to me, \u201cwe don\u2019t talk about those things\u201d or when I preached on the death penalty, \u201cwhy did you need to talk about that so much?\u201d\u00a0 Why do I?\u00a0 Because it is what I believe, what the Church teaches, and what God called me to say.\u00a0 Are you willing to be a voice of truth?<\/p>\n

Just so you don\u2019t get the impression that being a priest is not rewarding, there are moments that are rewarding.\u00a0 It comes in the confessional when I can really see the burden of sin lifted from a person and help them to see God\u2019s love and hope for the future.<\/p>\n

It is rewarding for me when I visit a sick person and help them find peace in their suffering.<\/p>\n

It is rewarding when someone thanks me after a homily and tells me they had never seen it that way before.<\/p>\n

It is rewarding when working with a family for a funeral that haven\u2019t been in church in a long time and after the funeral is over they start coming to church regularly again.<\/p>\n

Even in the struggles I can realize God\u2019s call.\u00a0 There are times when I feel I can\u2019t do anymore.\u00a0 Then God steps in and takes care of what I can\u2019t do.\u00a0 To me that is God saying this is my call and I am doing what I am supposed to and He will do the rest.<\/p>\n

God calls everyone to serve Him.\u00a0 Are you a good steward?\u00a0 Could God be calling you to be a priest, religious, or deacon?\u00a0 Whatever God calls you to be, He will make it possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4th Sunday of Easter, Year B Acts of the Apostles 4:8-12 1 John 3:1-2 John 10:11-18 April 26, 2015 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Jesus proclaims \u201cI am the good shepherd.\u201d\u00a0 We take this as a basic statement.\u00a0 After all, the 23rd Psalm begins \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d and we know Jesus to …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘4th Sunday of Easter, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82,41],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-pG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1592"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1593,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1592\/revisions\/1593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}