May 12, 2019
4th Sunday of Easter
We have been proclaiming the Gospel according to St. John. On Wednesday, 2nd week of Easter, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus about God’s love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” The whole Gospel is capsulized in one verse -- John 3:16! Today we would call it a “sound-bite” of Gospel truth. We discover that “believing in” God’s only Son entails “seeing” and “listening.” On Wednesday, 3rd week of Easter, Jesus says: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” (John 6:40) In our Gospel today Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” (John 10:14)
Both “seeing” and “hearing” can be understood physically but, in the Gospel according to John, there is often a deeper reality or mystery. “Seeing” can be both “observation” and “insight.” “Hearing” can be just “hearing” words and a “listening” of the heart. When the Gospel according to St. John takes its final written form, original eyewitnesses who saw and heard Jesus are deceased. We ask the meaning of “believing in” Jesus when “seeing” him and “hearing” his voice are not possible. Recall the beatitude of Jesus to Thomas and to us. “Blessed are they who have not seen and believe.” How do we “see” and “hear” Jesus?
At the Last Supper Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. It is a loving gesture that will be the hallmark of following Jesus when he is no longer physically with them. Today, Mother’s Day, we have moms and dads at Mass who often wash feet – and noses, hands, bottoms and heads; wipe tears, pick up, cook, counsel, heal and encourage. We can see Jesus in them. We hear the voice of Jesus when we gather for Eucharist and receive the Bread of his Word. To believe that Christ is alive and still at work in the world requires every Christian to pay attention to the voice that speaks within the heart. The “heart” is “the place to which I withdraw.” If we hope to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, we must retreat to or create a quiet place in the midst of the world’s noise and distraction.
Jean Vanier died on Tuesday May 7. He was a Canadian Catholic philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian. In 1964 he founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities spread over 37 countries, for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them. We can see and hear Jesus in Jean Vanier. Actions speak louder than words but here are some of his words.
“Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness”
“I am struck by how sharing our weakness and difficulties is more nourishing to others than sharing our qualities and successes.”
“When we love and respect people, revealing to them their value, they can begin to come out from behind the walls that protect them.”
“To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance.”
“Love doesn't mean doing extraordinary or heroic things. It means knowing how to do ordinary things with tenderness.”
“We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love.”
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Third Sunday of Easter
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Fifth Sunday of Easter
