4th Sunday of Easter (Jesus, Good Shepherd and Gate)

The notion that a shepherd for God’s people is a common theme in the Hebrew Scriptures, just as we hear today from the 23rd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd….In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me…He guides me in right paths….though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. With your rod and your staff that give me courage…”

The king that the Jewish people held in beloved memory, David, had once described how in his youth, he tended his father’s sheep, and protected them from predators (1 Sam 17:34). But it was the prophet Ezekiel, who spoke of God’s plan to one day raise up a shepherd, a son of David, to reclaim His people (Ez 34). And in fulfillment of Ezekiel’s words, Jesus would one day declare to the people, and to us: “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is giving an insight into shepherding, which I suspect most of us know little about. In Palestine, there were no sheepdogs. Instead, it was the voice of the shepherd that was used to guide and move the sheep. And as he describes, each shepherd had a particular sound or voice which his sheep could recognize, and to which they would respond.

But let’s first talk about where he intends to lead us. While we must be present in this world and while we must seek to transform it, this world and what it bears are not the pastures to which he is leading us. For whatever ways our experience in this world can come with suffering, feelings of fear, instability and insecurity, our Shepherd seeks to lead us through and beyond all that. We must “not deterred by the roughness of the road that leads to it”[1].

And for whatever ways our experience in this world can come with so much that fills our hearts and to which we can become attached, this too is not where he will lead us. Otherwise, as St. Gregory the Great once said, “We shall be like a foolish traveler who is so distracted by the pleasant meadows through which he is passing that he forgets where he is going”[2].

But secondly, let’s consider how the sheep must hear the voice of the shepherd. Do we hear the voice of our Shepherd? Or do we even listen for Jesus’ voice, as not to be led astray or lose sight of where he is leading us? How do you train or even dispose yourself to hear it?

          As we know, there are so many competing voices in the air, that if we are not attuned to our Shepherd’s voice, we get lost and become vulnerable. Too many people are confused about their own identity and what to believe, what is true—and for that matter, whether there is such a thing as objective truth. I suspect they were never able to hear the voice of our Shepherd, and perhaps it’s because we never showed them how to hear it. We must teach our children—as we ourselves seek to recognize it for ourselves—the voice of the one who made our hearts and who speaks within them.

My third point is that while Jesus declares himself to be the Good Shepherd, he also says that he is the gate. Jesus, the way to the Father—the gateway to salvation.

For us, when we think of gates or doors, we may see them primarily as territorial barriers, keeping us safe from whatever is on the other side; how they stand between the private realm and the public; places where you’re permitted and those you’re not; my space and yours.

But Jesus had something more in mind and it speaks to the importance of who he is for us and for all. To get a sense of it, imagine you’re a cosmonaut walking in outer space, umbilically attached to your craft. Seeing that your air reserve is nearly depleted, that it’s time for you to return to your ship. You reach for the hatch lever and find the door locked. Panic suddenly sets-in and you begin to bang and claw at the sealed door. After what amounts to only about 20 seconds, yet seems like eternity, at last the door is thrown open from within, and you’re pulled through, escaping death. Such an experience reveals the importance of a doorway, and further, the meaning of Jesus serving as our gate.[3]

As distracted as we can be, lives filled to the brim: filled with activities and entertainment to engage, the complexity and busy-ness of all that are lives demand, we can come lose sight of our need for our Good Shepherd. But also, in whatever ways we can so easily settle into self-reliance and prideful autonomy, we can come to convince ourselves we have no need for our Good Shepherd….to protect and guide us. For whatever ways we are so easily distracted or convince ourselves that we’re self-reliant, may there be no doubt regarding his words: “Whoever enters through me will be saved”.

[1] From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope (Hom. 14, 3-6: PL 76, 1129-1130)

[2] Ibid.

[3] Harold A. Buetow, God Still Speaks: Listen, Cycle A