Homily April 13, 2008

Celebrant Fr. Michael Griffin   We are used to thinking of Jesus as the shepherd, it is an enduring and powerful image. In fact, one of the oldest images of Jesus, an ancient fresco in Rome, shows him as a beardless young man, strong, powerful, living and holding a lamb on his shoulders. In times of struggle and doubt and pain and darkness, we cling to this image, this thought, this ideal of Jesus as our shepherd king. Today, this fourth Sunday of Easter, is usually designated good shepherd Sunday because of the image of shepherd that appears in john's gospel today. Yet, Jesus tells us that today, not that he is the good shepherd, but that he is the gate. Jesus says, “whoever enters the sheepfold through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep, and this is an important teaching, because it reminds us that there are more than one shepherd for the sheep,” and we have to be able to recognize one when we see one, or more importantly, how to be one when we are asked to be.   Each one of us has had a multitude of shepherds in our lives, we have had parents and grandparents, teachers, mentors, bosses; we have had priests and pastors and ministers, leaders in politics and business and religion. We have had a multitude of shepherds, but not all of them have been good. To be a good shepherd, a certain aspect must be present and that is that the shepherd enter in through the sheep gate. We are reminded today that anyone who enters the fold in any other way is a stranger and cannot shepherd in a way considered good, to know the sheep, to love the sheep, the shepherd must enter through the gate. Now, this is not the same as being a Christian, because simply being a Christian is not in any way a guarantee that the shepherd has entered through the gate, or any guarantee that the shepherd is good. In fact, I would imagine each of us can think of someone, some Christian, who did not shepherd well. As a shepherd, I have to continually ask myself whether I am entering through the gate as a priest or if I am becoming a stranger to the sheep.   We come to understand that entering through the gate means that we begin to live the life that Christ lived, and lives. That ours is to be a life lived with the beauty and the strength of Jesus who came not to do his own will, who came not to be served, who came to bring life and to bring it in abundance. There are shepherds who steal the life out of others, there are shepherds who base their position on power, on their authority; there are shepherds who delight in pointing out the sinner, the outsider, who find it easy to lay the blame for the problems of the world on the back of others. There are shepherds who will always revel in their petty authority and greatness. They steal and they slaughter and they destroy; they have not come in through the gate. A shepherd who comes in through the gate loves as Christ loves and serves as Christ serves. We are all called to recognize the good shepherd in our lives, we are to recognize how their presence and leadership and care helps us, strengthens us, enlivens us, makes us the person we were called to be. Because they enter through the gate, they bring live and abundantly. Inspired by them, we learn how to be shepherds, how to be good shepherds, as parents, as leaders, as spouses, as friends. We begin to understand that being with us can be and should be a source of life for those we love, and it can be, it will be, because we are learning how to not be afraid to use the gate.