Fourth Sunday of Easter

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042912.cfm

Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Once in Ireland, I saw a flock of sheep at a great distance, perhaps a mile or more. I could not see any one sheep, but I saw a mysterious whiteness like a solid cloud moving down a hillside. It seemed to narrow at one point as the flock squeezed through a narrow gap, and then spread again as they arrived on more level ground. I don’t think I knew what it was at first; it was so far away. Perhaps someone explained they are sheep.

Sheep instinctively move in flocks. Individually they are safer that way, especially when there is a shepherd to guide them. They are safer too in the sense that, if some are lost to wolves and lions, the flock will survive and reproduce. Isolated from one another the species would disappear.

I also see people moving like a vast, earth-bound cloud. Driven hither and yon by fear and desire, we are too much like sheep. The leader who uses fear, desire or both will find a ready following no matter how false he may be. Oddly, people vote for those who frighten them. The politician who casts his opponent as a fearful demagogue wins wide support, despite his own obvious demagoguery. People also vote for those who promise them much, despite the implausibility of the promises. They prefer dreams to reality.

Jesus promises only real human life, which is the way of sacrifice. He teaches us to abandon our childish ways, to work hard, to pay our bills and taxes cheerfully. Jesus invites us to drink the cup of sacrifice with him, and to taste its sweetness. He invites us to expect disappointment as we take up our crosses each day and follow in his steps. Our good work may, to all appearances, come to nothing. Our great sacrifices may seem to be futile. Saint Theresa of Avila famously complained, “If this is how you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few!”

At the VA Hospital I have met more than a few Veterans who complained about the promise of golden retirement. It never came. Instead, they found illness, poverty and abandonment; their only remaining assets are the faith and courage they found in prayer.

Jesus never promises falsehood. That he cannot do. Finally, we remember that our Shepherd asks us to do nothing he has not already done for us.

I will lay down my life for the sheep…. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.