Fourth Sunday of Easter, cycle A

JOHN 10:1-10
MY LIFE IS NEVER DULL. I PRACTICE MEDICINE, I SUPERVISE OTHER PHYSICIANS AND HEALTH CARE WORKERS, I ACT AS A DEACON, I FUNCTION AS A HUSBAND AND FATHER AND GRANDFATHER. BUT THE LAST SIX OR SEVEN WEEKS HAVE BEEN A REAL KILLER. IT STARTED OUT WHEN I MADE A PREVIOUSLY PLANNED TRIP TO THE WEST COAST TO ATTEND A MEETING AND VISIT MY MOTHER. NATURALLY WHEN I GOT BACK ALL THE WORK I HAD NOT DONE WAS SQUEEZED INTO WHATEVER SPOTS IT COULD BE. THEN WE HAD HOLY WEEK. THAT IS PRETTY BUSY FROM A DEACON'S STANDPOINT. ON EASTER AS I HAD PROMISED MANY WEEKS BEFORE, MY WIFE AND I DROVE DOWN TO VISIT HER AGING FATHER. WHEN I GOT BACK, THEY HAD TAKEN ALL THE WORK I MISSED AND CRAMMED IT INTO WHATEVER SPACE THEY COULD FIND. I WAS PARTICIPATING IN TEACHING A COURSE OVER FIVE WEEKS. AND THEN MY 90 YEAR OLD MOTHER PASSED AWAY, AND IT WAS OFF TO THE WEST COAST AGAIN.
ONE EVENING AS I WAS TRYING TO CATCH MY BREATH, I HEARD THAT OLD SONG, “SOFTLY AND TENDERLY JESUS IS CALLING, CALLING FOR YOU AND FOR ME...” AND I BEGAN TO REFLECT ON TODAY'S GOSPEL.
JESUS TALKS ABOUT HIS SHEEP HEARING HIS VOICE. IN JESUS' TIME SHEPHERDS LIVED WITH THEIR SHEEP. THEY KNEW THEM AS INDIVIDUALS. AT NIGHT THE SHEEP BELONGING TO EACH SHEPHERD WOULD BE LED INTO A COMMON ENCLOSURE, AND ONE OF THE SHEPHERDS WOULD LIE ACROSS THE ENTRANCE. HE WAS THE SHEEPGATE THAT JESUS COMPARES HIMSELF TO IN THE SECOND PART OF THE GOSPEL. IN THE MORNING THE SHEPHERDS WOULD STAND OUTSIDE THE ENCLOSURE AND CALL THEIR SHEEP, WHO WOULD PROMPTLY GO OUT TO THEIR PARTICULAR SHEPHERD. WHEN THE SHEEP WERE GRAZING IN THE PASTURES, THE SHEPHERD WOULD USUALLY SING AND PLAY A SET OF PIPES. THIS HAD THE EFFECT OF CALMING THE SHEEP AND WHEN THEY WANDERED TOO FAR AWAY, THE WOULD COME BACK TO BE WITHIN THAT COMFORTING RANGE OF THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE.
IF I AM GOING TO BE ONE OF JESUS' SHEEP, THEN I NEED TO KNOW HIS VOICE. IN ORDER TO DO THAT, I NEED TO SPEND TIME WITH HIM. I CAN'T SPEND TIME WITH HIM WHEN THE NOISE OF THE WORLD DROWNS OUT HIS VOICE, AND THAT IS WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO ME DURING THE PAST FEW WEEKS. JESUS, AS THE OLD SONG SAYS, SPEAKS SOFTLY AND TENDERLY. CNN AND ESPN AND SIXTY MINUTES ALL SPEAK LOUDLY AND RATHER COARSELY. THEY DROWN OUT THE VOICE OF JESUS.
JESUS SPEAKS SOFTLY BECAUSE HE DOES NOT COMPEL US. HE OFFERS US HIS COMPANIONSHIP, HIS LEADERSHIP, HIS PROTECTION, BUT NEVER FORCES IT UPON US. HE RESPECTS OUR FREEDOM, MORE THAN WE OURSELVES RESPECT IT. FREEDOM, AFTER ALL, IS ONE OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN BEINGS THAT IS TRULY GOD-LIKE; THE MORE FREE WE ARE, THE MORE LIKE GOD.
JESUS SPEAKS TENDERLY BECAUSE HE LOVES US. THE SHEPHERD IS ONE WHO KNOWS EACH SHEEP, SEES THAT THEY ARE FED, BINDS UP WOUNDS, PULLS OUT SPLINTERS, GETS THEM INTO SHELTER WHEN IT RAINS, AND IN A VERY REAL SENSE, GIVES UP HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP. A SHEPHERD HAS TO HAVE LOVE FOR HIS CHARGES. YOU COULDN'T BE A SHEPHERD OTHERWISE. WE SHEEP MAY NOT BE OVERLY BRIGHT, WE MAY BE GIVEN TO FOLLOWING OUR APPETITES, WE MAY BE VERY SHORT-SIGHTED WHEN IT COMES TO SPIRITUAL REALITIES, BUT FOR SOME REASON, JESUS OUR SHEPHERD LOVES US.
THE SHEPHERD SPEAKS TO EACH SHEEP, HE IS CALLING TO YOU AND TO ME. HE KNOWS EACH OF US BY NAME.
THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE SHEEP IS TO KNOW THE SHEPHERD AND KNOW HIS VOICE. AMONG REAL SHEEP, THAT STARTS OUT WHEN THE LAMB IS BORN; THE LAMB BEGINS BY FOLLOWING ITS MOTHER. AS IT GROWS OLDER, IT LEARNS THAT THERE ARE DEFINITE ADVANTAGES TO FOLLOW THE SHEPHERD RATHER THAN WANDER OFF ON ONE'S OWN. AND EVENTUALLY THE SHEEP BEGINS TO IDENTIFY ITSELF WITH THE SHEPHERD; IT SEES ITSELF AS BELONGING TO, BEING UNITED WITH, THE SHEPHERD. AMONG US, WE ALSO BEGIN OUR JOURNEY LEARNING FROM OUR PARENTS AND OTHERS ABOUT JESUS, AND THEN WE BEGIN TO SEE THAT THERE ARE ADVANTAGES TO HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. BUT HOW MANY OF US GO ON TO IDENTIFY WITH JESUS, TO BECOME TRULY PART OF HIM?
IT BOILS DOWN TO THIS. WE HAVE TO EACH MAKE TIME TO LISTEN, WE HAVE TO FIND EVEN A FEW MINUTES OF OUR BUSY DAYS TO SIT IN SILENCE, SIT IN DARKNESS, PERHAPS; TURN OFF THE NEWS, CELLPHONES, AND LISTEN. WE LISTEN, WE SPEAK, WE ENTER INTO A DIALOG. AND IF WE REGULARLY DO THIS, THE VOICE OF JESUS, HIS CALL TO ME, WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE CLEAR.
WHEN I WAS YOUNG, IT WAS COMMON FOR US KIDS FROM THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL TO DROP IN TO THE CHURCH TO “MAKE A VISIT”. IN OUR CHURCH YOU COULD ALWAYS SEE TEN OR FIFTEEN PEOPLE, NOT ALL OF THEM ELDERLY, SITTING IN THE SILENCE SAYING THE ROSARY, READING FROM A PRAYER BOOK, OR PERHAPS JUST SITTING. WE USED TO HAVE FORTY HOURS DEVOTION, WHEN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT WAS EXPOSED FROM FRIDAY EVENING TO SUNDAY MORNING. DURING THAT TIME, SOMEONE WOULD ALWAYS BE PRESENT. AND YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED BY THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE THERE DURING THE DAY.
WE CAN STILL MAKE TIME IN OUR DAY TO SPEND TIME WITH JESUS, WE CAN STILL MAKE VISITS, WE CAN STILL WORSHIP JESUS IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT, BUT WE DON'T. AND WE RUN THE RISK OF NOT RECOGNIZING HIS VOICE, BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO KNOW HIM, WE HAVE NOT LISTENED FOR HIM. AND THE MOST DANGEROUS TIME FOR US IS TIME LIKE I'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH, TIME WHEN IT SEEMS THAT EVERYTHING YOU DO IS IMPORTANT, SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU LOSE SIGHT OF WHAT REALLY MATTERS, WHICH IS LISTENING FOR THE VOICE OF OUR SHEPHERD.
SO HOW ARE YOU GOING TO LISTEN THIS WEEK? HOW AM I? REMEMBER, SOFTLY AND TENDERLY, JESUS IS CALLING, CALLING FOR YOU AND FOR ME....