The Good Shepherd

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Easter. Jesus uses the figure of the Good Shepherd to differentiate his ministry from that of false shepherds of the scribes, Pharisee, and in fact, all the kings and leaders of Israel. Jesus will also stress the voluntary nature of the shepherd’s sacrifice for his people. This chapter should be read in the light of Old Testament passages that castigate shepherds who have failed in their duty (see Jer. 23:1–4; 25:32–38; Zech. 11; and especially Ezekiel 34, the Parable of the Shepherds (which I encourage you to read). Equally as condemning is this passage from the Prophet Isaiah: “All the sentinels of Israel are blind, they are without knowledge…Shepherds who have no understanding; all have turned their own way.” (Is 56:10-11)  In this passage the leaders are both “shepherds” and “watchmen” and are castigated as “blind” and as those who “lack knowledge” (cf. John 9:40–41; 10:6). Continue reading →

Some Background

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Easter. To appreciate this parable it is important to understand its setting in a small first century Palestinian village. It would be quite the norm for a family to own but a few sheep. The sheep were sources of income (wool) and clothing, and so the animals were protected usually within small walled courtyards next to or connected to the house. If each family had only a few sheep, a shepherd for each household was not justified, so several households would have one shepherd to look after their sheep. Often the shepherding was done by a child from one of these families. If no child was available a hireling was employed. Continue reading →

On Any Fourth Sunday

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Easter in Lectionary Cycle B. No matter which Lectionary Year, the 4th Sunday of Easter always takes the gospel reading from some part of John 10 and thus is sometimes referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” There are several layers of context in this part of John’s gospel: the sequence of Jewish festivals, the content of the chapters before and after, and more. Continue reading →

Hunger Games

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I am away from the parish and have the luxury of a “homily holiday!”  But I thought I would reach into the trove of homilies past and post something, hopefully, food for thought.

I recently [2012] saw the movie Hunger Games and thought it was an interesting saga.  If you haven’t seen the movie, the general situation is this: as punishment for a long-ago revolt of the outlying districts against the central government, there is an annual spectacle called the Hunger Games in which a young adult man and women from each district are required to fight to the death, while the entire nation watches. Continue reading →

What is asked of us

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Every so often someone, not a regular reader or subscriber, will leave a comment on one of my blog posts. I had written a piece about the history of celebrating the Mass facing away from the people, the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, and associated aspects of the topic. The point of the article was simply to point out that the view facing away from the people was the real, proper and only authentically Catholic way to celebrate the Mass wasn’t historically based. Such a posture is indeed permitted by the liturgical norms as is facing the people. A comment was offered that I was part of the “smoke of Satan” that was infiltrating the Church. The writer did not address the content of the post in any way, did not offer any correction to the content, or engage the topic in any way. Continue reading →

A Final Reflection

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This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter where Jesus appears to the disciples in the Upper Room on the evening of Easter Sunday. The disciples were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost

Only the risen Christ Himself was able to conquer the fear, bewilderment and doubt of his disciples and to prepare them to enter the world as witnesses of the good news. Their witness to the public ministry of Jesus – his miracles, teaching, and divine power – are many. Their witness to the Resurrection consists of simple testimony: he saw him die, we buried him, he appeared to us – we touched him and he ate fish with us – and he ascended into the heavens. The witness relies on the witness and experience of the apostles and disciples. Continue reading →

Interpreting Scripture

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This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter.  44 He said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”  Continue reading →

While they were still speaking about this

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This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter. Our Lectionary does well to include a verse that  it is more properly part of the Emmaus road story: “Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread” (v.35). As Catholics we are often prone to focus only on the “breaking of the bread” and its Eucharistic implications. We should also consider “what had taken place on the way.” As Joel Green [853] remarks, “this” refers to “evidences of the risen Lord, but more profoundly with the coherence between the pattern provided by Moses and all the prophets, the prophetic witness of the Scriptures to the Messiah who suffers and enters into his glory, the ministry of Jesus as this has been focused on table fellowship, and the experience of the resurrected Jesus.” Continue reading →

A story in three parts

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This coming Sunday is the 3rd Sunday of Easter. The return of the two disciples from Emmaus returns the focus to Jerusalem which is the “center” of the Luke-Acts narrative. In the gospel all roads lead to Jerusalem. In Acts all roads lead from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Upon their return they find “the eleven and those with them. The travelers are greeted with the news abuzz in the room: The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Continue reading →