Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 04-17-05, Good Shepherd Sunday

April 17, 2005
Fourth Sunday of Easter

Psalm: Sunday 19

Reading I
Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
"Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified."

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
"What are we to do, my brothers?"
Peter said to them,
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off,
whomever the Lord our God will call."
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,
"Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand persons were added that day.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23: 13a, 3b4, 5, 6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even 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.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading II
1 Pt 2:20b-25

Beloved:
If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good,
this is a grace before God.
For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.

When he was insulted, he returned no insult;
when he suffered, he did not threaten;
instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross,
so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed.
For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Gospel
Jn 10:1-10

Jesus said:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

A Voice in the Desert

April 17, 2005 Fourth Sunday of Easter

Reading I (Acts 2:14a, 36-41) Reading II (1 Peter 2:20b-25)

Gospel (St. John 10:1-10)

In the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter tells the people that they are to save themselves from this corrupt generation. That was two thousand years ago. Certainly the society in Jerusalem two thousand years ago was indeed very corrupt; however, the society in America in 2005 makes Jerusalem look like a pretty nice place to be two thousand years ago. The corruption we have is far, far worse than the corruption they had two thousand years ago, and we would simply have to ask ourselves, “What would Saint Peter say to us if he were standing here today, calling out and asking us to save ourselves from this corrupt generation?” He would probably have a few even stronger words to say about the situation in which we find ourselves today.

If we are going to be saved from this generation, we have to ask how this is going to take place. Well, first of all, if we look at what Saint Peter was telling the people, he said to them, God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. And it tells us that they were cut to the heart when he said this. Now the crucifixion of Jesus is not something that is the responsibility of only a few a couple of thousand years ago. Every last one of us, as we read in the second reading today, is responsible for the crucifixion of Christ. The problem is that most of us do not let it anywhere near the heart; consequently, we cannot be cut to the heart because we keep it at an arm’s distance. We do not want to deal with the reality that it is our sins which led Him to the Cross. The people two thousand years ago listened when Peter spoke these words. They allowed it into their hearts and they recognized what it is that their sins had caused. So that is the first step. We have to recognize that it is not only for us that He died but it is because of us that He died. And we need to let this into our hearts so that our hearts can be torn open, so that we can come to the Lord.

Saint Peter, continuing on, speaks to the people about all of those whom the Lord will call. He calls each of us. We hear in the Gospel reading today that the shepherd calls his own by name. They hear his voice and they follow him. If we are going to follow the Good Shepherd, the question is: to where do we follow Him? He tells us that when He calls His own out He walks ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him. Jesus, if He is going to walk ahead of us, has walked right up the hill of Calvary, and through the Cross He has opened heaven for us. But He tells us further that He Himself is the gate, and the only way we are going to be able to get into the pasture – which is heaven – is to pass through the gate. Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Hebrews, speaks to us about how Jesus got to heaven. He says, He has torn through the veil, meaning His flesh. So the only way we are going to get to heaven, the pasture of our souls, is through the wounds of Jesus on the Cross; in particular, the wound that opened His heart to us. If we want to be able to enter into eternity, we have to enter through the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the hole in His flesh that leads directly into His Heart.

Our Lord goes on then to tell us that every one who came before Him was a thief and a robber. But He says that He Himself has come so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. Now what would the average American look at if we were to say, “What God wants is for you to have abundant life”? Well, “abundant life” to an American means very few children, more money, more material things, more leisure, more pleasure, more things, more selfishness. It is exactly the opposite of what the Lord teaches us about abundant life. Abundance of life for a Christian person is a life of holiness and a life of virtue. It is about rejecting all the ways of the world and it is about living the life of Jesus Christ.

If we are going to live this abundant life, then we need to listen to the call of our Shepherd. And what does Saint Peter tell us? We read the second reading and he tells us that if we are going to suffer patiently for doing what is right this is our call: to suffer. Because Jesus, he says, has suffered and left us an example to follow in His footsteps. He is the Shepherd. He walks in front of us, and where He has gone we have to follow. And for what reason? Saint Peter goes on to say that freed from sin we can live for righteousness. That is the holiness we were just speaking of. So in opposition to what our society presents, a Christian person should be modest, chaste, charitable, joyful, peaceable, kind, and on and on and on the list can go of all the virtues. It is exactly the opposite of what our society is offering.

We see so clearly this dichotomy, and it is a choice that each and every one of us has to make. Which is more important to us right now: to live the American life or to live the Catholic life? Either one is going to lead to eternity. One is going to lead to eternity with Jesus Christ in heaven, and one is going to lead to eternity away from Jesus Christ in hell. Now if you are going to live a Catholic life, you are going to suffer for doing what is right. Saint Peter makes it very clear. In fact, he tells us that the pagans are going to ridicule you because you are not in the same swamp of profligacy as they are. That comes just a few verses after the reading that we had today. Our society has immersed itself in a swamp of filth! – and they do not even realize it. But because they have immersed themselves in that swamp and they seem to enjoy it, they are going to give you lots of grief because you have exited the swamp. Or have you? That is the question we really need to look at within our own selves. How many of us try to play this little game of saying, “I can be both Catholic and pagan at the same time”? We cannot. We either live our lives for Jesus Christ and get out of the swamp or we live the American life and dive headfirst into the swamp. Today it is one or the other; we cannot attempt to live both. We need to make a choice. We have been called, and we have been called by name by our Shepherd. We are called also to recognize His voice and to follow Him.

If you think about the way American society is going, it is sort of like one of these carnival rides. It’s fast, it’s exciting, it swirls all over the place, but just like a drain it swirls downward very quickly. The end of it is going to be with a crash, and those who are in the drain, when they hit bottom, will never get out. For the moment it seems exciting and fun, but for eternity it will be a disaster for those who choose the American ride. The way of Catholicism, on the other hand, according to our society does not look quite so fun. It is to follow the Shepherd right up to Calvary, to be crucified with Him, so that entering through the sheep gate, Who is Our Lord Himself, we will have pasture for eternity. We will have the eternal joy that can never be taken away. So we need to make a choice. Do we want the immediate gratification, the excitement, and the pleasure that this society seems to offer, which if we step back and look at it objectively is precisely what Saint Peter would call it: a swamp of profligacy? Do we want to descend downward very quickly in a swamp? But there are lots of people in it and it’s kind of fun! Or do we want to ascend upward, lifted from the earth on the Cross and reaching up to heaven for all eternity? That is the dichotomy; that is the choice that each and every one of us has to make. And it needs to be made now.

If you are in the swamp, get out and reject it all. Do not even dangle your toe into the swamp. You leave yourself in a very vulnerable position if you are doing that. Anyone can grab your leg and pull you right in. We all know the slippery slope too well and the devil’s trick: “A little bit isn’t going to be too bad. Just a little. We’re not asking you to dive in off the diving board. Just dangle your toe a little bit. It’s kind of fun, isn’t it? Now try your ankle too…now your knee. Just slowly wade into the swamp.” We need to get away from the swamp. That means to get up to high ground, and the high ground for a Catholic is Calvary. We will be ridiculed if we want to be up at Calvary. But if you are patiently enduring suffering for doing what is right, that is God’s Will for you, Saint Peter says, and that is your call. It is the call from your Shepherd Who has already led us up to high ground, up that hill.

We need to follow our Good Shepherd. We need to follow Him to abundant life. Not the abundance of life that America offers, which is going to lead to eternal death, but rather to abundance of life that begins by a death to sin, which leads to eternal life. That is what our Shepherd is offering. We need to make a choice regarding whose voice we are going to follow, because when we decide who our shepherd is going to be – and we are called by name either by Satan or by Christ – the choice is ours. We will follow obediently. We will follow the shepherd whom we choose to shepherd our souls. Both shepherds will lead us to eternity, one to eternal condemnation and one to eternal life. Our Good Shepherd has come into this world, He has shown us the path, and He has called each one of us by name. He has come for one reason, and one reason only: to die so that our sins could be forgiven, so that we could live for righteousness, so that we could have true life and have it more abundantly.

* This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.

One Bread, One Body

<< Sunday, April 17, 2005 >>

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Acts 2:14, 36-41
1 Peter 2:20-25

Psalm 23
John 10:1-10

View Readings

THE GREATEST EVENT OF YOUR LIFE

“You must reform and be baptized.” —Acts 2:38

Peter, on whom “tongues as of fire” had just descended (see Acts 2:3), preached at the first Christian Pentecost. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter witnessed for the crucified and risen Christ. Peter invited the thousands of people who heard his message to receive the Holy Spirit by being baptized. “Those who accepted his message were baptized; some three thousand were added that day” (Acts 2:41).

Philip was sent by the Holy Spirit to proclaim Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:29, 35). Then “Philip went down into the water with the eunuch and baptized him” (Acts 8:38).

Peter was sent by the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:19) to the home of the centurion, Cornelius. Peter proclaimed the forgiveness of sins through Jesus, the “Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). Then “the Holy Spirit descended upon all” (Acts 10:44). “Peter put the question at that point: ‘What can stop these people who have received the Holy Spirit, even as we have, from being baptized with water?’ So he gave orders that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:46-48).

After the Lord freed Paul from prison through an earthquake, Paul and Silas prevented the Philippian jailer from committing suicide. Then they went to the jailer’s home and “proceeded to announce the word of God to him and to everyone in his house. At that late hour of the night he took them in and...then he and his whole household were baptized” (Acts 16:32, 33).

We began the Easter season by renewing our baptismal promises. What difference has that renewal made in our lives? Baptism is the most important event of our lives. It is our entry in the life of Jesus. Live your Baptism fully.

Prayer: Father, may I live the “radical newness” of my Baptism (Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People, Pope John Paul II, 10).

Promise: “I came that they might have life.” —Jn 10:10

Praise: Praise Jesus, the risen Shepherd (1 Pt 2:25). Alleluia!

FEAST OF THE DAY

St. Stephen Harding was born at Dorset, England near the middle of
the eleventh century. As a young man, Stephen showed great talent
in academics and traveled through much of Europe studying under
various academic masters. Eventually, Stephen settled at the Abbey
of Molesme in Burgundy and professed monastic vows.

While Stephen was at Molesme, he came under the guidance of the
abbot, St. Robert. Robert had a zeal for reform of the Benedictine
order and Stephen began to share this. In 1098, Robert, Stephen
and many other members of the community of Molesme left the
community and traveled to Citeaux and founded a new monastery
dedicated to living a strict interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict.

In 1108, the second abbot of Citeaux died and Stephen was chosen
to be the new abbot. Stephen devoted himself to building up the
community and increasing the number of monks at Citeaux. He often
was the target of criticism from the community for his high ideals and
expectations for his fellow monks. In 1112, St. Bernard of Clairvaux
arrived at the abbey with several followers and gave new life to the
abbey and the ideals of St. Stephen.

Over the next decade, a great number of men came to Citeaux to
devote themselves to the Cistercian lifestyle. Stephen sent groups of
monks across Europe to establish other Cistercian monasteries and
wrote several documents to unify all the monasteries in spirit and
purpose. Stephen ruled the monastery at Citeaux until 1133 when he
resigned because of failing eyesight and other effects of old age. St.
Stephen died in late March in the year 1134.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

We should consider those moments spent before the Blessed Sacrament as
the happiest of our lives. -St. John Vianney

TODAY IN HISTORY

858 Pope Benedict III dies
1492 Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find the Indies

TODAY'S TIDBIT

One of the titles of the pope is His Holiness. This title reminds us of the
spiritual nature of the position and brings our focus on the fact that he is a
spiritual leader as much as, if not more than, a political leader.

INTENTION FOR THE DAY

Tomorrow, a conclave will be convened that will decide the next pope. Please
pray for all the members of this conclave that they may allow themselves to be
guided by God.

My pastor (St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, VA) had a super homily on Sunday, April 17. Here is the text for those who are interested:

Vision
by Fr. Cornelius O'Brien, Pastor

The mind is the eye of the soul. Like the lens of the camera, it can focus on the very near or the infinite. St. Thomas teaches that the mind is "capax infiniti"—capable of reaching the Infinite. In this he was translating the words of Aristotle. He was expressing a fundamental principle of the philosophy of the West.

Led by the Vienna School of Logical Positivism, the West has largely lost the conviction that the mind reaches for the Infinite. Knowledge is now confined to what the scientist discovers by his methodology. All else is faith or dream. Positivism, in fact, insists that nothing beyond the reach of science exists—a position that cannot be established by Positivism's limited methodology!

To place limits arbitrarily on the power of the mind is evil. It is evil because it limits man to the mere making and using of things, no matter how impressive this achievement. IT is evil especially because it is itself a fabrication, a lie. Like all logical fabrications, it diminishes the significance of the person.

It is not a meaningless and casual thing that each of us is, visually, the center of the universe. It is the first great symbol that catches the attention of the mind. For man, as man, not as rich or genius or powerful, but as man, is the center of the universe and if he is not, it has no center. Nothing else suffices. He alone can grasp with his mind the totality of the universe, while he looks for something worthy of his full attention.

The above lines were written before the Holy Father's death. Let them stand. They serve as an introduction to what I now wish to express.

The world-wide response to the Holy Father's death gives evidence of a world-wide recognition that he was an extraordinarily complete man. The he loved his fellow human beings has become a refrain among commentators. I approve of that refrain if it is seen against the background of what Agathon says of Socrates in Plato's symposium: that Socrates is the greatest lover because he was wise, just, brave and chaste, i.e., that he has mastered the great Cardinal Virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.

St. Thomas' anthropology, as expressed in the second part of the second volume of the Summa, can be summarized as follows: man has achieved his full maturity when he knows and loves perfectly, i.e., when mind, will and life are guided by the Theological and Cardinal Virtues.

The wisdom of the West has always rejoiced in Agathon's perceptive powers—for unaided reason can reach depths beyond measure. Thomas is cherished because he shows the heights which reach can reach, when aided by the Light of Faith. Credulity insults reason; faith enlightens it.

I am convinced that from the moment of his conception, John Paul II was destined to understand the problems of the 20th Century, to solve them and to exemplify their solution in his life. He was blessed by God and nature with exceptional intelligence, a strong will and many natural gifts. With poetic and dramatic force, he displayed from his early years a wonderful ability to plumb the depths of things and to convey his knowledge to others with bright words.

In his childhood and youth, he experienced the Mystery of the Cross. He lost his mother, his brother and his father. He was alone. Such suffering can wound or strengthen the victim. It deepened and strengthened him. There developed in him "an adamantine sense of his own self" as Robert Bolt says of Thomas More in the introduction to "A Man for all Seasons." As with More, this sense of self deepened John Paul's bond with Christ "in Whom all things Exist," and naturally flowed into its necessary consequence, namely, that every "self" has unassailable value.

The four tyrannies under whose dark shadow he lived only served to strengthen his vision of the inviolability of the person. First, he saw the savagery of Hitler who would establish a "superior race" on the dead bodies of millions; secondly, the communist regime which would establish an "Earthly Paradise" in a bath of human blood; thirdly, and perhaps most insidiously, atheistic evolution, which would reduce the existing human person to a mere momentary moiety in the production of some future superman; and finally, the reign of the pleasure principle, which reduces life to mere sensuousness, and blinds the soul to the things above. All these he saw and against them he taught and exemplified the "Splendor of the Truth."

"I die His Majesty's good servant but God's first." St. Thomas More's dying words express well the splendor of the human person. Man may serve, but he is slave to no man. His service to his fellows must not conflict with what he owes God. He is the "direct and proper effect of God's creative act," and the subject of God's special providence. He is the one for whom Christ lived among us, died and rose from the dead. Our pope frequently referred to the dual purpose of Christ's presence in our human world: to reveal to us the Father's love for us, and to reveal us to ourselves. "To which of the Angels did God say 'you are my Son, this day I have begotten you?" He said it to one of us, to the God-man Christ. Listening to Christ as He speaks of the love of the Father for us, as He does so eloquently in the discourse and prayer at the Last Supper, we are deeply moved to return love for love, unless we have become completely de-natured. If we truly listen, we will be led to understand with our mind, and to respond with strong will and so be led to live nobly, as He would have us do.

Freedom lies at the heart of our redemption by Our Lord. We are not saved by a victim helpless in the hands of his enemies. We are saved and taught by the majesty of His human mind's and will's submission to the Will of His Father. "Not my will but thine be done." "No man takes my life from me. It is I who will willingly lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again." To Peter: "Put up your sword. Do you not know that, even now, I could ask the Father and He would send twelve legions of angels?" And finally, to His Father from the Cross: "Father, into thy hands I give my Spirit." In the glorious freedom of His perfect humanity, He chooses to die and to rise for us, so that we might be able to choose and achieve freedom.

Humanity is a general term which, like many such terms, is needed because of the weakness of our minds. Humanity, strictly speaking, has existence only in the reality of the existing person. Christ did not die for humanity. He doesn’t speak to humanity. He speaks to the human person. He wishes communion with each of us directly. If you have not seen this in your reading of the Gospels, you have not really read them. His words, His actions as told in the Gospels have the quality of personal encounter. See his encounter with Nathaniel, with Peter, with tree-climbing Zachaeus, with the woman at the well, etc., etc. Even when addressing large groups, one has the impression that His eyes are looking into the eyes of each of His listeners. It is to you and to me that he speaks. It is for you and for me that He dies. We are His audience; we are the ones He would save.

"Simon, son of John, are you my friend? Lord you know all things; you know that I am your friend." In a very real way His relationship with Peter is paradigmatic. He waited for no introduction. He gave Simon a new name—part nickname, I think. He transformed a middle-aged Galilean fisherman completely—to be the Rock on which His Church would be built. He restored a youthfulness in Peter—how else explain the walking on the water? His warning and prayer enabled Peter to survive the agony of denial, and produced in him a spiritual maturity suggested, at least, in Peter's response to Our Lord's "feed my sheep": "but what of this man?" "This man" was John, scarcely twenty years old, who had stood at the foot of the Cross, and therefore more worthy of the honor bestowed on Peter. Is this not evidence in Peter of profound self knowledge, of deep unworthiness and of gigantic humility? It is wise to know Peter well.

In His encounters with all those He met, it is clear that He deals with each of us reverently, and with sublime condescension, He seeks our friendship. Surely here the special glory of the human person is found. St. Thomas says that friendship demands some sense of equality. Is it to be wondered at, then, that Our Holy Father, with his brilliance and his holiness, brought before our minds so frequently, the centrality and preeminence of the human person? With clarity he saw the implications of the Incarnation: that God so loved us that He gave us His beloved son, Who in His love gave His life for us—for each of us personally. In consequence of this Love no relativizing of the human person can in any way be justified. It is clear that the inviolability of the person is honored by God Himself. He will teach us the infinitude of His love, but He will respect our freedom to choose. He will encourage it, He will enable it, be He will not force it.

In God's dealing with Mary, Our Holy Father saw the delicacy of God's respect for us. Needing a way to slip unobtrusively into our world, He asked her for her cooperation. She consented and became Mother of God and later Queen of Heaven and Earth in her glorified state. She is the perfect expression of the glory of the human person. John Paul chose to be her devoted son. Let us imitate his wisdom.

April 20, 2005 in 1 - Parish News | Permalink

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