4th Sunday of Easter Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01today's the fourth Sunday of Easter and
2. 0:03it's always known by its little nickname
3. 0:04of Good Shepherd Sunday that's because
4. 0:07the Gospel reading for today is always
5. 0:09taken from the 10th chapter of St John's
6. 0:12gospel and it is in that gospel that the
7. 0:15Lord refers to himself as the Good
8. 0:18Shepherd if you ever come to Rome or
9. 0:20when people come to Rome on pilgrimage
10. 0:22they uh like to visit the catacombs and
11. 0:26it's a beautiful thing to do if you've
12. 0:28never been I encourage you to when you
13. 0:30come to Rome to schedule a tour with uh
14. 0:34the scavy
15. 0:35tours um the scavy tour takes you below
16. 0:39St Peter's Basilica to the Vatican
17. 0:41necropolis the Vatican commission the
18. 0:44excavation there in the 1940s to make
19. 0:47room for more burial plots for the popes
20. 0:51but it was there that they found a
21. 0:53burial ground dating back to the 4th
22. 0:56Century among other things they
23. 0:58Unearthed the Vatican catacomb where
24. 1:00Constantine's Temple is and of course
25. 1:03where the tomb of Peter
26. 1:05is the earliest Christian art that we
27. 1:09know of is there in those catacombs
28. 1:13these images are very
29. 1:15simple simple art nothing compared to
30. 1:19what is upstairs in the Basilica or even
31. 1:23the artwork that will emerge through
32. 1:25Christianity in the later centuries yet
33. 1:29these pictures are very very striking
34. 1:30just because of their Simplicity and
35. 1:32their
36. 1:33directedness one of the images of Jesus
37. 1:36most found in the catacombs is that of
38. 1:39the Good
39. 1:40Shepherd one of the catacombs of St
40. 1:43kalistus shows a young beardless man
41. 1:46with a sheep draped around his shoulders
42. 1:48holding a buck bucket of water in his
43. 1:51right
44. 1:52hand clearly the image of Jesus as the
45. 1:55Good Shepherd that we find in today's
46. 1:57Gospel spoke to the early Christian
47. 1:59Christians to those early days of the
48. 2:03faith the shepherd image and the
49. 2:05catacombs appealed to the Christians
50. 2:07from the very start because it conveys
51. 2:10this personal nature of this
52. 2:13relationship that Jesus had with his
53. 2:16followers it portrays the close personal
54. 2:19care that the shepherd has for his sheep
55. 2:22the shepherd has gone looking for one
56. 2:24sheep that was wandered off and has
57. 2:26found it he takes it home takes it back
58. 2:29to the other flock and what does he do
59. 2:31he puts it on his
60. 2:33shoulder there is a bond between the
61. 2:36shepherd and this one sheep and that's
62. 2:39what Jesus is trying to convey to us in
63. 2:42this Gospel reading he declares that he
64. 2:45knows his own and his own know him just
65. 2:49as the father knows him and he knows the
66. 2:51father you got to understand this is an
67. 2:53extraordinary statement to make Jesus is
68. 2:56saying that the very personal
69. 2:58relationship that he has with his father
70. 3:00is the model in which he has for all of
71. 3:03us relationship that he has with each
72. 3:06one of us Jesus known to us intimately
73. 3:11as he knows his father and he wants us
74. 3:14to know him intimately as well as as
75. 3:18Jesus knows the
76. 3:20father there's a great deal to ponder
77. 3:22there we could take that to meditation
78. 3:24to our own prayer life but when it comes
79. 3:27to the Lord we are not just one in the
80. 3:29crowd one face among many in a way that
81. 3:33we will never fully understand the Lord
82. 3:36knows each and every single one on us by
83. 3:39name he relates to us on a personal
84. 3:42level and he invites us to relate to him
85. 3:45also in this very personal way he wishes
86. 3:49to enter into a personal relationship
87. 3:51with each and every single one of
88. 3:53us I'm often struck by the line in St
89. 3:57Peter's letter to the church in galatian
90. 4:00where he says I live by faith in the Son
91. 4:03of God who loved me and gave himself for
92. 4:08me we can each make our own those words
93. 4:11of St
94. 4:13Paul when Jesus says in the today's
95. 4:15Gospel that as the Good Shepherd I lay
96. 4:18down my life for my sheep he's saying
97. 4:20that he lays down his life for each and
98. 4:23every single one of us
99. 4:25individually this image of the Good
100. 4:27Shepherd is a nice image but maybe it's
101. 4:30a little odd when you think about
102. 4:32it I don't know any
103. 4:35Shepherds maybe you do maybe you've seen
104. 4:38Shepherds or interacted with Shepherds
105. 4:41but I've never seen any I've never met
106. 4:43any in fact I don't even think I've ever
107. 4:47really been up close to sheep of course
108. 4:49when you're traveling through Europe
109. 4:50maybe on a train or when you're on the
110. 4:52countryside or you go out to a Farms you
111. 4:54may see sheep but do you really have any
112. 4:57close encounters with sheep
113. 5:01but I can imagine that a Shepherd will
114. 5:05care for the Sheep he is tending he'll
115. 5:07watch over them I can understand that
116. 5:11he'll protect them even when there's a
117. 5:12danger that arises and he'll probably
118. 5:15fight off some
119. 5:17wolves but to lay down his life for the
120. 5:21Sheep it's hard for me to understand
121. 5:24this I don't know if I would do
122. 5:27that this is an image of course but but
123. 5:30think it through if things reach a point
124. 5:33where there are so many wolves and the
125. 5:35shepherd's life was in danger none of us
126. 5:38would blame that guy for taking off and
127. 5:40seeking
128. 5:41shelter they're just sheep after
129. 5:44all you don't have to lay down your life
130. 5:47to save them yet this is precisely what
131. 5:50Jesus is claiming to do he is the Good
132. 5:53Shepherd and we are his sheep he lays
133. 5:55down his life to save
134. 5:58us God is willing to die in order to
135. 6:02save us that is the explosive claim and
136. 6:06that is the promise that Jesus makes to
137. 6:08each and every one of us today and he's
138. 6:10making it through this very
139. 6:12image that doesn't shake you up a little
140. 6:16and make you bow your head in humility
141. 6:18and awe then we're not paying attention
142. 6:21we really don't understand what this
143. 6:22Good Shepherd Sunday is all about today
144. 6:26we also celebrate world day for
145. 6:28vocations while appreciating all
146. 6:30vocations the church today concentrates
147. 6:33her attention on the ordained ministries
148. 6:36of priesthood and diakon consecrated
149. 6:39life in all forms male and female
150. 6:42religious societies of apostolic life
151. 6:45consecrated virgins secular institutes
152. 6:48in their diversities of service and
153. 6:49membership in the missionary style of
154. 6:52the
155. 6:53church the first reading talks about the
156. 6:56stone that was rejected by the builders
157. 6:58has become the Cornerstone Stone of a
158. 7:00building there's a clear reference here
159. 7:03to Jesus himself the rejected
160. 7:06one I think that all of us can relate to
161. 7:09this at one time or the other we may
162. 7:11have felt rejected a rejected stone for
163. 7:14whatever reason yet we're never rejected
164. 7:17in the Lord's
165. 7:18eyes continues to call us in the way
166. 7:21that is unique to each and every single
167. 7:24one of us he sees us as the Keystone for
168. 7:27some important aspects of his work he
169. 7:31recognizes the potential for good that
170. 7:33is in each of us and today Jesus
171. 7:36continues to call young men and women to
172. 7:39follow him more closely more closely by
173. 7:42serving his
174. 7:43people however while some people respond
175. 7:46to his call
176. 7:47positively others ignore the call or
177. 7:50they resist the
178. 7:52call that is why we need to pray more
179. 7:54for vocations and I and I've urged the
180. 7:57parishioners of St Augustines and we can
181. 7:59be very very proud because at St
182. 8:00Augustines from day one we have always
183. 8:03made it a point and a priority to pray
184. 8:06for
185. 8:07vocations why because the Lord reminds
186. 8:09us the Harvest is the Harvest is plenty
187. 8:12but the laborers are few so pray to the
188. 8:14Harvest Master to send out laborers to
189. 8:17his
190. 8:18Harvest so my brothers and sisters on
191. 8:21this fourth Sunday of Easter kindly
192. 8:23remember to pray each day for vocations
193. 8:26to the priesthood and religious life let
194. 8:28us pray that
195. 8:30more young women and men from our parish
196. 8:33and from elsewhere May respond to the
197. 8:35call of the Lord with courage with
198. 8:38enthusiasm with love with a deep desire
199. 8:41to serve the Lord in Holiness and
200. 8:44similarly please remember to promote
201. 8:46vocations in your own families in in
202. 8:49your own friend circles wherever it is
203. 8:53to be able to promote vocations
204. 8:55especially by giving your children your
205. 8:57grandchildren a solid Catholic
206. 9:00Foundation effectively giving a daily
207. 9:03witness to what it means to be a good
208. 9:05Christian a Christian who loves the Lord
209. 9:08who follows the
210. 9:10Lord so may we commit ourselves a new to
211. 9:13hearing and responding to the go the
212. 9:16call of the Good Shepherd to serve the
213. 9:18Lord in Holiness amen