4th Sunday Of Easter :: 2008

4th Sunday of Easter – The Fullness of Life or Mediocrity 04-13-08 Scripture Readings First Acts 2:14a, 36-41 Second 1 Peter 2:20b-25 Gospel John 10:1-10 Prepared by: Fr. Jonathan Kalisch, OP 1. Subject Matter •

Jesus offers his disciples the opportunity in following Him, to enjoy the fullness of life in His sheepfold (grace upon grace and the Cross). The alternative is a life of existence without true meaning - in which one is preyed upon by the forces which deny meaning in life.

2. Exegetical Notes •

In John, the authentic believer can be seen in the image of the sheep that belong to the Good Shepherd: they hear (akousousin) his voice (1:41, 3:8, 29; 4:42; 5:24, 28; 6:45; 8:38, 43; 10:3, 16) and follow (akolouthousin) him (1:37, 44; 8:12; 10:4, 5) so that He might give them eternal life (zoe anionios) (3:15, 16, 36; 4:14, 36; 5:24, 39; 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68), so that they may never be lost (ou me apolontai eis ton aiona) (3:16; 6:12, 27, 39; 10:10.)

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The Pharisees are compared to thieves, bandits, and hirelings; they are not among the sheep given Jesus by the Father because to be among the sheep, one must be “of God” (8:47) and “of the truth” (8:37). On the contrary, the disciples both hear His voice and know who He is (Mt 11:25).

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Jesus is the sheepgate. Just as sheep enter and leave the sheepfold only through a gate, so entry to God’s fold (the abundance of life) is only through the gate of Jesus. Note the contrast between life in the sheepfold and life outside: it is the fullness of life that one has access to through Jesus the Gate – not just mere existence where one is preyed upon by robbers and bandits – but life that truly shares in the life of God, with the riches of grace, and of ultimate meaning and existence (see John 1:1:4, 16).

3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church •

CCC 754: “The Church is, accordingly, a sheepfold, the sole and necessary gateway to which is Christ. It is also the flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd, and whose sheep, even though governed by human shepherds, are unfailingly

nourished and led by Christ himself, the Good Shepherd and Prince of Shepherds, who gave his life for his sheep.” •

CCC 618: The cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, the "one mediator between God and men". But because in his incarnate divine person he has in some way united himself to every man, "the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the paschal mystery" is offered to all men. He calls his disciples to "take up (their) cross and follow (him)", for "Christ also suffered for (us), leaving (us) an example so that (we) should follow in his steps." In fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries. This is achieved supremely in the case of his mother, who was associated more intimately than any other person in the mystery of his redemptive suffering. Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.

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CCC 2159: The name one receives is a name for eternity. In the kingdom, the mysterious and unique character of each person marked with God's name will shine forth in splendor. "To him who conquers . . . I will give a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it." "Then I looked, and Lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty- four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads."

4. Patristic Commentary •

Augustine: When our Lord then was speaking on this occasion, He said, that He is “the Shepherd,” He said also that He is “the Door.” You find them both in that place, both “I am the Door” and “I am the Shepherd.” In the Head He is the Door, the Shepherd in the Body. For He saith to Peter, in whom singly He formeth the Church; “Peter, lovest thou Me?” He answered, “Lord, I do love Thee.” “Feed My sheep.” And a third time, “Peter, lovest thou Me?” “Peter was grieved because He asked him the third time;” as though He who saw the conscience of the dealer, saw not the confessor’s faith. He had known him always, had known him even when Peter had not known himself. For he did not know himself at that time when he said,” I will be with Thee even unto death;” and how infirm he was he knew not. …Therefore, after His resurrection the Lord questioned him, not as being ignorant with what a heart he would confess the love of Christ, but that he might by a threefold confession of love, efface the threefold denial of fear.

5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars •

St. Catherine of Sienna: “The pilgrim, having passed the Bridge, arrives at the door which is part of the Bridge, at which all must enter(Jn 10,9), wherefore He says: 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, he who follows Me does not walk in darkness, but in light(Jn 14,6 Jn 8,12).' And in another place My Truth says, 'That no man can come to Me if not by Him,' and so indeed it is. Therefore He says of Himself that He is the Road, and this is the truth, and I have already shown you that He is a Road in the form of the Bridge. And He says that He is the Truth, and so He is, because He is united with Me who am the Truth, and he who follows Him, walks in the Truth, and in Life, because he who follows this Truth receives the life of grace, and cannot faint from hunger, because the Truth has become your food, nor fall in the darkness, because He is light without any falsehood.”

6. Quotes •

Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi 27: In this sense it is true that anyone who does not know God, even though he may entertain all kinds of hopes, is ultimately without hope, without the great hope that sustains the whole of life (cf. Ep 2,12). Man's great, true hope which holds firm in spite of all disappointments can only be God—God who has loved us and who continues to love us “to the end,” until all “is accomplished” (cf. Jn 13,1 and Jn 19,30). Whoever is moved by love begins to perceive what “life” really is. He begins to perceive the meaning of the word of hope that we encountered in the Baptismal Rite: from faith I await “eternal life”—the true life which, whole and unthreatened, in all its fullness, is simply life. Jesus, who said that he had come so that we might have life and have it in its fullness, in abundance (cf. Jn 10,10), has also explained to us what “life” means: “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17,3). Life in its true sense is not something we have exclusively in or from ourselves: it is a relationship. And life in its totality is a relationship with him who is the source of life. If we are in relation with him who does not die, who is Life itself and Love itself, then we are in life. Then we “live”.

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Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae 1: When he presents the heart of his redemptive mission, Jesus says: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" In truth, he is referring to that "new" and "eternal" life which consists in communion with the Father, to which every person is freely called in the Son by the power of the Sanctifying Spirit. It is precisely in this "life" that all the aspects and stages of human life achieve their full significance.

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Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor 19: It is Jesus himself who takes the initiative and calls people to follow him. His call is addressed first to those to whom he entrusts a particular mission, beginning with the Twelve; but it is also clear that every believer is called to be a follower of Christ (cf. Acts Ac 6,1). Following Christ is thus the essential and primordial foundation of Christian morality: just as the people of Israel followed God who led them through the desert towards the Promised Land (cf. Ex Ex 13,21), so every disciple must follow Jesus, towards whom he is drawn by the Father himself (cf. Jn Jn 6,44).

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Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor 19: This is not a matter only of disposing oneself to hear a teaching and obediently accepting a commandment. More radically, it involves holding fast to the very person of Jesus, partaking of his life and his destiny, sharing in his free and loving obedience to the will of the Father. By responding in faith and following the one who is Incarnate Wisdom, the disciple of Jesus truly becomes a disciple of God (cf. Jn Jn 6,45). Jesus is indeed the light of the world, the light of life (cf. Jn Jn 8,12). He is the shepherd who leads his sheep and feeds them (cf. Jn Jn 10,11-16); he is the way, and the truth, and the life (cf. Jn Jn 14,6). It is Jesus who leads to the Father, so much so that to see him, the Son, is to see the Father (cf. Jn 14,6-10). And thus to imitate the Son, "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1,15), means to imitate the Father.

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Luigi Giussani: “The experience of goodness is the encounter with an attitude that values and enhances us and gives us hope for what we shall become; it is ‘peace on earth,’ for God is good because He saves us. Redemption is the announcement of the positive in life.”

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Luigi Giussani: “The word ‘encounter’ implies, first, something unexpected and surprising. Second, it implies something real, that really touches us, is of interest to our lives…each

encounter is a particular example of the ‘voice that calls each one by name.’ Every encounter is a great opportunity offered to our freedom by God’s mystery.” •

Luigi Giussani: “Only those who continuously followed and sincerely committed themselves to Jesus felt the strength of that proposal in all its intensity.”

7. Other Considerations •

In light of the Resurrection, the believer must make a judgment about the reality of the call to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice and follow Him. The verification that one is uniquely called Christ can only take place by following His voice – only those who followed and sincerely committed themselves” felt the “strength”, the power of that proposal in their lives, often much later in life, after following.

Recommended Resources Francis J. Moloney, SDB, The Gospel of John Sacra Pagina Series, Vol 4, ed. By Daniel J Harrington, SJ (Collegeville, MN: the Liturgical Press, 1998) Giussani, Luigi, The Journey to Truth is an Experience, trans John Zucchi (Ithaca: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2006) Jerome Biblical Commentary, ed. Raymond Brown, Joseph Fitzmyer, and Roland Murphy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1968.