HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Apr 21, 2013

4471

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First Reading

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (13:14, 43-52)

Paul and Barnabas continued on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and took their seats. Many Jews and worshipers who were converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to remain faithful to the grace of God.

On the following sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said. Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth."

The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and glorified the word of the Lord. All who were destined for eternal life came to believe, and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region. The Jews, however, incited the women of prominence who were worshipers and the leading men of the city, stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their territory. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium. The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Second Reading

A reading from the Book of Revelation (7:9, 14b-17)

I, John, had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

Then one of the elders said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (10:27-30)

Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

A man is walking along a steep cliff on a foggy morning. He accidentally gets too close to the edge and falls off the cliff. On the way down, he manages to grab hold of a small branch which is sticking out off the cliff. And there he hangs, unable to climb up the cliff and at the same time afraid to let go of the branch. He screams, "Help! Help! Is anybody there?" There is a long silence. He yells again, "Is anybody there? This time he hears a loud voice from above, "Yes, Yes!" The man asks, "Who are you?" The voice says, "Oh, my son, I am God. Just let go of the branch and my angels will catch you and bring you to paradise." Some seconds go by, and then the man shouts again, "Is anybody there?" "My son," booms the voice from above, "I told you, I am God and I am here! Trust me!" The man says, "God! I know you are there. But is anybody else out there?"

Have you ever been desperate like the man in the story? Have you called on God in desperate time? I am sure we all have. Have you heard his voice? And have you obeyed his commands? Many times we want to know the plan of God; we want God to speak to us but when He does reveal His plan or speak to us we do not accept it for it sounds too scary and too difficult. So we decide to look elsewhere. Don't we?

In today's gospel we hear Jesus saying, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow Me." Jesus uses the images of shepherd and sheep to signify the intimacy and trust between Jesus and his followers. Jesus is very confident that his followers would hear his voice and obey his commandments. In other words true believers in Jesus Christ desire the voice of Jesus Christ; recognize him as their shepherd and follow him. The reward for hearing and obeying His voice is eternal life. Jesus says, "They will never perish." As long as the sheep listen to his voice and go where he leads, they are safe. Do we hear and obey his voice when he calls us or speaks to us? The greatest challenge for us is what Jesus says may not be always desirable but it is the truth. Many times Jesus' word is indeed a bitter pill to swallow.

Sometime ago a friend brought a devout evangelical Christian woman to see me. I was a bit surprised that she wanted to talk to a Catholic priest. I was told that she was troubled by something and she wanted some guidance to find comfort and peace through her faith in God. While telling me her story she kept crying. To make a long story short, she has been angry and upset with her only daughter who seems to engage in casual dating. She is in desperation that her daughter shows no concern for negative consequences of her immoral behavior while her husband is completely oblivious to the whole thing. Sadly her daughter has also undergone an abortion for which she was also partly responsible. To avoid embarrassment, inconvenience and responsibility, she had encouraged her daughter to abort the child. At the same time she began to question why God had not answered her prayers and make her daughter and husband Christians. Disappointed with God, she started to isolate herself from her family and withdraw from her social activities and church friends. But still she knew that deep inside, there was something very wrong with her life and actions.

Hidden in her story were feelings of shame, despair, frustration, anger, hatred and hurt. So I suggested to her that perhaps God today wants her to seek the power of the Holy Spirit for healing and reconciliation for herself first before she helps her daughter to heal and grow, and change her life, and bring her husband to the Faith. But she kept insisting that she could not forgive herself and her daughter, and asked me if there was any other way that she could find peace. She was asking for some other plan of God. She came to hear the voice of God. I realized that God was truly talking to her through me. And yet she wanted her own way. I reminded her of the words of Jesus said of himself, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life", and that Jesus has left no other option open to her.

Not only this desperate mom but all of us have a problem with the voice or the teaching of Jesus. We may like to hear and follow everybody else but not Jesus because we are fearful of what he will tell us. We often hear and know that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life but still lack the courage to follow Him. We tend to say, "It is impossible; I cannot do it and I do not want to do it." Friends, let us make Jesus more and more the center of our life. The more we make Jesus the center of our life, and the more we do what Jesus asks us to do, the more we will follow Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the better our life will be. Let us now and always pray humbly: "Lord, I am here, I want to hear your voice. I desire to know your will, so speak to me, and I will listen and faithfully obey your voice."

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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