23rd April >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 10:22-30) for Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter: ‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice’. (2024)

23rd April >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. John 10:22-30) for Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter: ‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice’.

Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

Gospel (Except USA)John 10:22-30The Father and I are one.

It was the time when the feast of Dedication was being celebrated in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews gathered round him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus replied:

‘I have told you, but you do not believe.The works I do in my Father’s name are my witness;but you do not believe,because you are no sheep of mine.The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice;I know them and they follow me.I give them eternal life;they will never be lostand no one will ever steal them from me.The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone,and no one can steal from the Father.The Father and I are one.’

Gospel (USA)John 10:22-30The Father and I are one.

The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. 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.”

Reflections (14)

(i) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

The first reading describes a significant moment in the life of the early church, the preaching of the gospel to pagans for the first time, in the city of Antioch. Up until that moment, all the disciples of Jesus were Jews. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem had to discern whether this new development in Antioch was the work of the Holy Spirit, or just a human aberration. As part of their discerning, they sent one of their members, Barnabas, to look carefully at what was happening in Antioch. He was sent because he was known to be a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. A person filled with the Holy Spirit was likely to discern whether or not this novelty was the work of the Spirit. Barnabas immediately recognized that God was at work here. He not only gave them all every encouragement, he set out for Tarsus to bring Paul to Antioch, because he could see that this new development in Antioch was ripe for Paul’s gifts. Paul and Barnabas went on to spend twelve months together in that church. According to the reading, it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called ‘Christians’. People began to see that this movement wasn’t just a particular branch of Judaism. The Lord is always doing something new among us, and we all need to discern the ways the Lord is leading the church, especially in these times. To do that well, we need a listening ear, an ear and an eye that is open to the surprising ways of the Spirit. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, those ‘who belong to me listen to my voice’. People like Barnabas, who are in tune with the working of the Spirit among us, are an invaluable asset as we try to discern where the Lord is leading us. The Lord will always provide such people at times of transition, like the present time. Indeed, he invites each of us to become such a person.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

The phenomenon of theft is much more common than it used to be. We are much more security conscious than we were in the past. We generally think of the phenomenon of stealing in relation to things, to objects of various kinds. We also know that people can be stolen. We refer to this as kidnapping or people trafficking. When this happens people are being treated as objects or things. In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus declares that on one will ever steal one of his followers from him or from his heavenly Father. Jesus seems to be saying there that if we continue to seek to follow him, he will hold onto us. He is speaking here as the good Shepherd who is prepared to lay down his life so that the members of his flock can have life and have it to the full. There are no lengths to which the Lord will not go to hold onto us, to keep us in relationship with him. There are forces in the world that seek to undermine that relationship and even destroy it. Jesus was very aware of that reality. That is why he taught us to pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil’. Yet this morning’s gospel assures us that the Lord’s hold on us is stronger than the forces which seek to remove us from him. All he asks is that we keep listening to his voice and keep trying to follow him. If we do that we can be sure that we will never lose the firm hold of the good Shepherd.

And/Or

(iii) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus speaks as the shepherd who looks after each member of his flock and keeps them all united to himself. He says that ‘they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me’. He is declaring there that if we do our best to keep following him, if we keep on trying to listen to his voice, he will keep us faithful to himself. He will not allow the forces that are hostile to our relationship with him to get the better of us. Just as shepherd will not allow any of his flock to be stolen, because he is so protective of them, the Lord will not allow us to fall away from him, because he is so protective of us, as long as we want to remain a member of his flock and do not deliberately walk away from him. The gospel reading suggests that just as a shepherd holds his flock together, it is the Lord who holds the church together, the community of his followers. His investment in us will always be greater than our investment in him. We are being reminded that the life of the church and the quality of our own personal relationship with the Lord is not all down to us. Yes, we have a role to play; we have to listen to his voice and endeavour to go where he leads. Yet, his work on our behalf is always more significant than our work on his behalf.

And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

In the gospel reading Jesus declares that no one will steal his disciples from him. It is a very reassuring promise for all of us. Jesus is speaking as the good shepherd who defends the members of his flock in times of danger, who stands up against the thieves and robbers who intend to do harm to the flock. He is the good shepherd who is prepared to put his life on the line for his flock. Indeed he has already done so, laying down his life so that we may have life and have it to the full. We seek to follow the Lord in the knowledge that he will stop at nothing to ensure that we remain members of his flock, people who belong to his new family, the community of believers we call the church. Saint Paul had that same conviction which he expressed in his letter to the Romans when he said, ‘If God is for us, who is against us?’ God is for us in and through Jesus our good shepherd. The Lord will not allow anything or anyone to come between himself and ourselves. We have a part to play, of course. We need to listen to his voice and to keep him in view so that we can take our lead from him. Yet, the Lord’s part in our relationship with him is always so much greater than ours. Therein lies our confidence, especially in times of struggle and failure.

And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

Barnabas who appears in this morning’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles is one of the most attractive characters in the New Testament. Barnabas was a nick name; it meant ‘Son of Encouragement’. He had a reputation for encouraging people. That is very evident from that reading we have heard this morning. When something new was happening in the city of Antioch, when pagans were coming to believe in Jesus as well as Jews, Barnabas was sent down from Jerusalem to look at what was happening. He like what he saw and gave them all great encouragement, urging them all to remain faithful to the Lord. He immediately went off to Tarsus to look for Saul, or Paul, who had recently come to faith in Christ and Barnabas encouraged him to go to Antioch and support this new development there. Paul went on to become a leading member of the church in Antioch. Barnabas was what we would call today, an enabler. That is part of the calling of each one of us. We are called to encourage one another in the faith, to help one another to grow in our relationship with the Lord, to enable one another to be faithful. That ministry of mutual encouragement was very important in the early church and is just as important today.

And/Or

(vi) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

Barnabas features prominently in today’s first reading. He is described there as a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. He was a leader of the church in Jerusalem and he approved very much of what he saw happening in the church of Antioch where the gospel was being preached not only to Jews but to pagans as well. He was also someone who had the insight to see that this new and exciting development in the church of Antioch was the perfect place for the recently converted Saul to exercise his gifts. Barnabas introduced Saul to the church in Antioch and Saul went on to become a leading member of that church, and the church became an important spiritual home for Saul. Barnabas was one of those people who made way for others, who have the generosity of spirit to see that that a certain situation could benefit from the gifts of someone else. Today we might call such a person a facilitator or an enabler of others. We all have a role to play in calling forth the gifts of others by recognizing situations that would be ideally suited to them and by creating space for them in which to work. The Lord may not be calling on us to take on some particular work but he may be calling on us to encourage someone else to take it on, as Barnabas encouraged Paul.

And/Or

(vii) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus tells the Jews that the works he does in his Father’s name are his witness; what he does bears witness to his identity as the one sent from God. We bear witness to Jesus by what we say, but above all by what we do, by our works. In the first reading we have a good example of someone who bears witness to Jesus by his works. In Antioch Barnabas witnessed the new development of a community of believers consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. He then travelled all the way to Tarsus to encourage Paul to come to Antioch and to work among the believers there. Barnabas saw that the new development in Antioch was a great opportunity for Paul to use his gifts and he obviously saw that the church in Antioch could greatly benefit from Paul’s gifts. Barnabas linked a person and a place to the mutual benefit of both. This work of Barnabas allowed the risen Lord to continue his work. We all have opportunities from time to time to create openings for people that allow the Lord’s work to be done. Creating such openings for others is just one example of the many good works we can do that bear witness to the Lord.

And/Or

(viii) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

Many of us are concerned about break-ins at the moment. We are anxious lest someone might steal from us. We take various security precautions to prevent that from happening. In the gospel reading this morning, Jesus makes reference to stealing. He declares that no one will ever steal his followers from him. It is as if Jesus is saying that he has such a strong grip on his followers that no one will ever take them from him against his will. When you reflect on that saying of Jesus, it is indeed very reassuring. Jesus will do all in his power to keep us united with himself and to prevent us from being taken away from him or falling away from him. Yet, there is something that we must do as well. In the gospel reading, Jesus also declares, ‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice’. We need to pay attention, in some way, to the Lord. We try to hear what he may be saying to us; we seek to follow where he is leading us. If we do that, the gospel reading suggests that we can be assured that the Lord will do the rest. The Lord’s contribution to the relationship between us and him is much more significant than ours. Our ultimate salvation is much more the Lord’s doing than ours. Therein lies our confidence and hope.

And/Or

(ix) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

Barnabas features in this morning’s first reading. According the Acts of the Apostles, the name Barnabas means ‘son of encouragement’. It was a kind of a nickname given to him because he had a reputation for giving encouragement to others. He was an enabler; he brought out the best in others. We see that gift of Barnabas at work in this morning’s reading. Following on his conversion, Paul had returned to Tarsus, his home city. Barnabas could see that the emergence of a new kind of the church in Antioch, a mixed church of Jews and Gentiles, was crying out for someone like Paul, a Jew who had become the apostle to the Gentiles. Barnabas brought Paul from Tarsus to Antioch. Paul went on to make an important contribution to the life of the church in Antioch, and the church there, in turn, was a great support to Paul in his future missionary work. We all have the potential to be a Barnabas, to open doors for others so that the Lord can work powerfully through them. It takes a certain amount of humility to make way for the gifts of others. John the Baptist was such a person; he made way for Jesus, just as Barnabas made way for Paul. As parishioners of the parish of St John the Baptist, we might think of ourselves as having a special calling to enable, to encourage, using our own gifts while also making way for the gifts of others.

And/Or

(x) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus speaks as the shepherd who will never allow any of his sheep to be stolen from him. Jesus invites us to imagine a shepherd who will stop at nothing to prevent any would-be thief from stealing even one sheep from his flock. It is an image that speaks to us of the Lord’s determination to hold onto us and prevent us from becoming separated from him. It is a consolation to know that the Lord is so devoted to us and so committed to our well-being, and, in particular, our ultimate well-being, our eternal well-being. As Jesus says in that gospel reading, ‘I give them eternal life’. Yet, we are not just passive sheep. When it comes to the Lord’s relationship with us, there is a role for us as well. The Lord will do all he can to hold onto us but we also have our part to play. In that gospel reading, Jesus declares that ‘the sheep who belong to me listen to my voice… they follow me’. The Lord is very attentive to us, but we need to attend to him as well. We try to listen to his voice, especially as it comes to us in the words of the gospels, of the New Testament as a whole, and, indeed, in all of the Scriptures. There are many voices competing for our attention today, but in the midst of them all we need to be attentive to the voice of the Lord so that we can follow him each day. We listen to him, we follow him, in the confidence that his devotion to us and to our ultimate well-being is unconditional.

And/Or

(xi) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

Today’s first reading makes reference to the persecution of the early church. After the execution of Stephen, the church in Jerusalem experienced a time of persecution. As a result, many of the Jewish Christians there had to flee from the city. Yet, Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, highlights that this experience of persecution was actually a blessing for the church. Some of those who fled Jerusalem brought the gospel to places where it had not been preached, including the city of Antioch, where the gospel was preached for the first time to pagans. As a result of the success of this mission, Barnabas came from Jerusalem to Antioch to give encouragement to this new development, and, in his wisdom, he went to Tarsus and brought Saul to Antioch, recognizing that this was a church where someone like Saul or Paul could flourish. Barnabas was proved right. The church of Antioch became Paul’s spiritual home and the base for his missionary journeys. So, according to Luke, great good came from the persecution of the church in Jerusalem. Difficult times for the church can often be moments of renewal, of new and unexpected growth. The Lord works in life-giving ways in what can seem to be desolate places. Resistance, even hostility, to the church’s message can allow the Lord to work in new ways. In the gospel reading, Jesus speaks out of an experience of resistance on the part of some to what he says and does. Yet, as Jesus declares there, ‘the Father… is greater than anyone’. God’s work will not ultimately be derailed. This realization can keep us hopeful and energized in difficult times.

And/Or

(xii) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

It is a great gift to be able to recognize the good that the Lord is doing through someone or some group and then to encourage it along. This is what we find Barnabas doing in today’s first reading. News reached the church in Jerusalem that something unexpected was happening. In the city of Antioch, the gospel was being preached to pagans, and they were responding in large numbers. Up until that point, the church had been Jewish Christian; the disciples of Jesus were all Jews. The church in Jerusalem needed to check out this new and unforeseen development, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. The first reading says that when Barnabas got there, ‘he could see for himself that God had given grace, and this pleased him’, and he went on to give encouragement to what was happening. The Lord was moving the young church in a new direction and Barnabas recognized this and supported it. Every so often the Lord prompts the church to take a new step beyond where it has been. He calls on us to break new ground, to grow in new ways, as individual believers and as a community of faith. As such times, we need people like Barnabas who recognize that the Lord is behind this new direction and who encourage us to trust that the Lord is present in what is happening. In the gospel reading, Jesus, speaking as the good shepherd, says ‘the sheep that belong to me listen to my voice’. We are always trying to listen to the Lord’s voice so as to discern where he is leading us, the new directions that he is taking us in. There is always another step that the Lord is calling us to take. He can be speaking to us through new and unforeseen situations, such as the one in which we find ourselves at the moment. We all need something of the vision of Barnabas to see how the Lord is working in such unexpected and unplanned developments.

And/Or

(xiii) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

In today’s gospel reading Jesus declares, ‘the sheep that belong to me listen to my voice’. An essential element of following Jesus is listening to his voice. We are to be constantly asking ourselves, ‘What is the Lord saying to us? What is he saying to me?’ This is the action of discernment. We try to discern, in the circ*mstances of our day to day lives, what the Lord is asking of us, the path he wants us to take. The first reading suggests that Barnabas knew how to listen to the voice of the shepherd. When the gospel was first preached to non-Jews in the city of Antioch, and a new kind of local church began to be formed consisting of both Jews and pagans, the church in Jerusalem decided to send Barnabas to Antioch to investigate this new development. When he got there, according to the reading, ‘he could see for himself that God had given grace’. He discerned that this unexpected development was from God and that the Lord was asking him to support what was happening in Antioch. This Barnabas proceeded to do, urging the whole church to remain faithful to the Lord. Barnabas continued to listen to what the Lord was saying to him. He discerned that Paul who had recently encountered the risen Lord just outside Damascus would be the ideal person to give leadership to the church in Antioch. After all, Paul knew the Lord was calling him to be the apostle to the Gentiles and here was a church with a significant number of Gentile converts. So, Barnabas went to Tarsus and brought Paul with him back to Antioch, where Paul became a significant presence in that church. Barnabas inspires us to keep listening to what the Lord may be saying to us in and through the circ*mstances of our daily lives. It is said of Barnabas in that reading that he was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’. It is the Holy Spirit who helps us to discern what the Lord is saying to us. If we really listen to the Lord with the help of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will work through us in ways that build up the church and enrich our world, just as he worked through Barnabas.

And/Or

(xiv) Tuesday, Fourth Week of Easter

The first reading describes a significant moment in the life of the early church, the preaching of the gospel to pagans for the first time, in the city of Antioch. Up until that moment, all the disciples of Jesus were Jews. The leaders of the church in Jerusalem had to discern whether this new development in Antioch was the work of the Holy Spirit, or just a human aberration. As part of their discerning, they sent one of their member, Barnabas, to check out what was happening in Antioch. He was sent because he was known to be a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. A person filled with the Holy Spirit was likely to discern whether or not this novelty was the work of the Spirit. Barnabas immediately recognized that God was at work here. He not only gave them all every encouragement, he set out for Tarsus to bring Paul to Antioch, because he could see that this new development in Antioch was ripe for Paul’s gifts. Paul and Barnabas went on to spend twelve months together in that church. According to the reading, it was in Antioch that the followers of Jesus were first called ‘Christians’. People began to see that this movement wasn’t just a particular branch of Judaism. The Lord is always doing something new among us, and we all need to discern the ways the Lord is leading the church, especially in these times. To do that well, we need a listening ear, an ear and an eye that is open to the surprising ways of the Spirit. As Jesus says in the gospel reading, those ‘who belong to me listen to my voice’. People like Barnabas who are in tune with the working of the Spirit among us are an invaluable asset as we try to discern where the Lord is leading us. The Lord will always provide such people at times of transition, like the present time. Indeed, he invites each of us to become such a person.

Fr. Martin Hogan.