Homily: Fourth Monday of Easter
Fourth Monday of Easter (John 10:1-10) “How Can Somebody be a Gate?”
I am the sheepgate. You must enter through me. The metaphor Jesus uses makes us scratch our head. We have all walked through a gate into someone’s yard. A gate is an inanimate thing. You swing it open. You push it closed. If you have an animal you want to keep at home, you make sure the gate is closed and secure.
Is Jesus saying that he is an inanimate object? He does not say he is a gate keeper. We could understand that. No, he says he is the gate. We must explain this metaphor in order to understand.
Shepherds would take their flocks into the fields during the days. But at night they would put them in an enclosure. The enclosure might be a boxed canyon with an opening on one end. It might also be a space that was fenced in. Perhaps shepherds might stack up stones or use hedges to build the fence. In the fence would be an opening where the sheep could come and go.
The opening would be just an opening. Hinges had not been invented yet, so it was hard to have a swinging gate. A shepherd would be chosen to keep watch. The shepherd would sleep in the opening so the lambs would not leave. Also, they would be watching so that no thieves could sneak in. The shepherd was a living breathing gate. His movements determined if the pasture was open or closed.
The metaphor makes sense when we put it in that context. If we want to enter the kingdom of Jesus, we must go through Jesus. We can’t make it into the kingdom unless we learn from Jesus. We must be intimate with him.
Some people would explain this is all about making it to heaven. But we can dwell in the kingdom of Jesus here and now. For the kingdom can be within us. The kingdom is a way of living in this word as well as making it to the next world. We enter by applying the Gospel to the lives we lead today.
Reflection Questions:
- Are gates meant to us give us security? What would Jesus say?
- Do I resent being referred to as being a sheep? Jesus is said to be the Lamb of God. What does that mean?
Dear Parishioners,
We will be working on finalizing the format for our new WEB page. The traffic on our WEB page increased greatly during the Pandemic. People appreciate the fact that they could watch parish events on Facebook. The traffic has held steady even as people have come back to church. We have thousands of people visit us on the WEB every week. For some, this is the first contact that they have with the parish.
WEB pages do cost money. One of the ways that we hope to subsidize our internet presence is to sell some advertising. If you have a business or know someone who does, please let them know about this opportunity. More information will be shared soon.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for us.
Fr. Mark