4th Sunday of Easter; Year A, 2017

May Christ Jesus, the good and true Shepherd, the Lord and Messiah, the Mediator through whom you go to God the Father guide, guard, pasture and nurture you now and throughout your life. HappySunday! + John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FA  (Acts 2, 14. 36-41; 1 Peter 14, 7-9; John 10, 1-10; 4th Sunday of Easter; Year A,  2017)

            This fourth Sunday of the year is traditionally called the Good Shepherd Sunday (or to be more precise the True Shepherd Sunday) referring to Jesus who has all the qualities of a true pastor or guide of the soul. In his auto presentation in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says: I am the gate of the sheepfold. As the gate/door of the sheepfold, he is the unique and safe way of getting to the sheepfold, thereby ensuring their safety and pasture. Whoever would tries to enter into the sheepfold without passing through the gate is a thief, robber whose intention is to steal, kill and destroy. How are we to interpret and apply the metaphor of the gate of the sheepfold which Jesus applied to himself. The first and second readings of today seem to proffer some ways.

              In the first reading, we see that those who listened to Peter’s explanation of the events of the Pentecost were cut in the heart. They were open and ready to follow Peter’s directives; they asked what they were to do? In response, Peter exhorted them to repent and be baptized. Repentance (metanoia) is a total change of heart, an interior disposition, that would result in a new way of life. Baptism was a recognized external rite that marks the inner change. It is to be recalled that John the Baptist, during his ministry, called for repentance and some form of Baptism of Gentile proselytes who wished to embrace Jewish faith. What was then novel in Peter’s directives was the name in which they were to be baptized and the gift they were to receive. They were told to be baptized in the name of Jesus, who was both Lord and Christ, and they were promised the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the first reading indicates that the essential way of passing into the sheepfold is to be baptized, to become Christian. It is expected that the life of the Christian would be, henceforth, coherent with his baptism, that is to say, that he has to always pass through Jesus who is the gate of the sheepfold. 
            In the second reading, Peter tells us that: Christ suffered for you and left an example for you to follow the way he took. Following Christ’s example is a way of regarding him as the gate of the sheepfold. Passing through Christ as gate means that the Christians have the example of Christ after which they can pattern their behavior. They have Christ in whose footprints (steps) they can walk. The word for example (hypogrammos) refers to a child’s writing exercise. The letters of the alphabet from alpha to omega (A to Z) are copied stoke by stroke from a pattern. By using this image, the author is suggesting that, like the child, Christians can trace their own manner of suffering from the pattern set by Christ. Translating the word ichnos as foot-spring instead of footsteps would mean that when Christians follow Christ, they will not only go where he went, but they will also step into the prints made by his feet. Walking in the footprints, they follow Christ exactly as if they were tracing their lives after his pattern. Peter presents Christ’s innocence and avoidance of vengeance as pattern the Christians can trace from Christ’s life. The innocent suffering of Christ is described in terms that recall a passage of one of the Suffering Servants’s Songs of prophet Isaiah (53, 4-7). This is the pattern after which Christians are to model their lives. When they are persecuted for good they have done, they must be willing to bear the suffering, perhaps even for the sake of the very ones who have victimized them. Therefore, to pass through Christ who is the sheep-gate/door means to imitate him, live as he lived and in particular carrying the cross with love, just as he did. Instead of liberating ourselves or using violence we should always show goodness and generosity.

            The church passes through the sheep-gate/door because she concludes her prayers to God saying: Through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Saviour. All the prayers of the Church pass through Christ to reach God the Father; they are offered to Christ that He may present it to God the Father. The Church proclaims that Jesus Christ is the mediator. He is the mediator of a new covenant as the Letter to the Hebrews (9,15) indicates. The metaphor of sheep-gate/door brings out well Christ’s mediatory role. It is necessary to pass through him in order to gain salvation. Jesus says: If one goes in through me, he will be saved and then he added: He will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. Jesus introduces us in the exterior and interior world. That is why it is necessary to be with him when we intend to deepen our interior life and enter into a profound and authentic rapport with God. Jesus said: No one goes to the Father, except through me (John 14,6). If we wish to encounter God and to have a personal rapport with him we have to pass through Christ, unite ourselves with him so that he presents us to God. All our offerings are presented to the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the mediator of the relationship with God the Father.

            Jesus is the universal mediator. He is the only one capable of establishing good rapport among men. He is the mediator between God and the people. We should be united to his heart in order to accomplish his work here on earth. Each one of us will have to bring to a finish a part of the work of Christ in union with him. In this way our life will become truly Christian, a life pleasing to God and fruitful for the life of the world. Jesus affirms: I am the sheep-gate/door, if any one enters through me, he shall be saved. If we do not enter through the sheep-gate/door, we are thieves and we would be doing things that are not proper. And what is more, instead of achieving positive results we would be moving on the opposite direction of dishonesty and selfishness and our whole life will be corrupt. But if we enter through Jesus, through his heart and his love, then we shall be saved and will be living our lives in its fullness. Jesus himself said that he came so that all will have life and have it in abundance.  In the Eucharist we receive the very life of Christ who gave himself up for us and we receive it so that we may be able to live in the fullness of divine charity. This is our vocation as Christians, of which we should be proud of and for which we should be grateful to God, through Jesus Christ, the sole and unique mediator. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

graphics  by chukwubike