Category: Uncategorized

When someone learns that I’m a priest, often their reaction is: “Oh, Father, so nice to meet you. There is such a shortage of priests in the Church today! You should be allowed to marry – then there be more of you.”

But I’m not sure that’s the answer…

What the Church suffers from today is not fundamentally a shortage of priests, but a shortage of disciples– men and women who really believe Jesus and put his teachings into practice…

What the Church needs, then, is YOU.

So what is Jesus trying to teach us today?

***

First and foremost, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. We are his sheep. But why? Why must we be sheep?

Sheep are defenseless. They have no claws, no paws, no fangs, no venom. When a wolf comes along looking for his next snack, sheep have no way of defending themselves.

So when the wolf attacks, the sheep literally run around in a big circle, hoping they are not the one eaten! Can you imagine these poor animals thinking, “Catch him! Catch her! Just don’t catch me!” That furry frenzy reminds me a bit of musical chairs. Cowardice at its best.

The bottom line is sheep need a shepherd, because only he can defend them.

In the very same way, Jesus is telling us that we need him. HE is our shepherd. He is our protection. He knows that there are plenty of wolves lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack us and feed on our fear.

***

What threatens me? What makes me run around circles like a sheep without a shepherd???

***

For some of us, it may be that heavy weight of college loans or bills that pile up. Maybe it’s the pestering presence of a bully at school or at work, a negative turn in our health, a death in the family, a pink slip at work, dryness in prayer, or an addiction that never lessens its grip.

Whatever our burdens may be, we all know that feeling of being overwhelmed. Flustered. Afraid.

But Jesus says to us today, “Don’t run around in circles. Run to me!” As he says elsewhere in the Gospels, “Come to me, all you who are burdened and I will give you rest.” I will give you peace. I will give you security. I will give you hope.

***

Lesson number one: Run to Jesus, our shepherd.

***

And lesson number two: stay with the flock.

Sheep have a herding mentality. If a sheep gets separated from the flock, it instantly starts to panic. It literally stands in place and shakes because it doesn’t know how to find its way back home.

What it does know is that there are plenty of wolves hiding in the bushes, waiting for their next snack. The sheep’s only chance of survival is being found by its shepherd.

This is why Jesus says that he will leave the 99 for the 1 lost sheep. We would die without him.

But when Jesus finds us, he brings us back to the flock where we belong. He brings us back to the Church.

This is where we encounter Jesus. We encounter his mercy in the sacrament of confession. We receive his Risen Body and Blood in the Eucharist. And we interact with other members of his body when we care for one another.

Just as no sheep can survive alone, so no Christian should try to journey through life without the love and support of the Church.

***

This image of a shepherd, his sheep, and those nasty wolves really is an image of our lives.

Though there will always be people or experiences that threaten us, we do not have to be afraid because we have one another – and, above all, we have Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who has loved us and given himself for us.

There’s an old saying, “The true test of an army is how it fights when it’s tired.”

When the troop morale is low, when the supplies have run out, when the weather has turned against you and the mud is cold, when blood drips down your face and the enemy seems to be winning, when your muscles ache and your heart is faint, how do you fight?

***

History tells us some soldiers have dropped their weapons. They deserted their brothers and “returned to their former way of life” (John 6:65).

Others fought to their death.

We see this clearly happening in today’s Gospel. Jesus’ army is being depleted. At the beginning of this chapter he started with 5,000 men – not including the women and children. They were all ready to follow him.

Now he is down to 12.

The crowds simply will not accept his teaching that we must “eat his flesh and drink his blood,” a future reference to the Eucharist (John 6:56).

So Jesus turns to his disciples to see what kind of soldiers they are, asking them, “Do you also want to leave?”(John 6:66).

Though they do not understand Jesus’ teaching just yet, they trust him and remain by his side. As Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” (John 6:67).

***

What type of soldier are we?

When temptation strikes, do we fight? 

When our prayers go unanswered, do we fight?

 When we struggle to understand Christ’s teachings, do we fight?

 When living out our faith demands humility and patience, do we fight?

***

“The true test of an army is how it fights when it’s tired.” How well do we fight for Christ, especially when we’re tired or when we struggle to understand his teachings?

The good news is this: even if we drop our weapons – even if our faith fails us – Jesus will never stop fighting on our behalf.

To him be the glory now and forever.

 

How many horror films begin with someone left alone on a deserted island or locked inside a room while someone creepy lurks in the dark?

One example that comes to mind is Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs.” Do you remember that scene when he turns on his night vision goggles and pursues Clarice in his basement? Chilling.

Such movies play on a fear we all have – that fear of insecurity, of doors being closed, of not knowing where to go next or how to get out.

It’s a fear that plays itself out in our lives all the time.

For example, some of us may have just gotten a pink slip at work – a door closed. Maybe an important relationship just ended– a door closed. Or maybe we didn’t get in to our college of choice – a door closed.

It’s times like this when we can feel lost, unsure of what to do next.

***

Think of the disciples in today’s Gospel.

They have locked themselves inside a room in Jerusalem out of fear of being caught. They just cannot move beyond the idea that Jesus is gone, and their futures – their hopes and dreams – have been buried with him.

Every door seems closed. There is nowhere to go from here.

But all of a sudden, Jesus appears to them inside that locked upper room, saying, “Peace be with you.” … In other words, do not be afraid. Take a deep breath. God has a plan.

Jesus wants them to walk through the door in front of them, a door that leads into the streets of Jerusalem, where they must face their peers and preach the Good News.

This isn’t the door the disciples wanted to be opened, nor is it the door they expected, but they know that God is with them. So they take it.

This is why we hear Peter preaching in our first reading about Jesus being raised from the dead, because Peter has moved out of that upper room into the streets of Jerusalem, where he knows that God is with him.

***

This is one of the most important lessons the disciples learn from the Risen Jesus: that when one door closes, another one opens.

On Good Friday, a door was closed. Jesus was buried. And the disciples’ future was buried with him. But on Easter Sunday, another door was opened. Jesus was raised from the dead.

Thus whenever the disciples seem to hit a wall, they must turn to Jesus and ask him to open another door.

***

How many of us need a door to be opened, a way out?

***

Keep in mind that the door which God opens may not be the one we want to walk through. But take a deep breath. God has a plan.

Are we open to an adventure with Jesus? Like Peter and the other disciples, will we follow Jesus wherever he leads us?

To our young people, that may mean a door open to priesthood or religious life! Will you follow Jesus if he opens that door for you? Or are you making your own plans without asking God what he wants for your life?

Similarly,  to all of us gathered here: Do we ask Jesus to open doors for us, or do we try to manage life on our own?

Jesus stands ready to guide us if we’ll let him, which works out better for everyone in the end.

***

Remember what happened to the disciples. Little did they know that by walking through that door into the streets of Jerusalem, they would change the world.

Jesus opened doors through them from Jerusalem to Athens to Rome, and even now into Garfield.

So the next chapter begins.

Think about what God can do through us. When the next door opens, are we willing to walk it? If so, then we will never find ourselves trapped, as God is with us and he has a plan for our lives.