3rd Easter
John 10: 1-21
“Yes, the
truth I say to you: Anyone who does not go into the sheep through the door, but
breaks into the fold elsewhere, he is a thief or robber. Only he who enters by
the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep respond to his voice. He
calls each one by name, according to its nature, and he leads them out into the
open.
When he has brought them out, he walks before them, and the sheep follow
after him, for they trust his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but
rather flee, because they do not know the stranger’s voice.”
Thus did Jesus reveal himself to them in pictures, but they did not
understand what he was saying to them.
Then Jesus went on. “Yes, the truth out of the spirit I say to you. I AM
the door to the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the
sheep did not listen to them.
I AM the door. Anyone who enters through me will find healing and life.
He learns to cross the threshold from here to beyond, and from there to here,
and he will find nourishment for his soul. The thief comes only to steal, and
kill and destroy. But I – I have come that they may have life, and overflowing
abundance.
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep. He who works for wages, and who is no true shepherd, whose sheep are not
his own, he sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep, and flees while the wolf
snatches them and scatters them. For he is only a hireling and he cares nothing
for the sheep.
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. I know who belongs to me, and my own recognize
me, just as my Father recognizes me in the depths, and I know the being of the
Father; and I offer my life for the sheep.
Other sheep have been entrusted to me who are not of this fold; I must
also lead them. They too will listen to my voice, and one day there will be one
flock, one Shepherd.
That is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may
take it up anew. No one can take it from me.
But in full freedom I myself offer it up. I have the power to give it
away and also the power to receive it anew. That is the task given to me by my
Father.”
Then there again arose a division among the people because of these
words. Many of them said, “He is possessed by a demon and is out of his mind.
Why do you listen to him?” Yet others said, “These are not the words of one who
is possessed. After all, can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
3rd Easter SundayApril
6, 2008
3rd Easter Sunday
John 10: 1-21
A door has two functions. It
can open to allow us to move from one space to another. Closed, that access is
denied.
In life we often find
ourselves at thresholds, a new phase of life, a new job, or even the ending of
something. Doors open to us—or close. We have the choice to walk through such
an opening—or not. We have the choice to try to create an opening—or not.
Our soul too has its own
door. It is our ability to say yes, or to say no, to what comes to meet us.
Saying yes, we open our soul to what wants to enter our inner space—an event, a
person, a course of action. Sometimes it is necessary to say no and to close
our self to something, say, unhealthy.
This capacity to choose, to
say yes or no, is a gift from the Creator, in whose image we were made and in
whose image we are remodeling ourselves. It is a function of the Self. That
this is so is underscored by Christ’s own self-description—My I AM is a Door.
He who functions as the great
Yes and the great No, the archetype of choice, can help us in our own yes’s and
no’s. Together with Christ, our choices can be healthy ones. Together with
Christ our decisions can be clear and move us fully along from one inner space
to another. Christ encourages us: “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes, and your ‘No’
be ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one,” He says. Mt
5:37.
One of the saints said:
We
should probably pause,
and
discover where we stand and if
we at
least stand facing
in
the most likely direction.
Have
we yet left our
fallen
city, have we so much
as
exited the gate?
…Have
you, like me,
advanced,
say, several
miles,
and then retraced
the
same distance in reverse?
Have
we come so far
as
the Holy City
The
City of Peace
Have
we entered its open
gate,
or do we stand
cowering
outside, unable
to
enter it?[1]
Ironically, even with regard
to the soul’s own relationship to Christ, the relationship between the little
door of the soul to the Great Door, there exists a paradox. He who is himself
the Door of the Self, has chosen to wait outside the door of the soul’s choice,
the door of our heart. He knocks and waits to be admitted. For Christ Himself
respects our freedom of choice. With Him too, our soul faces a choice. Will our
heart choose to say yes, and open the door to Him? Will our heart say yes and
cross the threshold into the space of His great heart, into His City of Peace?
