Wednesday, April 29, 2020

2nd after Easter II, April 29, 2020, Brilliant Angel Feathers


2nd Sunday after Easter
John 10:1-16

“Yes, the truth I say to you: Anyone who does not go into the sheep through the door, but breaks into the fold elsewhere, 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.
Brueghel, Bad Sheperd
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, 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; 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.



2nd after Easter II
April 29,2020
John 10:1-16

In this parable of the Good Shepherd,
Tissot
we might not like seeing ourselves cast as sheep. We might prefer the parable of the single lost sheep,* the one who is so important to the shepherd that he leaves the rest of the flock to go searching for it. But in today’s picture, Christ is speaking about his relationship to those who find themselves in communities, those who are gathered together. And he is looking at the ways in which His flock, His community is either protected or threatened.

What is it that holds His community together, gives it cohesion? It is Christ himself who holds His community together. The will of the group is to follow in trust Christ’s will: his being, his love.

It is He who knows what we need—when it is time to go out and be fed and when it is time to stay safe in the fold. We, the flock, know that we can trust and follow His voice. He knows us, individually and collectively. He speaks to us in the sacraments, in prayer. He continues to offer His life for us, to us, in physical and spiritual communion. It is He who cares for, protects, and guides the life of His community.

Christ gathers us into a community to protect us from the wolves of solitude, illusion, and untruth. Those wolves divide and scatter, snatch and devour. Christ keeps us together, saying, in the words of the poet:

Someone
Fra Angelico, Sheep and Goats
Will steal you if you don’t stay near,

And sell you as a slave in the
Market.

I sing to the nightingales’ hearts,
Hoping they will learn
My verse.

So that no one will ever imprison
Your brilliant angel
Feathers.

Have I put enough spiced manna
On your plate?

…If not, please wait
For more light is now fermenting. . . **


*Luke 15:3
**Hafiz, “Spiced Manna”, in The Gift, by Daniel Ladinsky, p. 210

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