St. Anthony & Our Lady of Fatima

The first part of today’s Gospel, spoken by Jesus to the disciples at the table with him the night before he died, takes us back to the painful moment of Judas’ betrayal and Jesus’ imminent death on the Cross.  In John, this is the moment of Jesus’ glorification.  This same reality must be lived out by his missioned disciples, as heard in today’s First Reading.  It is interesting to hear the “love commandment,” the second focus in today’s Gospel, in these last days of Easter Time (“the little while”) prior to Jesus’ Ascension.

No matter what happens in our lives, we care called to love one another as Jesus did.  We are known as Christ’s disciples by how we love through the pain and rejection in our lives.  Under some circumstances, to love in such a way requires extraordinary faith.  Jesus loved even the one who betrayed him.  He forgave those who hanged him on the cross.  We are to forgive, too.

To love on another as Jesus loved them is the parting command that the Risen Christ gives us today.

Having listened to the accounts of the appearances of the risen Jesus in the Gospel of John we now consider some of the words of Jesus from earlier in the gospel, which richly illustrate his mission and identity. We read from the Gospel of John throughout the Easter period due to its profound insights into the person and work of Jesus. It is most appropriate to reflect on these deep truths and rich images as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his gift of new life to us.

Today’s passage is taken from the tenth chapter of the gospel, which is renowned for Jesus’ words: ‘I am the good shepherd’. In fact, the chapter includes various sayings of Jesus relating to the image of the shepherd and his sheep. The use of this image, or parable, takes us back into the books of the Old Testament, where God is on several occasions described as a shepherd who has care for the sheep. The most famous instance of this is of course Psalm 22 (23), which begins with the words ‘The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I shall want.’

Despite the brevity of today’s passage from John’s gospel, several important themes of the gospel occur. ‘Belonging to Christ’ as sheep to a shepherd presupposes hearing and accepting the word. In John’s gospel we know Jesus himself as ‘the Word’.

Finally, Jesus speaks of his relationship with the Father. ‘The Father and I are one’ is a statement of enormous importance in helping us to understand the person of Jesus and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

We receive the same call as Simon Peter to feed the Lord’s sheep.  Three times Christ questions Peter’s love and then Christ questions Peter’s love and then directs him to care for the flock.  How many times do we need to be told?  How is our love for God evident by the way we live?  Consider who needs to be fed in your life and who needs your loving attention.

The octave of the first Easter was disappointing and uneventful for the apostles. On the evening of the day of Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus sent His apostles to proclaim His Gospel (Jn 20:21), but eight days later they were still paralyzed by fear and behind locked doors (see Jn 20:26). Thomas, not present a week earlier, did not believe that Jesus was risen from the dead. Perhaps this is because Thomas saw no change in the lifestyle of those who had seen the risen Jesus. However, the Lord had mercy on the apostles after they were unfaithful to Him so many times. He came to them once again and was even willing to subject Himself to Thomas prodding His wounds (Jn 20:27).

Possibly the octave of Easter has been disappointing for you also. You may have even sinned against the risen Lord. You may be concealing Jesus’ Resurrection more than revealing it. Nevertheless, Jesus comes to you once again with rays of mercy coming from His wounded heart.

The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” (Jn 16:13). He will move us to be true to the Lord and not unfaithful. The Holy Spirit will produce the fruit of love in us (Gal 5:22), and we will stop our sinful rejection of the Lord and our disobedience to Him. By Jesus’ mercy and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be witnesses for the risen Christ and truly celebrate Easter. “Lord, have mercy. Come, Holy Spirit!”