"My Sheep Hear My Voice" John 10

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Mark Payne, OSB

Psalm 100 today explains Israel's understanding of itself as the flock of the Lord. Ordinarily people would chaff at being called a flock, especially nowadays when standing out from the crowd is so highly valued. But Israel had so often found itself in trouble from which it could not rescue itself that it was quite happy to adopt this image of the Lord God as Shepherd and itself as the flock. History shows, of course, that as soon as God's people were freed from whatever famine or oppression that God had most recently rescued them, each one pretty soon went back to minding his or her own business by trying to take care of their own selves.

It is edifying how openly self-critical is the history of the Hebrew people. American history hardly includes long sections detailing our faults and listing the troubles that we have brought down on our heads. The state of so many schools, the troubles of inner cities, the greed that drives so much of the corporate world, racism, broken familes and the sad state of many rivers and forests, all of these are not recorded so prominently in the American historical memory. The Bible, on the other hand, does contain long and detailed pronouncements by the prophets not only of the sufferings of the people but interpretations of these sufferings as entirely the result of the people's infidelity to the will of God.

The Book of Revelation offers us today a vision of not only one people but rather all the peoples of the world gathered as one people: every nation, race, people, and tongue. It seems to be as wonderful a vision as it is a preposterous one. It does not surprise us that this happy condition of world-wide unity comes about as a result of divine power. This is not something brought about by clever, intelligent, and hard-working people--as helpful as these human traits are. Revelation also speaks about the coming "great distress," some period of human history, some terrible consequence of human misbehavior that will finally force us come together.

Even with a world-wide disaster and even with the power of God, the Bible insists throughout that there is still one impediment to the the unity of peoples that could be ours. There is no force in heaven or on earth that can bring about by itself, the one-by-one, individual, and personal conversion of heart that is necessary for peace on earth and happiness in the world. Not even God can force this to happen against our will.

The Acts of the Apostles describes a wonderful time in the history of the early church when people were "delighted when they heard the word of of the Lord." People by the dozens, pagan and gentile people from all over the world , heard and responded to the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. They accepted baptism and one-by-one they all together turned themselves over to the God of Israel, the Lord of the universe. Make no mistake. As unlikely as it is that we ourselves will see the final unity of the people's in our lifetime, the divine project of "One Flock under One Shepherd" is already well underway and it is already bearing fruit.

There is no other route towards the vision of universal peace that exists in the heart of all people. One by one, each of us individually has to turn ourselves over to the goodness and the gracious mercy of God. This is good news and frightening news. By God's grace we can accept the future God offers us; we can lead simply, happy, and holy lives. The lives of so many good people around us prove that this works. Their lives also encourage others to do so. The Gospel ends today with the Jesus claim that he and the Father are one. The flock of the Lord does exist on the earth and the kingdom of God is growing in numbers and in holiness.

There is only one thing we can do--but we can do it! Allow God to renew God's presence and God's power for good in our hearts. Turn that list of world troubles into opportunities for healing hurts, sharing wealth, forgiving offenses, challenging and encouraging the young, living simply, taking a hike and helping clean out a park. All we can do is accept the opportunities of the moment as they present themselves. But we can do that with enthusiasm and graciousness, praising God. Eternal life, the coming of the kingdom, the unity of the peoples, the one flock of the Good Shepherd: it's all around us and it's right now.