Weekly HOMILY for April 13, 2008: Herding Sheep

4th Sunday of Easter, Cycle A
Our Lady of Grace
April 13, 2008

Herding Sheep
(Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


Sheep Pens

In Jesus’ day, shepherds used two different kinds of pens for their sheep at nighttime.

If they were near a village, they would herd their sheep into a common village pen. If they were outside of a village, they would use a field pen.

Actually, Jesus alludes to both kinds of sheep pens in today’s Gospel.

Each kind of pen reveals something different to us about Jesus and each one calls us to do something different.


The Common Village Pen

As I said, the first type is the common village pen.

Imagine that sheep from five or six flocks belonging to different shepherds spend the night in this one pen. In the early morning, the shepherds come to this pen to get their flocks and lead them out to pasture.

Now the sheep know their own shepherd so well that they respond only to his voice in much the same way your dog’s tail begins to way when he hears your voice.

This is the background when Jesus says today, “The gatekeeper opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.”

Jesus is saying that he wants to be our shepherd. He wants to lead us in ways that are spiritually good and life giving.

But before this can happen, we, like the sheep, need to be listening for his voice. The challenge, I’m sad to say, is that there are so many shepherds and so many voices in our individual worlds.

And, I might add, they are all clamoring for our attention and allegiance. These other shepherds promise us a better or fuller life, if only we have this additional line of credit or if only we own a BMW or wear Ralph Lauren clothing, things like that.

Sometimes our personal lives may be in turmoil or our family may be in conflict because we are listening so closely to these voices. Sometimes an entire society can be led away by misplaced values.

Sometimes it takes a real upset to wake us up – an economic downturn, the price of gas, a family break-up, an emotional depression or physical sickness. It may take something like this to make us realize how shallow these voices are.

The truth of the matter is that whatever the times – in easy times or in challenging times – we are led to true fulfillment, happiness, and peace, if we listen to the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

For true, inner peace and long-term happiness, it doesn’t mean that we don’t hear all those false voices, but that we can distinguish between the voice of the Good Shepherd and the hirelings who are out to use us for their own profit.

That is the message from the image of the shepherd calling his sheep from the common village pen.


The Field Pen

And then, there is the field pen.

This sort of pen is outside of a village and consists of a circular stone wall with a narrow opening for the sheep to enter and exit. A shepherd herds his sheep into this pen and then he himself lies down across the narrow opening.

So in the field pen the shepherd himself becomes the gate, if you will. No sheep can stray and no wild animal can enter without touching his body and waking him.

With this as background, Jesus says today, “I am the gate for the sheep.” This image of the shepherd laying his body down across the opening of the field pen is supposed to remind us of Jesus laying down his life for us.

Jesus does that on the cross and continues to give himself for us and to us in the Eucharist. And we, for our part, must allow him to do this.

This means that we need to make weekly Eucharist a priority and be aware that Jesus is here giving himself – body and soul – to us. In fact, he does this in each of the Sacraments.

To make that Body and Blood of Jesus have an impact on the quality of our lives, we need to cultivate an inner life where it can be received.

We need to be persons who prepare their interior by prayer and personal reflection. This preparation of the place that is to receive the Flesh and Blood of the Lord is absolutely crucial.

And this is the massage from the image of the shepherd laying his body down across the gate of the field pen.


Conclusion

So, two very powerful images: Jesus as the shepherd and Jesus as the gate – the common village pen and the field pen with sheep being able to listen for and hear his voice above other voices and sheep allowing him to give himself to us in the Eucharist.