4th Sunday of Easter, A May 3, 2020
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
Video for the Mass: https://youtu.be/Kz4bl1hPIVg
“In verdant pastures he gives me repose.” What a day to proclaim this psalm when, after a long time away, we can gather together as God’s flock on a beautiful day in this pasture of our Church. “You spread a table before me.” And what a joy it is to finally spread before you this table of the Lord’s Body and Blood after two months of distance and hunger!
“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Is this not at the very heart of our desire to return to Mass as quickly as possible? It’s so similar to the reasons for the quarantine in the first place – so that our loved ones might have life. It is a noble goal and we are right to take every precaution to save the mortal lives of the vulnerable in our midst. But we cannot – look around – we have not forgotten that mortal life is not enough! All the safety, food, and comfort in the world cannot save what truly matters: our immortal lives!
This is the abundance Christ speaks of: eternal life. This shepherd does not want to lead us in and out of merely temporary pastures. The games, videos, movies, books, and hobbies that filled our quarantine aren’t necessarily evil… but they cannot give abundant life. How many of us watched a famous youtuber and thought “I bet they’re happy – they have a fun job and lots of money?” How many of us played games and watched movies and thought “I wish I could do even more of this?” And yet, how many of us had all the games and food and drink and free time we wanted but still felt… empty? How many of us, I wonder, are looking at the gradual return of normal and feeling… dread? Like we don’t want to go back to the hectic way of life before?
All of those and more… are the echoes of your desire for what only Jesus can offer. Whether you had too much free time or not enough… whether you played all the games you wanted or you got sick of them… your heart has always been searching for one thing: abundant life. Like a sheep looking for pasture, your heart desires to “come in and go out” and follow the familiar voice of a shepherd who can cares for it.
Make no mistake… no amount of work-life balance is going to satisfy you. As normal returns – very slowly – do not fall for the trap that “now, things will be better.” The desire for life that was there before, that was there when you went into quarantine… it will be there as we come out of it. I pray that this shock to our normal has made us all the more aware of it… I pray your eagerness to return to the Eucharist does not fade into taking it for granted as was perhaps the case before.
Because the world will try to offer you a different pasture. Like the thieves and robbers in Jesus’ parable, they will try to find ways into the sheepfold of your heart and call you out into their own promises of life. If you did not see through that lie before… if you did not see through that lie during the quarantine… do not assume you will see through it now. All the change in the world around you will never be enough to give you the abundant life you desire. It must be a change inside.
In the first reading, Peter’s words affect his outdoor congregation. They were “cut to the heart.” They asked what to do and when Peter told them to repent, they did. Yes, this is a day of joy, a sign of hope for our righteous desire to celebrate in community. But it is also a call to repentance. Though you are already baptized, you must enter again into those saving waters by way of ongoing conversion.
One direction that conversion can take for you is laid out in the second reading: patience. Not just keeping your cool in traffic, but the patience of Jesus Christ in his crucifixion. There is a lot of online chatter and anger about persecution and being unfairly treated. The first problem is that it’s generally not true. In our familiarity with a comfortable life, even the tiniest difficulty, inconvenience, or difference in opinion can be seen as persecution. But it’s usually not. We are by-and-large very well treated, especially if you make even a quick comparison to the history of the Church.
Even more importantly, our response to real persecution – when it does happen – must be better. Peter points out that Christ “returned no insult” when he was insulted and that “he did not threaten” when he suffered. I have seen a lot of insults, slander, and threats to government and church leaders. Their actions are not perfect. We can disagree. But the hatred, the eagerness to believe every terrible rumor, the tendency to play the victim… that is not the sign of conversion… of a soul with abundant life.
When Rome made Christianity legal, most of the empire was already Christian. They did not succeed by force or cleverness. They succeeded by suffering well when they were persecuted. By responding with love. It was that love, the love of Christ the good shepherd, that changed the world and the culture around them. If we cry foul at every perceived slight, if we protest every secular company’ decision to part ways with us, we are not imitating the patience of Jesus Christ but merely playing our part in the escalating competition of who can be the bigger victim.
Jesus Christ was a true victim, but he did not complain. He loved those who attacked him and, with great patience, offered them the way to life. If we desire life, we must be grateful that he suffered for us. If we hope to lead others to life, we must be prepared to suffer for them and from them, but to do so with patience. In doing that, you yourselves will find a deeper taste of the abundant life you so crave.
Please, continue to rejoice in the gradual return to normalcy. Please, continue to work toward a healthy balance of work, recreation, and community. But do not fall for the traps that lie in wait, the deceiving voices of thieves and robbers. Do not be too eager to seek life in the things of the world. Do not be too eager to assume that people in the world are persecuting you. In every case, seek Jesus Christ, but do so with patience, with an eye to endurance. For he did truly come that we might have abundant life, eternal life. And the only way to that life goes through the Cross.