THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Second Sunday after Easter

23 April 2023

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The Sunday

Sermon

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Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (St. John 10, 11-16), Jesus presents various kinds of people. He presents Himself as a Good Shepherd, Who loves and cares for His sheep. He is even ready to die for them. There is the wolf or those who would kill, devour, and scatter the sheep. There are hirelings to whom the Shepherd entrusts the care of the sheep. These do well when there is no sign of trouble or danger, but when danger threatens, they abandon the sheep and flee for their own safety. Lastly, we consider the sheep who are trusting and defenseless.

We are all called upon to be sheep in the spiritual sense. We should love Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and learn to recognize, hear, and follow His voice. The temptation is to act more like goats than sheep. The goats are not docile; they strive to graze where they want despite the dangers or the warnings of the shepherd. Sinners often disregard the call and warnings of Jesus. The allure of something better enraptures us. The grass always looks greener in the pastures that are forbidden to us. Even when we are forced to obey The Shepherd, we do so reluctantly or unwillingly. The Shepherd loves us, but we do not yet truly love The Shepherd.

When we learn to recognize the voice of Jesus and listen and obey Him, we find the surest and safest path to Heaven. When we genuinely love Him, we unreservedly place our lives and cares in His Hands. We are ready to lay down our lives for Him or with Him without complaint or regret. We realize that He knows best and that we cannot completely trust our senses or natural desires. When we find a conflict between what God says and what the world or our fallen natures say, we must deny ourselves to follow Jesus.

There are dangers for us at every turn. The wolf represents these. The devils, evil or misguided people, and our undisciplined fallen natures conspire against our spiritual welfare. The wolves pretend to be our friends and to offer us easier or better ways to happiness, but these are all lies and deceptions. If we allow them to enter, they will kill our souls, scatter, and make a shambles of our lives here on earth. We are easily deceived because these very devils can and do appear as "angels of light." They also present themselves as false Christs, religions, and shepherds. Our only safety or protection from these wolves is complete love and submission to the Good Shepherd — Jesus Christ. We must truly love Him if we are to be able to discern the impostors and enemies. If we truly love Him, we will also truly know Him and serve Him.

The Good Shepherd has appointed other shepherds to guide and protect the sheep. There are hired shepherds that are only interested in their earthly wages. These teach well and direct well if there is no danger or difficulty. They can read the words of God to the sheep and preach the Gospels well, but they do not truly love, and hence we can say that they do not truly love God. They only love themselves and the worldly pleasures that entice them. These hirelings are not necessarily wolves seeking to steal and destroy, but they are weak or unbelieving. These often strongly preach against sin and vice; they readily and condemningly point their fingers at others but often are themselves slaves to these very sins and vices. We must strive to hear the words of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, that they speak, but we must strive to be careful not to follow their sinful way of life.

The hirelings have been chosen from among the sheep. They are weak and need to hear, love, and follow the Good Shepherd just like the rest of the flock. We must pray for the pastors that Jesus has placed over us, as they are bound to pray for us. In our daily prayers for our families and country, we must not forget our pastors, who are charged with our souls' guidance. We must be eager to bow to the directions of the pastors God has placed over us because in hearing, loving, and obeying them, we are essentially hearing, loving, and following Jesus. They are His representatives to us. They are His ambassadors to us. Our love for Jesus should shed enough light upon us to see and abhor vice and sin wherever it manifests itself — sometimes even in our pastors. When that happens, we should humbly and mercifully pray for them, quietly admonish them if we can, and even denounce them when all else has failed, and they have proven themselves wolves rather than weak hirelings.

Today, we are in ever greater need of clergy and religious to speak to us and show us the way to follow the Good Shepherd. We should pray with ever greater fervor for God to give us good priests and religious so that we are not deceived by the wolves or abandoned by the hirelings.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!