HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTER (4)

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 4TH WEEK OF EASTER

THEME: Falling on Deaf Ears

BY: Deacon Bill Frere

HOMILY FOR TUESDAY MAY 10 2022

Gospel – John 10:22-30

In Monty Python’s highly irreverent comedy “The Life of Brian”, there is a scene where Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount. There is a great crowd of people listening to His every word. But when He teaches “Blessed are the Peacemakers…”, the people way in the back don’t hear the words clearly. Instead they hear “Blessed are the cheesemakers.” And they begin to grumble and argue over why Jesus would single out only one profession above any other. Why cheesemakers? Or does He really mean anyone involved with dairy and production? Curious!

Sometimes, many times, we hear what we want to hear! Our hearing becomes either highly selective or outright deaf! Sometimes we can be so distracted by other things that we are completely blind and deaf to those around us. Those of you with teenagers know this to be true!

Sometimes however, we deliberately make a choice not to listen, not to pay attention. We cover our ears and our hearts to the words of another. And that is what we ‘hear’ in today’s Gospel. The Jews who are gathered in the Temple area are complaining to Jesus – tell us plainly! Are You the Christ? And Jesus reminds them that He has already answered their question, many times! Not only in His words but in His actions and in His miracles! And yet they have blocked their ears and their hearts to His message.

So where are we? Are we selectively deaf? Do we hear only what we want to hear and block out everything else? Are we receptive to the Word of God? To Jesus’ message of peace and forgiveness? Are the words of Jesus falling on deaf ears? Is it time, past time, for us to clean out our stopped-up ears and pay more attention to the Good News?

Deacon Bill Frere