HOMILY FOR YEAR B OF 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

HOMILY FOR YEAR B OF 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

HOMILY THEME: JESUS AS THE ONLY HOPE AND SAVIOUR OF HUMANITY

Acts 4:8-12; Psalm 118:1,8-9,21-29; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18

BY: Fr. Luke Ijezie

Today, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is celebrated as Good Shepherd Sunday. The readings of this Sunday all underline the unique role of Jesus as the Saviour and leader of all humanity. There is no other name and there is no competitor. All are called to belong to the one flock and under the one Shepherd-Leader. Our common vocation as followers of Christ is to bring and treat all humanity as members of this one flock. That is why the Church remains the sign and instrument of unity for the whole world. Every vocation in the Church is geared towards building and serving this one universal Communion in Christ. Every effort that destroys this unity and unanimity is the real common enemy to be fought against.

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1. The imagery of the Shepherd in today’s Gospel from John 10:11-18 is most adequate to the type of situation we find ourselves today. Many dangers line up our daily routes and the enemies are like ferocious beasts eager to annihilate us. We need a powerful Shepherd who guides, feeds, rescues, protects and cares for the sheep. All these we find in Jesus. With him as good Shepherd, we have nothing to fear.
2. The first reading from Acts 4:8-12 presents Jesus as the stone rejected by the builders but which has now become the cornerstone, that is, the foundational structure on which the whole building rests. Jesus was maligned, humiliated and betrayed by his people and later killed in a most shameful way, but he is now exalted and has become the only hope of life for all. In our society today, Jesus continues in one way or the other to be shamefully treated and denied, but he remains the only hope for a secure and humane world.
3. The second reading from 1John 3:1-2 laments the fact that the world does not know our noble identity in Christ because it does not know God. Through Jesus we have been elevated as children of God, and because of him we have the greater hope of seeing God and being like Him. If God has shown such love to us, there is nothing more He cannot do for us. In fact, we have nothing more to fear. We have a Good Shepherd who knows us and cares for us as he has even given his own life for us.
4. All these point to one thing: Jesus is the only hope for our society, whether we acknowledge him now or not, whether we profess Christianity or not. His commitment to love of neighbour is the only therapy to our fragmented society and hate-polluted hearts. Every effort on our part as Christians should be to bring the whole world under Christ’s selfless and caring leadership so that there is only one flock and one Shepherd. We are brothers and sisters, and any ideology or campaign to divide us is contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. Unfortunately, many of such ideologies abound in our midst today.
We pray in this Good Shepherd Sunday that we all may realise our individual and collective vocations to bring the whole humanity and the whole creation under the lordship of Christ! This is done through love and human solidarity.
May the Spirit of God guide and empower us to realise the beauty of our common humanity in Christ!

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