homily notes: 4th Sunday of Easter

How many times have you had to explain your faith to someone?


Maybe they asked why you have ashes on your forehead on some random Wednesday.
Maybe they saw that you have a rosary hanging from your rearview mirror.
Or maybe you have a statue of Mary in your front yard.


Our faith provokes questions - from other Christians and from people who don't believe in God at all.
Those questions deserve answers.


And so we have to ask ourselves: "Why am I here? What brings me to church today? What makes me call myself Catholic?"


The apostles faced questions as well. After healing a beggar and proclaiming the gospel to the crowd in the Temple, Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin to explain themselves.


And what they say is bold. They tell them that everything they've said and done has been in the name of Jesus, and that it is only through him that humanity can be saved.


They did not water their message down to save themselves from trouble. They did not change it to fit the expectations of the authorities.


They knew what they believed and that allowed them to proclaim it fearlessly.


So what is it that we believe? It's what John writes in the second reading: through Jesus, God the Father, has made us His children.


It's almost too simple but that is the heart of our faith. That is why we have rosaries and statues and ashes, and why we are here today!




Our gospel today presents a familiar image: Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In Jesus' time, a shepherd was a person who lead his sheep. They knew his voice. He stayed with them in the field, protected them and cared for them.
Jesus is that shepherd for us. He even went as far as laying down his life for us.


- because we, the Church, are his flock. And he wants us to share in the relationship that he has with the Father.


That is the reason behind everything we do. Everyday, with every step and every effort we make, we are being transformed into the the likeness of Jesus, our shepherd.


That's our faith - the life of God being poured into us.


If that's what happens to us here at mass and when we pray and when we give ourselves to God in love, then it has to be meaning and motivation in our life.


And when someone wants to know what we believe and why we believe it, we'll have an answer.