He calls ... he leads

We have arrived at the fourth Sunday of the Easter season.  Since the day of Easter, we have focused our thoughts and prayers on the encounters that various disciples had with the risen Jesus.  In each case, he appeared to them, he strengthened their belief and he commissioned them: sent them out into the world in order to bear witness to him and to his resurrection.

Today we are given an opportunity to see ourselves as modern-day disciples who are being sent out into the world of today.  We are the ones that Jesus needs now to be witnesses: to tell others about the way that we have encountered him.  Jesus needs us to share the joy of our faith with others so that by our actions we can show our friends, colleagues and all those we meet that our faith makes a difference.

For the past few weeks, many of our routines have been altered as together we continue to do what we can to keep the number of cases of this new coronavirus to a minimum.  We are staying home as much as possible, social gatherings as we once knew them have not happened for quite a while and when we need to go to the grocery or the pharmacy, new protocols have been put in place so that we can maintain a safe distance from one another.  All of this seems very strange, and yet at the same time, it is becoming more and more part of our routines.  In the coming weeks, we might begin to hear about some of the restrictions being relaxed, but we must not think for a moment that things will go back to the normal that we once knew.

It happens from time to time that we must make drastic changes in our lives, and when such changes come about, we have a precious opportunity to ask ourselves what really matters.  This is one of those opportunities.  Even now, as we are still confined by the restrictions imposed, we can begin to ask ourselves how this experience has changed us.  Has the experience of being separated from our loved ones caused us to grow even deeper in our love for them?  Has the thought of an unknown virus that is claiming the lives of so many people caused us to pray differently?  Has the absence of the Eucharist in our lives caused us to hunger for it even more?

Throughout the experience of these days, we are not alone.  We are never alone because Jesus is our shepherd.  Even now, he is calling us by name ... leading us (cf Jn 10: 3).  Jesus is leading us.  He will always be there to lead us.  Using the image of sheep and a shepherd, the scriptures say that he will go ahead of them, and the sheep will follow him because they know his voice (Jn 10:4).  Has the experience of these days helped us to listen differently for the voice of our divine shepherd who is calling to us?  Have we come to know his voice even more clearly?

Across the centuries, experiences of trial have always provided Christians with opportunities to strengthen and to deepen their faith.  This experience is no different.  Saint Peter reminds us that Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we should follow in his footsteps (1 Peter 2: 21).  Before the experience of this coronavirus, there were many temptations luring us away from listening to the voice of Jesus.  Cries for renewed focus to be placed on impending disasters seemed to be falling on deaf ears.  Do you remember Geta Thunberg?  Since the beginning of this year, vast populations in various parts of the world have stopped the frantic pace at which we were living.  This has posed its own difficulties, but on a grander scale, we have the scientific evidence to show that this pause has allowed at least the possibility for some of the pollution to be cleared away.  Could it be that we have realized that we were going astray ... and now we are re-discovering a desire to return to the shepherd and to the guardian of our souls? (cf 1 Peter 2: 25)

Jesus has been with us through this experience.  He has been purifying our hearts and renewing us in our desire to follow him, just as he did with the first disciples.  When they first encountered the risen Christ, they had difficulty believing that he had truly risen from the dead.  We too might still have our doubts, but the Lord is still at work.  He helped the disciples to recover from their fear and to find the confidence they needed in order to testify to the fact that he had overcome death.  We heard a bit of this testimony in the first reading for this Mass (cf Acts 2: 14, 36).  Today, as we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, let us give thanks to God for all those who God has called to speak his words to us, and let us also pray that God will give us the words we need to speak the truth about Him to others.