4th Sunday of Eastertide (C)
(Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev. 7:9, 14-17; John 10:27-30)
After Jesus rose from the dead and had poured out His Most
Holy Spirit upon His disciples, there were men and women to be found already
living, here on earth, the eternal life of heaven; and today’s readings lead us
to celebrate that heavenly gift of eternal life which, even now, begins to take
hold of, and shape, the lives of Jesus' true disciples here on earth. From the book of Revelation we heard:
I John had a vision of a great
multitude which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the
Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches.
That puzzled John the seer, and he was told:
These are the ones who have
survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb.
Multiform cleansing is one of the main purposes to which we
dedicate our use of water. Those,
however, who come out of the great tribulation of which the seer speaks, have
washed their robes with the only cleansing agent able to wash away the stains
of human sin, that is, the Blood of the Lamb; for it is that Precious Blood,
poured out for us, which alone gives the power for supernatural cleansing to
the baptismal waters of the Church. As
Jesus said:
Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
People of God: it is a fact of Catholic spiritual awareness
that the sacraments of Mother Church are to be regarded as the fruit of the
outpouring of Jesus' Blood, and that such a precious outpouring should never be
rendered vain by thoughtless irreverence, let alone by downright disdain. Today, however, far too many parents think
they will have their child baptized merely to satisfy their own parents, or,
perhaps, to gratify their own pseudo-conscience ("I would like to have my kids
done … then I will feel I have done
my best for them"), without having any real intention of bringing up their
child in the ways of Jesus according to Mother Church's teaching. They understand baptism only as a ceremony,
where water is poured over the child's head whilst a few words are said, and
then all is over and done with. They
have little or no reverence for the sacrament, little or no awareness that the
water poured out is most truly holy
water, water empowered by the shedding of Jesus' blood and enabling those
dedicated to Jesus (by personal innocence or intention) to thereby wash
their (souls) and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Such water,
and indeed the grace of all the other sacraments, should only be used, poured
out, or received, in Spirit and in Truth, that is, in a sincere love of and
reverence for Christ in His Church, showing itself as a desire both to obey His
teaching and to follow the guidance of His Spirit.
But let us leave doubtful Catholics behind. Let us look forward and upward, let us seek
to learn more about this new life He has won for us, so that hopefully we may
come to more fully appreciate our calling and find ever greater delight in worshipping
God and serving our neighbour as committed disciples of Christ:
They stand before God’s throne
and worship him day and night in His temple.
The One who sits on the throne will shelter them.
The Lamb who is in the centre of
the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes.
Those before the throne of God serve Him day and night in
His Temple; that is, they delight in Him, praise, worship, and glorify Him in
Mother Church, and above all, in JESUS,
with ever deeper joy and more consuming zeal.
To understand something of this, just think, my dear
people, of the spontaneous "Oh!" and the outburst of clapping which
can take place when some big throng of people are surprised by beauty or
majesty, power, wisdom or skill, seen or portrayed. Now those who are before the throne of God catch
glimpses of His infinite beauty and truth, wisdom and holiness; His awesome
majesty and power; His unimaginable goodness and humility: they see God. And because God is infinite, just as when
travelling by car over countryside or through woodland and guided only by the
stars above and the full beam of your car's headlamps, you catch ever-fresh
glimpses of beautiful trees, gardens, streams, cottages, valleys and hills lit
up by your headlights and all following one another in seamless continuity as
you continue on your journey through the night, so it is for those before the
throne of God: those thus blessed can never weary of praising and delighting in
Him because He is endlessly new and totally beautiful, admirable, and good,
filling to overflowing any and every human desire and capacity for joy in being. Moreover, He who sits on the throne, we are
told, will spread His tent over the blessed: they will never have any fear for
their treasure and well-being is secure, nor can their love ever be compromised
or diminished, for eternal peace and security overarch and protect the plenitude
of their heavenly blessings.
The Lamb at the centre of the throne will be Shepherd of
those He has brought to springs of living water in the Father’s presence. Yes, Jesus will be there -- with us and for us
-- as our Shepherd, our Leader and our Glory, leading us along the heavenly
paths of eternal life, so that, with Him, all that is truly human in us, far
from being smothered or denied, will be glorified as He, our Lord and
our Brother, is glorified in His humanity.
And God will wipe away every tear
from their eyes.
Who can fittingly speak of the intimacy and tenderness of
God the Father's relationship with each and every one of His children redeemed
by the blood of His Only Begotten and most Beloved Son? All lingering hurts and humiliations, all
accumulated anxieties and fears, will be tenderly wiped away by the
all-knowing, fully-understanding, and ever-watchful, love of our Father in
heaven.
That is some slight idea, and I hope, some glad
anticipation, of the life of heaven.
Now, that life -- Mother Church teaches -- begins here on earth for
Jesus' true disciples, but its heavenly fulfilment can only be attained by those
who have passed through tribulations of varying degrees chosen by God in His
Fatherly goodness to cement their union with Jesus in sincerity, depth, and
trust.
These are the ones who have survived
the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
What are these tribulations? Let us recall our first reading:
On the following Sabbath almost
the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. When the Jews saw the crowds, they were
filled with jealousy; and with violent abuse contradicted what Paul said.
Today many who are turned from God and seeking worldly
power and fulfilment behave like the jealous Jews of Paul's time: they reject
the Gospel themselves and seek to prevent others hearing and obeying it. The young are – by peer and social pressures
-- challenged to indulge in sex and drugs, urged to be seen having and enjoying
as much of the world as anyone one else.
Others have friends or acquaintances who, not trusting God themselves, constantly
incite them to worry about the past, the present, or what might imaginably
happen in the future; especially with concerns about money, health, or others’ opinion of them. For young Christians these are modern
equivalents of the persecutions endured by Paul and the early Church; less
violent trials indeed but perhaps more insidious temptations awaiting those
still immature in the love and discipline required of true disciples of the
Lord.
The Gentiles were delighted, and
glorified the word of the Lord. All
who were destined for eternal life came to believe.
There are many Catholics who have been gladdened to hear
the word of God and to experience the grace of God in their lives before such
trials and temptations sullied the purity, peace, and joy, of their faith:
The Jews incited the women of
prominence who were worshipers and the leading men of the city stirred up a persecution
against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their territory.
Many, when friends and family oppose them – like those
devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city – allow themselves to
fall by the wayside. They may not fall
away from Church, but certainly, joy in Jesus no longer fills their heart; and as
their longing, so too their searching, for Him dries up; they settle for life
on earth and no longer think of, or aspire to, that heavenly life which, after
its beginning in baptism, should develop through a life of discipleship and
reception of the sacraments, into its full flowering in heaven.
My sheep hear My voice; I know
them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal
life, they will never perish. My Father Who has given them to Me is greater
than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are One.
Dear People of God, you have been called into Jesus' flock;
listen, then, to His voice, and follow Him alone. Do not yield to siren voices whose worldly
attitudes and aspirations only serve to stir up tensions and antagonisms,
worries and anxieties, in your hearts and lives. In Jesus alone are true joy and peace, fulfilment and strength, to be found. Keep close to His traces and He will lead you
to eternal life, for such was the commission given Him by His Father, and to do
His Father’s will He lived, died, and rose again.
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