4th Sunday of Eastertide (C)
(Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev. 7:9, 14-17; John 10:27-30)
After Jesus had risen from the dead and poured out His Most
Holy Spirit upon His disciples, there were men and women to be found -- even here
on earth -- already participating in the eternal life of heaven; and our
readings today celebrate that gift of eternal life which even now begins to
take hold of, and shape the lives of Jesus' true disciples. 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.
That was in accordance with Jesus' own words to Nicodemus:
Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
(John 3:5)
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, with
only tenuous catholic connections, 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 ceremonial, where mere 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; no awareness that the water poured out is holy
water; water empowered by the shedding of Jesus' blood, water which -- as the
seer tells us -- enables those dedicated to Jesus to:
Wash their (souls) and make them
spotless in the blood of the Lamb.
Such water, and indeed the grace of all the other
sacraments, can 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 the behaviour of doubtful Catholics behind
this Eastertide; let us now look forward and upward that we may hopefully come
to better appreciate and fulfil our calling as disciples of the risen Christ;
let us try to learn more about this new life He has won for us and so become
more adept at living it by delighting in God and serving our neighbour.
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 with
whole-hearted commitment and joy.
To understand something of this, just think, my dear
people, of a spontaneous "Oh!" and outburst of clapping or, something
far more astounding, an almost imperceptible, common, intake of breath followed
by a deep silence of hovering life, which can take place when some gathering of
people is astonished by the sheer beauty, majesty, power, wisdom or skill, of
someone or something heard or seen. Now
those who are before the throne of God catch glimpses of His infinite beauty,
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 through some country or
woodland guided only by the stars above and the full beam of your car's
headlamps, you catch ever- fresh glimpses of beautiful trees, flowers, streams,
cottages, lit up by your headlights and
all following one another in continuous flow as you go 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; He fills to overflowing each and every
human desire and capacity for joy and fulfilment.
He Who sits on the throne, we are told, will spread His
tent over the blessed; they will never have anything to fear for their treasure
and well-being is secure, nor can their love ever be dimmed or threatened;
eternal peace and security overarch -- so to speak -- and protect the fullness
of their sublime blessings.
The Lamb at the centre of the throne will be Shepherd of
those He has brought into the Father’s presence and He will lead them to
springs of living water: yes, Jesus, Our Lord, will be there -- with us and for
us -- as Our Shepherd, our Leader, our Glory; and He will lead 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 most fully and beautifully glorified in His sacred 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 gently 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 second 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 social and peer pressures
-- challenged to try out, indulge in, sex and drugs, urged to be seen to have
and to enjoy as much of the world as everyone one else. Others have friends or acquaintances who, not
trusting God themselves, constantly incite them to worry about the past,
present, and 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 to the persecutions endured by Paul and the early Church; less
violent trials indeed, but more insidious temptations awaiting those still
immature in the love and discipline of the Lord.
The Gentiles were delighted, and glorified the word of the Lord
(proclaimed to them). All
who were destined for eternal life came to believe.
There are many Catholics who had once been gladdened to
hear the word of God and 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 always
fall away from Church, but certainly, joy in Jesus no longer fills their heart;
and like 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 shall never perish; no one can take them out of My
hand.
Dear People of God, you have been called into Jesus' flock;
listen, then, to His voice, trust Him 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, true
fulfilment and strength, to be found. Keep
close to Him and you will never perish, for none can snatch you from Jesus'
hand, from His sure and loving care; follow closely in 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 most perfectly He lived, died, and rose again.
