The Good Shepherd

"I AM the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives HIS life for the sheep.  Not so the hired hand, or any other person who is not the shepherd, and to whom the sheep do not belong.  They abandon the sheep as soon as they see the wolf coming; then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep.  This is because the hired hand works for pay and cares nothing for the sheep.

I AM the good shepherd.  I know MY own and MY own know ME, as the  FATHER knows ME and I know the FATHER.  Because of this, I give MY life for MY sheep.

I have other sheep which are not of this fold.   These I have to lead as well, and they shall listen to MY voice.  Then there will be one flock, since there is one shepherd.

The FATHER loves ME, because I lay down MY life in order to take it up again.  No one takes it from ME, but I lay it down freely.  It is MINE to lay down and to take up again: this mission I received from MY FATHER." - John 10:11-18   

(Scripture foretold the day in which GOD would come to gather together the dispersed sheep of HIS people, so that they would live in their land.  JESUS is the Shepherd and HE has come to accomplish what was announced, but HE will not do it in the expected way.  The Jews thought that the Shepherd would revive their former prosperity: they would again be a privileged nation among other nations.

JESUS says clearly that HIS people are not to be thought of as identical to the Jewish nation.  Those who believe, and only they, are HIS.  HE will take from among the Jews those who are HIS; likewise, HE will take sheep which are not of this fold as well, that is, from among the nations other than the Jewish nation.  Therefore, HE will lead them all and will guide this flock--which is not a nation with land boundaries--to where HE knows.  The only flock [not the only "fold", as people say], that is, the only Church, moves freely through history, not confined to any one nation or era of civilization.)

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Peter Addresses The Crowd

"Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, 'Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say.  These people are not drunk as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning.  Indeed what the prophet Joel spoke about has happened:

In the last days, GOD says, I will pour out MY Spirit on every mortal.  Your sons  and daughters will speak through the Holy Spirit; your young men will see visions and your old men will have dreams.

In those days I will pour out MY Spirit even on MY servants, both men and women, and they will be prophets.

I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below.  The sun will be darkened and the moon will turn red as blood, before the great and glorious Day of the LORD comes.

And then, whoever calls upon the Name of the LORD will be saved." - Acts 2:14-21  

(This is the first proclamation of JESUS' resurrection.  Peter, once again, aware of his responsibility in the group of the Twelve, speaks on behalf of all.  He cites the texts of the Old Testament: Joel, the Psalms, etc. and demonstrates their fulfillment in JESUS and in the nascent Church.

I will pour out MY Spirit.  The FATHER sends the Spirit of JESUS to all people; HE makes of all people HIS prophets, HIS witnesses.

I will perform miracles in the sky...  Peter continues quoting the prophet Joel who announces the day of YAHWEH, that is to say, in the Old Testament, the day of GOD's judgment.)

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"Go Out To The Whole World And Proclaim The Good News To All Creation."

"Then HE told them, 'Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.  The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.  Signs like these will accompany those who have believed: in MY name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.'

So then, after speaking to them, the LORD JESUS was taken up into heaven and took HIS place at the right hand of GOD.  The Eleven went forth and preached everywhere, while the LORD worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it." - Mark 16:15-20   

   

(The Good News is the seed that will be planted in the world and will flourish, in its proper time, in every field of human endeavor.  Salvation is not a matter of saving isolated souls or individual beings.  The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creation in all activities and acts of those who have been renewed by baptism.  They are to be the yeast that transforms human history.)

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"How Can This MAN Give Us HIS Flesh To Eat?"

"The Jews were arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us HIS flesh to eat?'  So JESUS replied, 'Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink HIS blood, you have no life in you.   The one who eats MY flesh and drinks MY blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

MY flesh is really food, and MY blood is truly drink.  Those who eat MY flesh and drink MY blood, live in ME, and I in them.  Just as the FATHER, who is life, sent ME, and I have life from the FATHER, so whoever eats ME will have life from ME.  This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died.  Those who eat this bread will live forever.'

JESUS spoke in this way in Capernaum when HE taught them in the synagogue." - John 6:52-59 

  

(JESUS becomes our bread when we eat HIS body in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

How can this man give us flesh to eat?  Thus spoke the Israelites who distrusted GOD in the desert [Numbers 11:4 and 18].  John plays on the same words and gives them a different meaning here: why would a messenger from heaven give flesh to the world, when what we need is something spiritual?  JESUS answers in verse 63: this flesh to eat may sound like food for bodily sustenance, but it is really a sharing in the life of the risen CHRIST transformed by the Spirit.  For that reason, it gives life [verse 63].

Through material means the believer participates in a heavenly reality and enters into communion with the risen CHRIST.  The Church defines sacrament as something material that symbolizes and brings about a spiritual reality.  When we faithfully participate in a sacrament, we encounter the living CHRIST in person renewing our lives.  In the Supper of the LORD, that is, in the Eucharist, we really receive the body and blood of CHRIST, in what appears to be only bread and wine.  The risen CHRIST becomes for us the food of eternal life.

JESUS acts as living bread in us.  When we eat ordinary bread our body digests and assimilates it, but when we eat living bread [the body of CHRIST], this bread actively changes us.  CHRIST transforms us; gives HIS life to us and unites us with HIMSELF: Whoever eats ME will have life in ME.

Flesh and blood.  In Hebrew culture flesh and blood denotes the human being in his mortal condition.  JESUS wants us to make our own HIS entire human being in its humble and mortal condition and communicates to us HIS divinity.  It is evident that communion only shows its full meaning if taken in the two species of bread and wine; even in the Latin Church there is no Eucharist if the celebrant at least does not communicate under the two species.

Regarding this means of JESUS' life being transmitted to us, we are not easily convinced.  We often wonder at JESUS' words:  he who eats MY flesh has life, he who does not... We need to study the parables on the kingdom of GOD more closely.  The gift of GOD, whether it be HIS word or the Body of CHRIS, is a seed so small that it may be lost or may not bear fruit.  It is fruitful only in those who believe and persevere.

The Sacraments we receive help us mature in the life of GOD; they affect the very core of our being.  Sometimes we feel discouraged about the many defects and prejudices we still have despite our reception of the Sacraments.  We do not understand that transformation is something deep and often not immediately evident.)

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Philip Baptizes The Ethiopian

"An angel of the LORD said to Philip, 'Go south, toward the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.'  So he set out and, it happened that, an Ethiopian was passing along the way.  He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians.  He had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home.  He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit said to Philip, 'Go and catch up with that carriage.'  So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, 'Do you really understand what you are reading?'  The Ethiopian replied, 'How can I, unless someone explains it to me?'  He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.  This was the passage of Scripture he was reading:

He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, he did not open his mouth.  He was humbled and deprived of his rights.  Who can speak of his descendants?  For he was uprooted from the earth.

The official asked Philip, 'Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?'

Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of JESUS, using this text of Scripture as his starting point.  As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water.  Then the Ethiopian official said, 'Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptized?'  And Philip said, 'If you believe with all your heart, you may.'  And he answered and said, 'I believe that JESUS CHRIST is the Son of GOD.'

Then he ordered the carriage to stop.  Both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptized him.  When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the LORD took Philip away.  The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy.

Philip found himself at Azotus; and he went about, announcing the Good News in all the towns, until he reached Caesarea." - Acts 8:26-40 

(Note how the Holy Spirit leads Philip towards a man who was neither a Jew nor a Samaritan, the first person of another race to receive the Gospel.

The Ethiopian who is baptized is simply a man who 'fears the LORD.'  This is the way they referred to people of other races who were attracted to the religion of the Jews and to faith in the one GOD.  Without following all the Jewish customs, they read the Scripture and liked to take part in the Jewish ceremonies.

The conversation with Philip begins on the basis of a text from Isaiah 53:7.  This poem, called Servant of the LORD, speaks of a just man unjustly condemned who, through his sufferings, atones for the sins of all humankind.  In this text the apostles saw one of the passages which best prefigured CHRIST: see Mark 14:24 and 1 Peter 2:24-25.  Isaiah's poem concludes with a veiled reference to the resurrection of the "Servant of the LORD."  It is marvelous to see how Philip can give a testimony of the Resurrection with such conviction that the Ethiopian believes in him.)  

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The Beginning Of A Great Persecution Against The Church In Jerusalem

"As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying: 'LORD JESUS, receive my spirit.'  Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice: 'LORD, do not hold this sin against them.'  And when he had said this, he died.

Saul was there, approving his murder.  This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem.  All, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria.  Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.  Saul meanwhile was trying to destroy the Church; he entered house after house and dragged off men and women and had them put in jail." - Acts 7:59-60; 8:1-3   

(The death of Stephen leads to a resurrection.  Instead of Stephen, the Church will have a new apostle in Saul who, after his conversion, will become "St. Paul."  So, GOD heard the prayer of Stephen for his murderers.

The illegal execution of Stephen unleashes the persecution against the Hellenists Christians.  The apostles and others in the Hebrew group were not persecuted, because they were considered loyal to the Jewish religion and traditions.)

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The Bread Of Life; To Believe In The SON Of GOD.

"They then said, 'Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe YOU.  What sign do YOU perform?  Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says: They were given bread from heaven to eat.'

JESUS then said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven.  MY FATHER gives you the true bread from heaven.  The bread GOD gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.'  And they said to HIM, 'Give us this bread always.'

JESUS said to them, 'I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to ME shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in ME shall never be thirsty.'" - John 6:30-35  

(JESUS becomes our bread when we believe in HIM.

In the past, when the Israelites wandered in the desert and lacked everything, GOD gave them a provisional meal, the manna.  They had to give thanks to HIM for HIS gifts.  But if GOD is only our benefactor and we go to HIM seeking favors, we end up concerned only for what GOD gives us; we will hardly thank HIM and later will continue to ask and complain.

This was what happened with the Israelites who, after receiving the manna, rebelled against GOD and died in the desert.  Material things, although they may come from heaven, do not make us better nor do they give us true life.

For this reason, GOD now proposes something new.  The bread that comes down from heaven is not something, but someone, and that is CHRIST.  That true bread communicates eternal life to us, but to receive it, it is necessary to take a step, that is, to believe in CHRIST and to make a personal commitment to HIM.)

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The Story Of Stephen

"Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia.  They argued with Stephen, but they could not match the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.  As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, 'We heard him speak against Moses and against GOD.' 

So, they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they took him by surprise, seized him and brought him before the Council.  Then they produced false witnesses who said, 'This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the Law.  We even heard him say that JESUS the Nazarean will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.'  And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel." - Acts 6:8-15  

(Being a Hellenist, Stephen did not share the blind faith of the Jewish people in their Temple and its rituals.  He understood that the Church had to become free from the patterns of the past and move away from the Jews, if they refused to believe.

Stephen's long discourse before the Sanhedrin [the Great Council] is an outstanding summary of the Old Testament.  It emphasizes the increasing initiatives of GOD who calls, gives, promises, corrects and saves.  Confronting this untiring love is the permanent rebellion of Israel who despises GOD and rejects those HE sends.  The prophet Hosea, eight centuries before CHRIST, already expressed the drama of the rejected love of GOD by HIS people [Hosea 11:1-4].  Stephen proclaims it again: this drama reached its culmination when JESUS, the Son-of-GOD-made-man, was nailed to the cross [Acts 2:23; 3:15; 4:10].

Stephen dies as CHRIST did.  He becomes the first martyr [martyr means witness].  He is a witness to CHRIST because he proclaims HIM, but even more so because he does as CHRIST did, he forgives his murderers.

Like Peter, after Pentecost, Stephen still hopes for a conversion of the Jewish people: a minority at least will be converted.  This hope will fade in time with the persecutions raised against the Church.  The murder of Stephen would be the first sign leading the converted Jews to understand that apostolic work must be undertaken beyond the frontiers of the Jewish fortress.

Later, when it becomes clear that the Jewish community has rejected the Gospel, Paul will strive to build among pagan nations a network of communities, a new people of GOD.  Then Paul and the other apostles will search for all those who, in any nation, have been predestined by GOD.  They see the Church as a people of "saints."

However, it again appears that many in the Church are not converted.  As soon as the community grows and organizes itself, all the defects JESUS denounced in the Jewish Synagogue take place among the Christians and in the structures of the Church.)

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True Happiness

 "Keep me safe, O GOD,

for in YOU I take refuge.

I say to YAHWEH,

'YOU are my LORD, my only good.'

O YAHWEH, my inheritance and my cup,

my chosen portion--hold secure my lot.

I praise YAHWEH who counsels me;

even at night, my inmost self-instructs me.

I keep YAHWEH always before me;

for with HIM at my right hand,

I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults; my soul rejoices;

my body, too, will rest assured.

For YOU will not abandon

my soul to the grave,

nor will YOU suffer YOUR holy one

to see decay in the land of the dead.

YOU will show me the path of life,

in YOUR presence, the fullness of joy,

at YOUR right hand, happiness forever."

- Psalm 16:1-2. 5. 7-8. 9-10. 11

(So much lip-service is paid to the one GOD and so much activity to the gods we make for ourselves.  Only thoughtful experience can show how hollow these are.  The offerings we make pay no return but a frenzy to offer more.  But perhaps this experience is necessary for many of us.  It may not lead to the high mysticism of the psalmist.  If we learn to turn away and look for a while towards the more lasting good, we may find it more satisfying after all.  Appetite may grow from what it feeds on.  There is even a presentiment in this psalm, that such a union with GOD, will prove stronger than death, and in CHRIST it did.  The risen LORD, so closely united with HIS FATHER, descended to the place of death and came out freely, ascending with HIS spoils.  Nor can death resist HIS Body, which is the Church.  HE promised that the gates of death would not withstand it.  Death, 'the last enemy,' is destroyed.  The resurrection of our bodies is guaranteed by the resurrection of CHRIST.)

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The Choosing Of Assistants

"In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the so-called Hellenists complained against the so-called Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.  So, the Twelve summoned the whole body of disciples together, and said, 'It is not right, that we should neglect the word of GOD to serve at tables.  So, friends, choose from among yourselves seven respected men, full of Spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint them to this task.  As for us, we shall give ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.'

The whole community agreed; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit; Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus and Nicolaus of Antioch, who was a proselyte.  They presented these men to the apostles, who, first prayed over them, and then, laid hands upon them.

The word of GOD continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; and even many priests accepted the faith." - Acts 6:1-7 

 

(JESUS did not spell out for HIS apostles how they were supposed to organize the Church.  And a conflict arose between two social groups.  The Jews, called Hebrews, had never left their land and they spoke Aramaic.  The Hellenists were those who had lived abroad and who usually spoke Greek.  They may have followed the Essene movement and refused to participate in temple rituals.  They felt uncomfortable with the liturgy and community life and their frustrations were growing.  In fact, the apostles identified more readily with the Hebrews, and it became necessary to give some autonomy to the Hellenists with their own people being in charge.  This was probably the birth of a Greek-speaking church, with a Greek liturgy.

The community chose seven men.  Since their authority had to come from CHRIST, it had to be passed on by the apostles.

The candidates must be filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, because they are not only entrusted with material services.  And even if it were only for material services the Church would have much to suffer from competent administrators who lacked the Spirit of the Gospel.  Were these seven men the first deacons?  Luke mentions nothing beyond service, and "deacon" denotes servant, usually steward.  In fact, this term, "deacons," will from the start give the meaning of every ministry in the Church: ministry means "service" [1 Corinthians 12:15].  Ministers are at the service of the community assembled by the Spirit to witness to the salvation given by JESUS.  All through the centuries, the ministers of the Church would be tempted to misuse the role entrusted to them for the good of the community.  Many will take advantage of their "service" to put themselves over the community: they will let others serve and honor them and will not hesitate to be called princes of the Church.  What is true for those called to a high rank in the hierarchy is equally true for all those priests or lay people entrusted with lesser responsibilities: all must remember the words of JESUS [Luke 22:24-27].)

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