Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Last week we heard that moving and somewhat painful three fold question of Jesus to Peter: do you love me? It must have been a very difficult moment for Peter and in some way for us as well. Don’t we often act like Peter, in good ways and bad? So the question is also posed to us: do you love me? In the end Peter gives a profound answer: Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. And what is your answer, and mine?
If we truly love Jesus Christ then we will feed his sheep; we will care for them and shepherd them into better meadows and places. A true shepherd goes first, goes ahead of his sheep. In the Chronicles of Narnia Uncle Andrew Sends Polly and Diggerty to another world by the magical rings that he tells her to put on. He is not much of a shepherd and refuses to go first to check out what dangers lie ahead.
For us in what way does the shepherd go first? The only important way is to go first in the Christian life, in holiness, which does not mean perfection. But it does mean to walk as a Christian seriously, to pray seriously and to follow Christ seriously.
What is said in the readings today is that you are called or destined or chosen to be kept safe in the hand of God. You are chosen to have eternal life, which is a share in the life of God. Death is no longer a concern; it has been destroyed for each one of us. And in the face of the worst calamity you are in peace.
St. Augustine was on his deathbed in Northern Africa when the vandals and barbarians invaded and burned churches and killed many Christians. Even some of the bishops fled this area. I am sure he suffered greatly and wrote very convincingly that the Bishop had to stay with his flock. Some were using Scripture which says: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.” You can do so but only if every one of your sheep has left. In this terrible situation he died very peacefully, even without a will, leaving all his books and writings for the Church, which we have today.
On the other hand, we see the Jews reject the Word spoken to them. The reading says: “They condemn themselves as being unworthy of eternal life.” And so Paul and Barnabas now turn to the Gentiles. All the actions and words of Jesus Christ say one thing: I am the Messiah. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead. All these were signs of the Messiah; any Jew would know this. But somehow they were not illuminated and would not have eternal life.
In Paul and Barnabas we see a very different spirit. The whole town turns out to listen to them. The leaders are full of jealousy and stir up the people against them and they are expelled from this city. What do they do? They shake their sandals in front of them and go to the next place filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. It sounds like what happens in many parishes. But what is distinctive is that they go on to the next place full of joy.
The reading from the Book of Revelation reveals something amazing. Remember that this name (Revelation) means a pulling back of the curtain to show us a new kind of life. And what do we see? Not the Roman army which must have been an awesome sight in its organization and its cruelty. We see an army of saints, really of martyrs, dressed in white robes, carrying palm branches, washed in the blood of the Lamb. And they are in peace.
They come from every nation, race and people. It is true. Just look at some of the martyrs of the Church: St. Peter, crucified upside down, Sts. Perpetua and Felicity and St. Ignatius thrown to the wild beasts, Paul Miki, a Jesuit in Japan, also crucified, St. Lawrence, broiled over a fire, St. Kolbe put in a starvation bunker for two weeks where he sang loudly hymns to Mary and then was killed by an injection. And there are many, many more.
Jesus says to us, “I am the Father are one.” It is a very remarkable claim, especially for a Jew. And yet this is what Jesus prays for us: that they may be one as you and I are one. The unity of the Father and the Son is a model for the unity that should exist for all Christians, in the family, among friends. Oh, I wish we would see it more in our parish and among our families. It is the best thing to pray for during this Easter Season.