Fourth Sunday of Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year C

In last Sunday’s Gospel we heard Jesus ask Peter three times, ‘Do you love me?’ In doing so He afforded Peter the chance to forgive himself, and be forgiven, for what came to be known as one of the gravest sins of the early Church - apostasy, or renouncing Christ.

Peter responds three times, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’

Like Peter, we believe that God does know our heart, can see past our sinfulness, and seeks to reunite us with Him. Each time Peter says, ‘Yes Lord, you know I love you.’ Jesus responds by asking him to ‘look after my sheep’ and ‘feed my sheep.’

This Sunday we jump to an earlier point in John’s Gospel to where Jesus' words explain what He means... His sheep are those that hear His voice, and follow Him.

And in the psalm, we offer the refrain that, we are the sheep of His flock.

In our first reading this week we hear the story of Paul and Barnabas working to fulfil the commission that Jesus gives the Church through Peter. They are proclaiming Jesus' teaching as widely as they can - on this particular occasion in Antioch - nourishing all those who will listen with His word, and nurturing them in their growing faith. Despite the fervent opposition of the religious and civil leaders, they take this commission seriously.

In the calendar of the Church, this Sunday is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations - a day on which we traditionally pray for vocations to the ministerial priesthood. From his hospital bed Pope Francis prepared a message for this day in which he particularly called young people to discern carefully what God is calling them to do with their lives, and to respond with the same energy that St Paul and Barnabas are modeling for us. Whether the call is to the ministerial priesthood or religious life, or to be a lay missionary, faithful spouse or parent.

Ultimately, Francis' call was for us to be good sheep who will listen and follow to become who God is calling us to be.

Now that fathers of the conclave have elected a new successor for Peter, we pray that Holy Spirit will guide Pope Leo to be a shepherd who, in the words of his predecessor, will smell like His sheep.

And I pray that I can live out more faithfully the refrain of the psalm, following more closely the good shepherd, as a husband, father and leader.

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