I
InThePew
Guest
Amidst all of the references to sheep and shepherding in the readings this Sunday it’s easy to miss the important words which occur at the end of our gospel – namely, John 10:10, “I came that they may have life and have it to the full.”
This might seem like an odd statement, after all we think of life as something you either have or don’t without much scope for anything over and above. What Jesus talking about though isn’t our physical lives but our spiritual lives; we are after all spiritual beings as well as physical, comprised of both body and soul. So simply having physical life by itself isn’t enough; if we’re concerned solely with our physical lives to the neglect of our spiritual lives, then we find ourselves feeling unfulfilled, deeply dissatisfied.
Everyone is searching for something more, something which truly satisfies, which lasts, even if they don’t realize it. All too often though we end up looking in all the wrong places interesting only and things which don’t stand the test of time which never truly satisfy us spiritually. Each one of us has a vocation, a unique calling to holiness – to become like Christ - which comes from God and, for me, it was this desire for something else, something more was what led me to recognize my own vocation, my calling to priesthood. In the words of St John Henry Newman, “God looks on me individually, he calls me by name, he knows what I can do, what I can be can best be; what is my greatest happiness and he means to give it to me.”
Still, any vocation isn’t about us alone but as members of a community, a family of faith, the flock guided by Christ the Good Shepherd - not for nothing is “belong” an active verb. Our Christian community can only grow and thrive to the extent to which we its members have life to the full, living out our vocation, our calling from Christ, each one of us making our own unique contribution. This is why, while our vocation is unique, we are called not as individuals but in communion with others lead by the Lord; and it’s in times of struggle and separation, difficulty and despair especially as we have at the moment that we realize most our need for one another.
As we heard in our first reading, the promise of life to the full, the promise of forgiveness of sins is made for all people: those near and those far away, those intimately engaged with the faith, those on the fringes of faith; the spiritually rich and the spiritually poor. However, we can only come to the fullness of life through Christ - he is the gate that leads to life eternal – and although at times we allow ourselves to be tempted by the attraction of other callings, listening to the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd allows him to guide us back to the safety of the sheepfold.
So as we join together spiritually (even if not physically) for this celebration of the Eucharist, we remember the sacrifice of Christ made present in it, and remember that it is through the sacrifice that we are given the means to have life to the full, hearing all the more clearly the voice of our shepherd calling us to him, leading us and guiding us to eternal pastures, to dwell in the Lord’s own house forever.
This might seem like an odd statement, after all we think of life as something you either have or don’t without much scope for anything over and above. What Jesus talking about though isn’t our physical lives but our spiritual lives; we are after all spiritual beings as well as physical, comprised of both body and soul. So simply having physical life by itself isn’t enough; if we’re concerned solely with our physical lives to the neglect of our spiritual lives, then we find ourselves feeling unfulfilled, deeply dissatisfied.
Everyone is searching for something more, something which truly satisfies, which lasts, even if they don’t realize it. All too often though we end up looking in all the wrong places interesting only and things which don’t stand the test of time which never truly satisfy us spiritually. Each one of us has a vocation, a unique calling to holiness – to become like Christ - which comes from God and, for me, it was this desire for something else, something more was what led me to recognize my own vocation, my calling to priesthood. In the words of St John Henry Newman, “God looks on me individually, he calls me by name, he knows what I can do, what I can be can best be; what is my greatest happiness and he means to give it to me.”
Still, any vocation isn’t about us alone but as members of a community, a family of faith, the flock guided by Christ the Good Shepherd - not for nothing is “belong” an active verb. Our Christian community can only grow and thrive to the extent to which we its members have life to the full, living out our vocation, our calling from Christ, each one of us making our own unique contribution. This is why, while our vocation is unique, we are called not as individuals but in communion with others lead by the Lord; and it’s in times of struggle and separation, difficulty and despair especially as we have at the moment that we realize most our need for one another.
As we heard in our first reading, the promise of life to the full, the promise of forgiveness of sins is made for all people: those near and those far away, those intimately engaged with the faith, those on the fringes of faith; the spiritually rich and the spiritually poor. However, we can only come to the fullness of life through Christ - he is the gate that leads to life eternal – and although at times we allow ourselves to be tempted by the attraction of other callings, listening to the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd allows him to guide us back to the safety of the sheepfold.
So as we join together spiritually (even if not physically) for this celebration of the Eucharist, we remember the sacrifice of Christ made present in it, and remember that it is through the sacrifice that we are given the means to have life to the full, hearing all the more clearly the voice of our shepherd calling us to him, leading us and guiding us to eternal pastures, to dwell in the Lord’s own house forever.
