I have been watching Series 3 of “The Chosen” recently, which is an imaginative dramatisation of the Gospels, and one which feels much nearer to what things might have been like than the rather sentimental Hollywood presentations of the past. You can see and hear me give this Homily on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbMOXgwRgNM
I was struck in Series 3 by what happens when Jesus sends out the disciples in pairs. (Matthew 10 and Luke 10) I had never thought before how hard this must have been for those men. Before this, they had been with Jesus, learning from him the message of the kingdom, and watching him as he brought his love and power to bear on all sorts of different people. Now, he was telling them to leave his side and go and do what he had been doing. In “The Chosen” their reaction is not at all enthusiastic at first. They try to make excuses because they don’t feel adequate to the task, nor brave enough to face any opposition they might encounter. Yet Jesus insists, and so they are persuaded.
In Matthew’s account, Jesus warns them that he is sending them out “As sheep in the midst of wolves”, and that they will have to face conflict and persecution. It’s this passage mentioning sheep that brings me to today’s Gospel where Jesus describes himself as the “shepherd”, “the gate” and “the gatekeeper” of all his sheep. Further, he says that “Anyone who enters through me will be safe.” Now that sounds nice and cosy doesn’t it, not like being sent out into the midst of wolves, but what follows shows us it is the same message, for Jesus says that we “Will go freely in and out,” and “Out” here is the significant word, because Jesus makes it clear that we the sheep will not always be kept safe in the sheepfold. There will be times when we need to be there, just as sheep are brought into the fold at night; but there are also many times when Jesus our shepherd will call us out into the big wide world. That’s what it says earlier in our Gospel. “The shepherd….calls his own sheep and leads them out.” The message is clear. We the sheep cannot just stay safely in the sheepfold. The shepherd’s call is for all of us.
Now that, of course, is a really hard message. Most people see the Church as a place of peace, of retreat from the world to a place of safety; and it is that of course. But it is also a place from which we are called out. The Bidding prayers will hopefully remind us of the needs of our world; and the whole Mass, as well as being an offering of ourselves to God, is the supreme way in which God empowers us for our work out in the world. It is God’s sheepfold, a place where we are fed by word and sacrament, precisely so that we have the resources with which to face our task to serve God in the world. Our 2nd Reading (1 Peter 2:20-25) also tells us that this is a hard task, but one that we must take on however punishing it may be; and why? Because “Christ suffered for (us) and left an example for (us) to follow.” And then there is our 1st Reading (Acts 2:14.36-41) where we are told that the “Promise” – that is God’s love and forgiveness – is for us – yes – but not just for us, but for “All those who are far away.” So all three Readings challenge us on this.
Do you remember that powerful text from St Paul? “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:14-15) We, who know the love of God made present in Jesus, have something precious to share, don’t we? But don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that we simply walk up to anyone and everyone saying we want to tell them about Jesus. We don’t need to go from doing nothing to thinking it all depends on us! Rather what I am suggesting is that there may be someone, maybe just one person we know, who wants to hear about our faith, who wants to be asked “Would you like to come to Mass with me? We may be repulsed. That’s the hard bit. But remember Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me.” (John 6:44); so if God is at work in them then they will say yes, and we will be delighted.
I’m sure you realise that this work mustn’t be left just to us priests, not least because lay people can sometimes be far more effective than a priest. People can ignore what a priest says, on the grounds that they’re only saying what is expected of them; and what’s more if they do respond to the priest then he has to hope he can find someone to look after them at Mass. Your witness, on the other hand, as a lay person cannot be dismissed as something you’re paid to do, and you have the added advantage of being able both to give the invitation, and to follow it up by sitting beside them at Mass and making them feel at home.
The other reason you mustn’t leave it to us priests is sadly because some priests are too frightened or anxious or lazy to be openly present to people outside the Church. It was Pope St Gregory the Great, way back in the 6th Century, who said “See how full the world is of priests, but yet in God’s harvest a true labourer is rarely to be found.” The 21st Century is not that different. Your priest may be fine saying Mass with great devotion and hopefully greeting and speaking to the people who actually come to church; and yet be totally unable or unwilling simply to be seen walking around the parish with his collar showing. I remember vividly, when I began work as a University Chaplain and walked around the Campus, being welcomed with delight by many people, even if others ignored me or glared at me. What horrified me was when I discovered that my predecessor had never worn his clerical collar, so even if he did walk round the Campus, no one knew who he was. Later I set up a table in the main Foyer often with a student or two to help me, and all sorts of people stopped and talked to us. Some wanted to tell us how wrong we were, or how wicked the Church was – hard things to hear - but others were keen to get to know us and some in that way eventually found their way to Sunday Mass. Another example is the way during the Covid Pandemic in England when churches were shut, some priests and some lay people used the phone and the internet to encourage and support people, whilst other priests and lay people just shut up shop and sadly did nothing. It reminds us that there is more than one way to go out from the sheepfold and to share the faith with others.
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