6th Sunday of Easter

Dear Parishioners,
In our lives, when we take on a role that is not rightly ours, it usually causes major problems. A minor children is not supposed to take on the role of a parent. A teacher is not supposed to take on the role of a student. An employee is not supposed to take on the role of employer. In the biblical world, sheep are not supposed to be shepherds. I think you get the picture. So, since Jesus Himself, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, repeatedly tells us in the Gospels that we are the sheep and He is the Good Shepherd, why, as believers and thus, followers, would we want to reverse those roles, especially by not listening to His voice – the voice of the Risen One who gives perfect advice as the Son of God and yet is also our Brother? Listening and embracing and heeding what we hear from Jesus are “keeping His word,” as Jesus says in the Gospel this weekend. Jesus goes on to say, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” When we are troubled or afraid, we might want to take things into our own hands and gain more control, thinking that this will help; however, this “role-reversal” results in the opposite, because we push God, Jesus, and/or the Holy Spirit “out of the way” so that we can take over. That’s not a good move on our part at all – we’re not listening, and therefore, not keeping Jesus’ word, which is God the Father’s word, as Jesus points out in today’s Gospel as well. As Jesus was always telling the Apostles to listen to Him closely and carefully, so too, we the apostles of today, are called, for our own good, to listen to Jesus closely and carefully, and not reverse the roles. Jesus is our Redeemer, we are the redeemed, and not the other way around.