4th Sunday of Easter
April 16, 1989
Rev 7: 9, 14-17St. Theresa, Bronx, N.Y.
This weekend of 2019, I'm visiting our SDB works in Tampa, my hometown. These works and some of the particular confreres here fostered my vocation. I also paid a visit to my old home parish, Nativity in Brandon. Since I didn't have an opportunity to preach at Mass, here's an old homily.
“I,
John, saw before me a huge crowd which no one could count” (Rev 7: 9).
During
the Easter season, the Church always puts before us in the 1st reading the Acts
of the Apostles. Acts is the story of
our Christian beginnings in the 1st enthusiasm of Easter and Pentecost, the
story of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s leadership, the story of the 1st
persecutions of our ancestors in faith.
The
2d readings this year come from the book of Revelation. They tell us where our Christian faith is
taking us: tribulation, perseverance,
judgment, and heavenly glory. Revelation
was written at the end of the 1st century, a time of intense persecution, and
it was meant to encourage believers, to give them hope.
Like
1st-century Christians, you and I need hope.
We aren’t dragged into court and ordered to worship idols or an emperor,
as early Christians were. We undergo
more subtle persecution. We suffer
double taxation to support our schools.
We’re mocked for clearly teaching that human sexuality is sacred. We are taken to court for defending human
life. A very distinguished priest is
appointed director of the public library, and the Times is flooded with letters of protest and bigotry. The media portray every bishops’ meeting as
some kind of confrontation. Turn on your
TV or your radio, and everything you believe and want to pass on to your
children is under assault. If we protest
any of this lunacy, we’re labeled ayatollahs.
So
we too are in a “great period of trial” (Rev 7:14). Trials are part of being disciples of a
crucified master. “If they persecuted
me,” Jesus warns, “they will also persecute you” (John 15:20.
The 144,000 elect (Blessed Osma, 11th c.) |
At
the Last Supper Jesus promised us not only persecution in this life but many
places in his Father’s house (John 14:2).
Before God’s throne we will always have shelter; neither the rent nor
the taxes will go up, and the sewers won’t break down. We won’t hunger, have our water rationed, or
worry about the ozone layer. God’s Lamb
has become our shepherd, and he’s leading us to eternal life, eternal youth,
eternal health, eternal joy. The
Shepherd tells us that we shall never perish; no one shall snatch us out of his
hand (John 10:28).
So
no matter what trials we face in our Christian lives, no matter how we struggle
each day to know what’s right and then do it, we have great hope. Christ our Shepherd has gone ahead to prepare
a place for us, for a numberless crowd of us.
If we follow him, no lasting harm can touch us, and we shall not be lost.
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