Published on 23 April 2024

Homily by Father Emmanuel Schwab

4rd Easter Sunday – Year B

1st reading: Acts 4,8-12

Psalm: 117 (118), 1.8-9, 21-23, 26.28-29

2rd reading: 1 John 3,1-2

Gospel: John 10,11-18

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Three points can draw our attention from today's readings.

The first is always the same: “Jesus the Nazarene, whom you crucified, God raised from the dead.” This is the heart of our conversion. This is the heart of our attachment to Jesus: discovering that our whole life, that my whole life is concerned by this unique act in the history of this man, Jesus, true God and true man, who gave up his life for me . And in discovering that it is for me, I discover that it is for everyone.

Pope Francis in his exhortation “ It's confidence » on Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus notes this in particular (n°33):

Thérèse has the lively certainty that Jesus loved her and knew her personally in his Passion: “He loved me and gave himself up for me” (Ga 2:20). Contemplating Jesus in his agony, she said to him: “You live me”. [PN 24] Likewise, she said to the Child Jesus in the arms of his Mother: “With your little hand which caressed Mary, You supported the world and gave it life. And you were thinking of me” (id.). Thus, always at the beginning of the Story of a Soul, she contemplates the love of Jesus for everyone, as if it were unique in the world [Ms A, 3rº].

Thérèse teaches us to truly believe that what Jesus says in the Gospel is true: I know my sheep. And I invite each of you to dare to believe and to do this work today and during the week: to believe Jesus when he tells us: “I know my sheep”; I know you personally.

What is interesting in the poetry 24 that the Pope cites — this poetry called “Remember” — is that Thérèse wrote it at the request of her sister Céline. Céline, who also entered the Carmelite religion, finds that she has already done a lot for Jesus. And she would like Thérèse to write poetry where she can say to Jesus: Remember, Jesus, everything that Céline has done for you. And Thérèse, with some affectionate malice, will write all her poetry saying: Remember Jesus, everything you have done for me. Céline is surprised to receive this…

But what is interesting to note is that when Thérèse writes:

With your little hand that caressed Marie,

You supported the world and gave it life.

And you were thinking of me!

she wrote this poetry for Céline. So Céline can say that too. It is so that each of us can say this, so that each of us can say “in his Passion, Jesus saw me”. When he gave his life on the cross, he saw each of us and he did so for each of us personally. This mystery is great and we must return to it often.

The second point that I would like to emphasize is the consequence of what Jesus did: through baptism, we are placed with Jesus to in turn become children of God and share this condition with the only Son. Child of God and brother of Jesus. What we are, says Saint John, does not appear yet today, but it is not because we do not see it with our fleshly eyes that it is not real. We are children of God, and here again, Thérèse is our teacher to teach us to truly contemplate the paternity of God. No doubt she learned what demanding and caring fatherhood is from her holy father, Louis Martin; no doubt she discovered the maternal dimension of the fatherhood of God through her holy mother Zélie…

But the fatherhood and motherhood of his parents spoke to something much greater: the fatherhood of God. And she has total trust in God the Father. Do we truly believe that we are children of God and behave towards God as beloved children?

And what Thérèse also teaches us is that when a child has done something stupid, the quicker he comes to admit his stupidity in front of his father or mother, the quicker he is forgiven. And when Thérèse had done something stupid when she was little, when her dad came home, the first thing to do was to go and tell Louis about the stupid thing she had done so that she could receive paternal kindness from her dad. Do we have the same attitude as children of God with God, our Father?

Finally, the third point is Jesus' desire to seek out the sheep who are not yet there. The herd is small. In our country, in Europe, the Lord's flock has shrunk considerably in recent decades, brothers and sisters. Do we consider this a normal course of history? Are we kind defeatists or are we entering into this desire and desire of Jesus to go after the sheep who are not yet in the fold?

“I still have other sheep, which are not from this enclosure: these too I must lead. They will listen to my voice: there will be one flock and one shepherd.” Thérèse is fascinated by this, and ultimately, she offers her whole life to work with Jesus to “win souls” for him, as she likes to say. She wants to work to “save sinners” with Jesus. She knows that Jesus did everything, but at the same time that he loves us so much that he does not want to do anything without us (CF. LT135),

and that he is content with the little we can give. Thérèse, contemplate these so numerous souls... In one of the recreations that she writes about The angels at Jesus' crib, she makes one of the angels speak thus:

Jesus, I also see even more souls who will move away from you; like the prodigal son they will seek happiness far from their Father!... Instead of remaining in peace under your guidance, O Divine Shepherd, these poor sheep will get lost in the thorns... But the trial will bring them closer to you, they will remember that the Son of God did not come to call the righteous but the sinners, and that the joy is greater in Heaven for a single sinner who does penance than for ninety-nine righteous people who have not no need for penance... Like Madeleine, after having offended you much they will love you very much... When these souls seek your face, as soon as they come to hide in the secret of your divine Face invoking your blessed name, deign, oh Jesus! by just one of your glances make them brighter than the stars of Heaven!… (PR 2,7)

This is Thérèse’s constant concern. Jesus came to save sinners. How is this will of God who wants all men to be saved, this will of Jesus to give his life for the salvation of all, how is this will not also inhabiting our heart and how is it? Wouldn’t that also mobilize our lives?

Thérèse, upon entering Carmel, wants to give her life for this purpose. And what she understands is that we can very truly cooperate in the work of Jesus. She writes to her sister Léonie (LT191):

Ah! if we had to do great things, how much would we be pitied?… But how happy we are since Jesus allows himself to be chained by the smallest…

It's not the little sacrifices that you miss, my dear Léonie, isn't your life made up of them? I am delighted to see you in front of such a treasure and especially thinking that you know how to take advantage of it , not only for you, but also for souls...

And she adds:

It is so sweet to help Jesus, through our light sacrifices, to help him save the souls that he redeemed at the price of his blood and who are only waiting for our help so as not to fall into the abyss...

Yes, brothers and sisters, in celebrating Christ the Good Shepherd today, in contemplating his work, let us allow this desire to cooperate in his action to grow within us so that many may know Jesus, learn to love him, welcome the mercy of God and see their lives transformed by the light of God. And if all the baptized grow in this desire to be with Jesus and to cooperate in his work, let us not doubt that among these baptized, young men will arise to give the Church what it needs so that the Church the whole bears witness in the midst of our painful world to the inexhaustible mercy of God.

Amen