Sunday, May 11, 2025

4rd Easter Sunday – Year C

Homily by Father Emmanuel Schwab

1st reading: Acts 13,14.43-52

Psalm: 99 (100),1-2,3, 5

2rd reading: Revelation 7,9.14b-17

Gospel: John 10,27-30

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The verse that precedes this passage of the Gospel that we have just heard is addressed to those who do not want to believe in Jesus, and Jesus says to them: You do not receive my word because you are not of my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice. If we ask ourselves the question: am I ultimately one of the Lord's sheep? It seems to me that we have a criterion here: do I listen to the voice of the Lord Jesus? Do I listen to his word? Not just that I have heard it, but do I listen to it in the sense: do I seek to live what Jesus says, do I seek, like Saint Therese, to do what pleases Jesus, to "please" Jesus? And I must become aware that if, in fact, by observing, I see that I am seeking to truly listen to the Lord, then I must hear it as a revelation that it is the Father who gave me to Jesus: "My Father who gave them to me — my sheep — is greater than everything.”

It was not only of my own accord that I came to Jesus, it was because the Father drew me to Jesus and gave me to Jesus. God is infinitely closer to us than we imagine, God is infinitely more present in our lives than we think. And on this path, Thérèse is a good teacher to teach us to decipher the presence of the Lord, because in fact she does just that: she rereads her life in the manuscripts, looking at how everything she experienced is a gift from God, a presence of the Lord.

The book of Revelation describes this “a vast multitude that no one could count, from all nations, tribes, peoples and languages.” Who are they? The key is given to us; we are told: “They have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This probably first refers to martyrdom, but we can think that it also refers to baptism, where we were plunged into death with Christ in order to rise with him. We have whitened our robes in the blood of the Lamb. And we can read about baptismal life what one of the elders describes; about baptismal life, that is, about our life. I would like to dwell on this with Thérèse.

First, this baptismal robe. When Thérèse entered Carmel at the age of 15, two months later, she went to make a general confession to Father Pichon: a general confession "like I had never made before," she said. And it was there that Father Pichon said to her: "In the presence of the Good Lord, the Blessed Virgin, and all the Saints, I DECLARE THAT YOU HAVE NEVER COMMITTED A SINGLE MORTAL SIN." Then he added: thank the Good Lord for what he is doing for you, because if he abandoned you, instead of being a little angel, you would become a little demon.

And Thérèse comments:

Ah! I had no trouble believing it, I felt how weak and imperfect I was, but gratitude filled my soul; I had such a great fear of having tarnished the robe of my Baptism, that such an assurance coming from the mouth of a director as Our Holy Mother Therese desired, that is to say, uniting science with virtue, seemed to me to have come from the very mouth of Jesus… (MsA 70r)

Here we have the clue that Thérèse lived with this concern to keep the whiteness of her baptismal robe intact. What connection do we have with our baptism? How do we keep present in our hearts the fact of having been baptized, or rather of being baptized, that is to say, of having received this grace of being placed with Jesus, of being already victorious over death, of knowing that sin no longer has power over us? How do we live this grace in a permanent way?

Those who have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, They are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his sanctuary. This is the situation of our life as baptized people: to stand before the throne of God to serve him day and night. How is our life a service to God through everything we do, through our family life, our professional life, our community life, our municipal life, what do I know? How is it lived as a service to God? Here again Thérèse can inspire us; towards the end of manuscript B, she says: Well! I am the Child of the Church, and the Church is Queen since she is your spouse, O Divine King of Kings… It is not riches and Glory (even the Glory of Heaven) that the heart of the little child demands… Glory, he understands that it belongs by right to his Brothers, the Angels and the Saints… His own glory will be the reflection of that which will spring from the brow of his Mother. What he asks for is Love… He knows only one thing, to love you, O Jesus… Brilliant works are forbidden to him, he cannot preach the Gospel, shed his blood… but what does it matter, his brothers work in his place, and he, a little child, he stands very close to the throne of the King and Queen, he loves for his brothers who fight… But how will he testify his Love, since Love is proven by works? Well, the little child will throw flowers, he will perfume the royal throne with his perfumes, he will sing with his silvery voice the canticle of Love… (McB 4r)

This is one of the expressions of what is called Thérèse's “little way.” She understands that, given her nature, given what she loves, given her place in Carmel, great works are not for her. But she is capable of small works done out of love. And this is what she calls “throwing flowers.” Never miss any opportunity to do good out of love in the smallest things. For it is love that bears fruit, it is love that is fruitful. And we can, inspired by Thérèse, live all our days standing before the throne of God and never miss any opportunity to do a little good, even if it is very small, but to do it out of love.

“He who sits on the throne will dwell with them. They will hunger no more, they will thirst no more, neither will the sun nor the heat oppress them, because the Lamb who stands in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd.”

How is Jesus my shepherd? That is, how is it that he guides me? How is it that, if he is my shepherd, I accept being part of the flock, that I am one sheep among others? How do I live this communion with the Church? And we know that the one given to signify the unity of the Church and to preside over communion and charity is the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. And our communion with the Bishop of Rome, today Pope Leo XIV, says something about our communion with the Church. But this communion with the Church is also the way we live, our Christian communities wherever we are, our parish life. How do we receive one another as brothers and sisters given to us by God? The Church is not a club where we choose each other, it is a family where we receive each other from God. Thérèse loved to contemplate this pastor, and she spoke of him several times. At the beginning of writing Manuscript A (folio 3), she was 22 years old, and she wrote:

I am at a time in my life when I can look back on the past; my soul has matured in the crucible of external and internal trials; now, like a flower strengthened by the storm, I raise my head and see that the words of Psalm 3 are fulfilled in me. (The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in pleasant and fruitful pastures. He leads me gently beside the waters. He guides my soul and does not weary it… But [8v] though I go down into the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you, Lord, are with me!…) The Lord has always been compassionate to me and full of kindness… Slow to punish and abundant in mercy!… (Ps. XNUMX, v. XNUMX.)

How do we contemplate Christ, our Shepherd? How do we identify in our lives the signs of this compassionate, benevolent, consoling, strengthening presence of the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd?

Finally : “God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.” God comes to console us, it is one of the names of the Lord: the Paraclete, the Comforter. The Holy Spirit is another Paraclete, another Comforter. Jesus is the first Comforter, he settled in the village of consolation: Kafr NahumCapernaum is the “village of consolation.” But this consolation is sometimes paradoxical, that is, it is not always felt. Therese writes at the beginning of Manuscript B in the letter to her sister Mary:

Do not think that I am swimming in consolations, oh no! My consolation is not to have any on earth. Without showing himself, without making his voice heard, Jesus instructs me in secret, it is not by means of books, because I do not understand what I read, but sometimes a word like this one that I took from the end of the prayer (after remaining in silence and dryness) comes to console me.

And she quotes a word of Jesus to Messrs. Alacoque:

“This is the master I am giving you, he will teach you everything you must do. I want you to read in the book of life, where is contained the science of LOVE.” (MsB 1r)

The consolation that Thérèse finds is essentially found in the Word of God, which is truly a living word for her. When she reads the Holy Scriptures, she listens to what the Lord says, and it is there that she finds her consolation, and it is there that we can find our consolation.

One of the consolations that the Lord gives to his Church is the consecrated and those who receive the sacrament of orders to make present in the Church Christ the servant in the diaconate, and Christ the good shepherd in the priesthood. The Lord calls no less today than yesterday, we must continue to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. But we must also establish the conditions in our Church, in our families, so that those who hear a call from the Lord can respond to it. Let us not forget in the parable of the sower that sometimes the good seed is choked by thorns. Let us reflect on how to improve the conditions for welcoming the call of the Lord, so that those who hear an inner call can respond to it joyfully and freely.

Amen

Father Emmanuel Schwab, Rector of the Shrine