Fourth Sunday of Easter
Although we are surrounded by an increasingly chaotic world, Providence never ceases to show its light to men and to nations, as is clear from this Sunday’s first reading (Acts 13:14, 43-52).
St. Paul and St. Barnabas are sent to preach to distant peoples the greatest event in history: the Incarnation, Life, Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, facts that could not be ignored since God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2:4).
Deceived by the prevailing confusion, we are often led to think that this light can manifest itself in different ways. However, the place par excellence where it shines with exclusive brightness is the Holy Roman Catholic Church, the lighthouse that the Divine Master lit, never to be extinguished.
In fact, Our Lord founded His Church to perpetuate throughout the ages the salvific work that He began in the supreme holocaust of the Cross. And from the very first moment, He wanted this salvation to extend to “every nation, race, people, and tongue” (Rv 7:9).
The various readings of today’s Liturgy teach us that, in the face of this light, there are only two reactions: to follow, as did the faithful who listened to and adhered to St. Paul and St. Barnabas; or to reject, like those who, full of envy, incited persecution against the Apostle, in other words, against the true Church that was being born.
In the Gospel, Our Lord calls the first sheep because they listen to His voice; the Good Shepherd knows them, and they follow Him (cf. Jn 10:27). For these, He offers the pledge of eternal life, because no one will snatch them out of His divine hands (cf. Jn 10:28). And in the second reading, God promises He “will shelter them” (Rv 7:15).
Those who reject this voice, however, become unworthy of eternal life (cf. Acts 13:46) and receive a sign of malediction from God’s representatives: “they [the Apostles] shook off the dust from their feet against them” (Acts 13:51).
Let us take a moment to reflect on which of the two categories we fall into before the light: are we “sheep” or “dust from their feet”?
Those who are sheep receive the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance, put into practice the advice heard in a good sermon, keep clear of near occasions of sin, do not give scandal – which is something evil in essence or in appearance, and can lead someone to sin – and they pray assiduously and fervently.
Faced with such demands, many relativists might object: “I do not steal and I have never killed anyone,” thinking that this exempts them from complying with the other prescriptions of the Decalogue. However, despising any one of the Commandments is tantamount to rejecting the light, since it is not possible to practise one of them stably while trampling the others underfoot…
If I despise eternal life and the condition of a sheep, it means that I am very far along in the process of rejecting God and that my contempt will actually lead me to be despised by Him like dust that has clung to His divine feet. ◊
