Fourth Sunday of Easter

Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2006

"We are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him..." (I John 3: 1-3). "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd." (John 10: 11-18)

The Scriptures for the past several weeks have focused our attention on issues of faith and doubt. This passage from the first letter of John provides a glimpse into the mystical (hidden) relationship between God and us, present and future. We are children of God "now", anticipating, hoping for, some future state of being but not knowing what that state will be. All we know is that we shall experience God much more directly than we do now because we will be radically changed in some way. Many of us think that we have a pretty good notion of what "God" must be like, derived from our sacred traditions, and our own little personal thoughts and experiences.

One of the most common of our traditions concerns the ineffable and unknowable nature of this being upon whom we, like children, rely so completely for our very existence All religious traditions acknowledge in one way or another how inadequate our language and ideas are when we talk or think about "God". This does not seem to keep us from arguing and fighting endlessly about something that has not yet been revealed. All we know is that it will be something much different than what we expect. When it comes to what that will be there are no experts. As I grew older I find that one mark of a mature spiritual life is my acceptance of what is and is not knowable about God. In some ways I've become more certain, in other ways less.

This leads us into Jesus' statement that he has "other sheep" to which he must also attend. Apparently our own communities are not the only ones of concern to God. History is full of examples of religious groups, large and small, proclaiming that they are the authentic flock to which all must conform in order to be "one". Somehow we Catholics have gotten it into our heads that we are the only ones who understand the truth about the way to God. The only legacy of this history is alienation, violence and death. Actually, our own teaching about this from the Vatican Council is that anyone who seeks the truth is "in some way linked to the church". We start the search for God from the truest and best in our own sacred teachings. Another mark of mature spirituality is the humility to look for truth wherever it may be found. Perhaps it would be a sign of real movement toward the kingdom of God when we are able to affirm that the flock of Christ is all human beings who long for truth, goodness, beauty and justice.