GATEKEEPERS

INTROUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4^th Monday in Easter Time is, “Gatekeepers.”

Here are some thoughts triggered from today’s readings, especially the gospel.

Yesterday and today and tomorrow we’re listening to the 10^th chapter of the gospel of John. Yesterday we heard Jesus talking about himself being the Good Shepherd. Tomorrow Jesus will talk about his connection - his communion with those who know his voice. Today Jesus describes himself as the Gatekeeper to the Sheepfold.

Gatekeeper to the sheepfold is a metaphor - or figure of speech - as John uses.  We can all picture a sheepfold or pen - or a corral for horses or a kennel for dogs.

I can still picture very clearly a scene from my 12 days  in Palestine in January 2000. We’re in a bus going up the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. I’m looking out the left window - seeing more that way. The roads and driving are the same as in the United States. A good bit of the trip there was a tiny shoulder on the right - and a big wall of earth and rock on the right. About midway I see a sheep pen. It was made of crooked  trees and branches serving as the bars of the pen.  At a makeshift  gate I spot a gatekeeper. In the sheep pen I could see lots of sheep and goats - some black and some white.

I said to myself, “Ah, I’m seeing three or four parables of Jesus here - still relevant - going on almost 2000 years now.

PRACTICAL SERMON APPLICATIONS

Let me voice a few practical applications  from this metaphor of the gatekeeper.

Sometimes I’m a gatekeeper. There are people I don’t allow into my life.

We hear that in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 11:1-18. Peter and some of the disciples thought some people should not enter into the temple. There are people you should not be eating with. They were pagans. They were profane.

Then Peter has a dream. He sees a large sheet come down from heaven. On that sheet he sees all kinds of animals - clean and unclean  - and basically we hear from this dream and from Peter that nothing God makes is unclean.

Sometimes I inwardly voice a complaint  - a harsh judgment about someone who is in this sheep pen called church.  What is she doing in this church? Do you see him? He’s wearing summer beach shorts in church? Horrible! Or the cleavage? Or he or she are living with so and so? He, he’s going to communion. How dare he do that?  He’s a Democrat and therefore he’s for abortion. When I was working in a retreat house in Tobyhanna Pa. a group of men retreatants went to the priest in charge and said, “How could you allow so and so to make a retreat here? He’s Mafia.  And George said, “Wouldn’t you want him in church? Another group of guys complained about a guy who was making a retreat every year and these guys said this guy came on retreat to be seen and to get votes. And this guy, Frank, told me privately that he came this weekend because on this particular  weekend nobody from his county would be there this weekend. “I just want to make a retreat.”

Another comment would be: I’m grateful Jesus allows me to be in communion with him - and that the chose me - I’m a lost sheep.

Isn’t the Catholic Church fabulous. We are Catholic - which means - everyone - KATA - Greek word for with and Holos - meaning the whole world.  Yes - look around who’s at Mass - the whole world. So I gotta learn how to rub shoulders with those around me and not be scared to talk, bah, baa, bal with everyone in the pen.

Enough.