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4/25/21 - 4th Sunday of Easter - Acts 20:28-32 - Ignorance is Rolled Away!

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The Easter Season

After forty days of repentance and prayer, the Church bursts forth in jubilant praise at the Resurrection of our Lord. The Bride of Christ welcomes her Bridegroom back from the dead. Easter is as the pinnacle of the Church Year, the oldest festival and season celebrated by the worshipping Church. For a full week-of-weeks (49 days) the Church celebrates the resurrection of Christ on the Sundays of Easter which culminate on the 50th day, Pentecost.

The Sunday - The readings with this Sunday begin a gradual transition from the Half Year of Our Lord to the Half Year of the Church, from the way that God won our salvation to the way we live our salvation. From now until Pentecost they focus on the nature of our relationship with the Risen Christ through his Word: the relationships of Shepherd and sheep, of Vine and branches, of Friend with friends, of Patron and protected. As sheep of the Good Shepherd we know his voice. His voice rolls ignorance away!

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First Lesson: Acts 20:28-32
The reading beautifully expands and applies the thoughts of the gospel lesson. It is the Word of grace that brings us into the sheepfold of Christ and preserves us there to life eternal. But we need to be on guard against those who would turn us aside from the Word of grace. The whole history of the Church and the modern religious scene give ample witness to this always relevant exhortation of the inspired apostle. In Advent we saw the Holy Office of the Ministry exalted and typified in the work of St. John the Baptist. Here that office again achieves prominence as the office which mirrors Christ’s prophetic office. The title pastor is a constant reminder of the nature of the office and of the relationship that should exist between shepherd and flock.

Second Lesson: 1 Peter 5:1-4
The shepherds should remember and follow the example of The Shepherd. The flock should value highly the love of God for the flock that he sends them such shepherds. If the reward for faithful shepherds is so great, then the love of The Shepherd for his under shepherds must also be very great. The shepherds should be encouraged by the promise and the flock should be both warned and comforted by that same promise. Just remember too: The glory is certain but it is promised for the future, not for the moment. Present glory is temporary; only that to come remains forever. Don’t be impatient. Be faithful!


Gospel: Luke John 10:11-18
The whole work of Jesus from Christmas to Easter had this in mind, that he should be and remain our Good Shepherd and we should be and remain his sheep. All in all, it’s a bad bargain for the shepherd! The hired hand acts rationally. He is worth more intrinsically and certainly to himself than a hundred sheep and shouldn’t die for any of them. In the case of Jesus that is true a thousand fold. But look what happens! Everything is upside down and backwards. He for whom the whole of creation exists freely and willingly sacrifices himself for the sheep who add nothing to his own infinite worth. The Father even agrees with that sacrifice. He loves the sheep, it would seem, even more than he loves the Shepherd! For it is his will that the Shepherd become the Good Shepherd in just this way. So much they love the flock! You would have to be a stone not to be moved by such love for you! Listen to his voice! It gives the life that he laid down and has now taken up again.



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