Given the Fullness of Truth
Gospel Reflection For The 23rd day of April in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Gospel
John 10:22-30
22 And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. 24 The Jews therefore came round about him, and said to him: How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them: I speak to you, and you believe not: the works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me.
26 But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them life everlasting; and they shall not perish for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of my hand. 29 That which my Father hath given me, is greater than all: and no one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father. 30 I and the Father are one.
Yesterday, we discussed the meaning of the sheep and the Good Shepherd. Here, Jesus plainly states that the Jewish officials of His time were not among His sheep. Why is this? Surely, they were the Chosen People, Children of Abraham. Truly, God never rejected them. But, they rejected God. Jesus was “cornerstone that the builder rejected” and “a stumbling block.” If they had been true followers of God and devout like Simeon and Anna who rejoiced upon seeing the infant Jesus, and believed in Him immediately they would have been saved. Instead, they saw all the miracles Jesus performed and heard Him preach, but still did not believe in Him.
As I have mentioned before, it is believed that approximately half of all Jews became Christian in the first century of the Church. These were mostly poor, country people whose faith was strong. Those in the cities, the wealthy and powerful, were less willing to accept the Gospel. As our Lord said, it would be harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter Heaven. He also warned that what they had would be taken away.
This is a lesson we must take into our hearts. We have been given the Fullness of the Truth and the grace of God through the Catholic Church. We have been adopted and are heirs to all of the promises of God. Like the parable of the hired workers, although we were hired late in the day and did little work, we receive the same reward as those who labored all day in the vineyard. But, we must not allow ourselves to take such things for granted as did those whose hearts were hardened toward our Lord. Just like them, we may allow money, comfort, position, power and respect of our peers to separate ourselves from God. They, at least, had the excuse of being born Jewish and the belief of being under God’s covenant with Abraham. No one is born Christian. You may be born into the most devout or influential of Catholic families, a descendant of saints, but that will not save your soul. The Christian is “born again” through Baptism and Confirmation, “water and the Spirit” and nourished by the Eucharist. To live this life in Christ we must stay in a state of grace, going to confession when we sin and praying daily. Otherwise, we may lose what has been given to us far more easily than did those in Jesus’ time for whom Judaism was hereditary, cultural and even their professional vocation.
As we are so frequently admonished, “If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.”
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January-June, 2024. It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPD1DC7Q
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His new podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic
Good food for thought!