Eucharistic Gospel Reading for the 4th Sunday of Easter: Year C
“Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. (John 10:25 and 26))
Jesus promises us eternal life because he knows those of us who follow his voice. This is fascinating! This is what our Christian faith is all about. Our passport to eternal life is through believing in Jesus Christ. At more funerals than I can count I hear the words “he or she is in a better place now.” We all at one point or another ponder about the “here-after.” I have seen movies where the next life was still one of seeing and breathing and enjoying foods but seem to be in another dimension or at least another planet very similar to our earth. I ponder about the resurrection and what eternal life will be like.
Nowhere in the Gospel according to John do we read the word faith. No, John wants a verb, John wants action. John wants the readers of his words to believe. Jesus says to the temple authorities, “I have told you, and you do not believe.” It was Augustine of Hippo who said we must believe in order that we might come to understanding. According to James Kiefer, a Church biographer, Augustine’s mother, Monica, undertook to bring him up as a Christian. She believed, and insisted that he believe also. As he agreed to baptism, she passed away handing him off to God in Christ Jesus.
In my own undergraduate studies long ago, my professor at the time informed us, in an adolescent psychology course, that most children adopt the beliefs or faith of their mothers. Even God, in his plan for walking among us, collaborated with a woman, Mary by name, her name also not found in the Gospel according to John, and Mary’s response to the angel was, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
Today we remember with love, our mothers; especially mothers who pass on their faith to their children. It is this mother- given faith that enables us to follow Jesus as his sheep. For he says of his doubters, “You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.” We must trust the faith of our mothers and believe in order that we might one day fully understand.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
O God, You loved us so much that You came to us through a human mother showing the importance of motherhood. So bless our mothers present, and receive those mothers who have come home to you, where they may dwell in eternal joy with Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
onewhoponders 