May 3, 2020

4^th Sunday of Easter (A)   

Discipleship Demands Docility

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Perhaps the most well-known image of God in Scripture is that of a shepherd. We find it throughout the Old Testament. Among the Psalms, the 23^rd which we proclaimed today is considered the most beloved for its consoling description of the Lord. God’s chosen—Abraham, Moses, and David—were shepherds. Our Lord appropriated this image and he told St. Peter to feed and to tend his sheep.
 
It was rather natural then that this image should pass into the language of the Church. We speak of our pope, bishops and priests as pastors—Pastor being the Latin term for shepherd. And we speak of the Church’s life as being “pastoral.”
 
The Lord’s audience was familiar with shepherds. They also knew that not all shepherds were good or reliable. This is why Jesus did not say merely, “I am a shepherd” but rather, “I am the good shepherd.” He is not a sheep herder or a hireling who might easily run at the first sign of danger as an old proverb says: “The negligence of the shepherd is joy to the wolves.”
 
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus calls himself “the Gate of the sheep.” One of the shepherd’s tasks was to bring the sheep together into a pen, usually a low stone enclosure that had an opening. It was a rather orderly affair. As the sheep passed through the opening one by one, the shepherd would inspect them for any injuries. Once they were all together, the shepherd would lie across the opening as a guard to prevent predators getting in and sheep from getting out. Jesus is a shepherd who protects the sheep with his own life. They are his.
 
Because in the East, sheep were kept 8 or 9 years for their milk and wool, a shepherd came to know his sheep. He gave each of them a name. The image of the Good Shepherd reminds us of how much the Lord loves and cares for us and knows each one of us intimately.
Cardinal Basil Hume liked to say, “God cannot count. Everybody is number one. God became man not for a crowd but for each one of us. God never sees crowds, he just sees the individuals.”
 
A shepherd knows the sheep, but how do the sheep know the shepherd? They know him by his voice. They recognize his voice alone. Sheep are easily frightened and a strange voice would alarm them. Following the shepherd’s voice they would be led to green pastures, still waters and safe havens.
 
Simply put, sheep are docile. Today if we say a person is docile, we usually mean that he or she is a pushover, lacking any sense of character. Yet, its actual meaning is positive. “Docile” in Latin means “teachable” Docility helps us realize we all have something to learn, that we don’t have all the answers, that we can make mistakes, that we are not infallible and that others have something to offer. I am docile when I have the humility to listen to advice and accept correction.
 
Discipleship demands docility. Disciples are students who should be teachable. Learning comes from listening, from being docile, receptive to the voice of the Lord that comes to us in the Scriptures and in the Church. That voice comforts, protects, guides and yes, challenges us! Just as a shepherd would with his rod poke and prod a sheep to get it moving or with his staff pull it in to keep it from veering off into danger. God’s word pokes and prods. It can make us uncomfortable, challenging us to change.
 
Many voices clamor for our attention and at times we give greater attention and importance to the voice of a newspaper editor, a blogger, or political party. Not everything we hear is true and good, but God’s voice will never deceive or disappoint us. It is that voice that must first be heard, that voice that should influence our decisions and the positions we take. Fr. Henri Nouwen calls this openness and receptivity to God’s voice, a form of “spiritual hospitality,”
 
In our restless and noisy world Jesus’ loving voice is easily drowned out. Let us ask today for the grace to cut through the noise and develop this docility, this hospitality to God’s voice. Let us confidently turn to Our Lady, “Seat of Wisdom” whose heart was perfectly docile to the Lord’s will. May she help us to listen, to be sensitive to the truth, and able to discern good from evil.