The Fourth Sunday of Easter, April 21, 2024

John 10, 11–18

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”

It is easy to sympathize with the shepherd of whom the Lord Jesus speaks who works for pay and runs off when he sees a wolf coming.  Unless he is a very good shot with his sling, he could be killed along with a number of the sheep.  The person owning the sheep would be very distressed at the loss of his sheep, but he could always hire a new shepherd and he could gather up his remaining animals.  In the event of an emergency, there was no incentive for the shepherd to stay and try to defend the sheep.  

So who is this “good shepherd”, and why would he lay down his life for his sheep?  The Greek word translated as “good” has the meaning of “virtuous”, “noble”, and “moral”, with the implication of “inspiring” through the display of these qualities.  The “good” shepherd, then, sees the good as his duty,and is not motivated by profit.  He sees himself as representing the sheep owner and his interests, and puts this above his own interests, or identifies this as his own interests.  The “good shepherd” sells out for his sheep, holding nothing back.  He makes a continual offering of himself for his sheep.  

“I am the good shepherd.”  The Son of God tells us in these words exactly who he is and what he means to do.  Our salvation is his purpose.  He, the infinite God, does this for his erring, wandering, difficult creatures.  We could never have believed this if it had not been revealed to us.  It simply goes beyond all reason.

It would seem madness for a God or  a human being to act this way and to have this mind, but we see this “throwing away of one’s life” in the crucifix and also in the lives of men and women religious and of priests.  As closely as they can they model their lives of sacrifice after that of the Good Shepherd.  To do this they give up everything that could hold them back, including family and spouses.  They are worthy of our prayers, for they do this for us, to intercede for us.  And we pray for one another as well so that we might be good sheep of this wondrous Shepherd and that he might call our names and lead us into  eternal pastures.

The twelfth article in our continuing series on the Holy Mass: The Sanctus

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.”  The Sanctus, or, “the Holy, Holy, Holy”, is the second hymn found in the text of the Mass.  The first is the Gloria, and the third is the Agnus .Dei, or, “the Lamb of God”.  It is composed of two verses.  The context of the first verse, Isaiah 6, 3, is a vision the Prophet experienced in the Temple in Jerusalem: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the Temple. Upon it stood the seraphim: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew” (Isaiah 6, 1-2).  God is seated in his Temple and the winged angels cry out his praises.  Heavenly praise is uttered on earth.  The second verse is taken from Psalm 117, 26: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  This psalm was held by the Jews to speak of the coming of the Messiah.  As such, this verse was shouted by the people as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass (cf. Matthew 21, 9).  This verse is the praise of God by mortal humans.  Thus, the linking of the two verses concludes the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer, which exhorts the people of earth to join in the eternal praise of the angels.  This is most appropriate here because the Son of God is about to appear on our altars just as he came into Jerusalem on an ass two thousand years ago, and just as Isaiah saw him in the Temple long before that.

This part of the Mass is one for which we have the earliest witnesses.  Pope St. Clement mentions it in his letter to the Corinthians, and many of the Fathers in both the east and west quote it.  The earliest surviving Mass books all have the Sanctus, and in its established position.  

Two Hebrew words are found in the Sanctus.  This is most clear in the Latin text in which neither word is translated but are simply allowed to remain in the Hebrew as words common in the Church in early times: sabaoth and hosanna.  The Hebrew sabaoth means “armies” and is translated into English as “hosts”.  The sense of the verse is this: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of armies”, that is, of the legions of angels.  The second Hebrew word, hosanna, is not easily translated.  It is a sort of jubilant shout made upon the realization of being saved, as the word itself seems related to the verb “to save”.

Next: The Eucharistic Prayers