I am the gate for the sheep

 

Deacon Kevin Gingras

Aug 21, 2022

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082122.cfm

In late June I was walking around the grounds of my work and noticed an area coned off.  In the middle of it was a piping plover sitting on a nest with three eggs.   Later in July I was walking around that same area and noticed, what appeared to be a very injured plover adult.  It was making a racket and wriggling around upside down with its wings out as if it were hurt.  I also noticed three very small plovers sitting motionless in the nest.  If the adult were to die then so too would the chicks.  I went to check on the adult to see if I could help that poor plover and as I got closer it got up and ran quickly away from the younger plovers then proceeded to lie upside down as though injured again.  The adult was trying to get me, a perceived predator away from its chicks, it was using itself to pull me away from them.

Seeing this made me think about how Jesus is like that to us.  He is pulling us away from any dangers, sacrificing himself so that we remain safe, we just have to trust in Him and do as He says.  Jesus is the way to eternal peace, happiness, and joy in Heaven:

"Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.

For the piping plovers I know one of the chicks was not strong enough as there were only two around the adults after a couple of weeks.  

Of course, there are minor differences between piping plover parents and Jesus Christ.  Ok, MAJOR differences.

First, God instilled into the parent plovers the instinct to protect their young in this manner, it’s programmed into their brains to do this.  God has instilled into us His own image and God has done this out of love - a perfect love - agape love, and with that love, sometimes comes discipline and we must accept both!

"My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." Endure your trials as "discipline";

God treats you as sons.

Second, the plover's parents are protecting them to keep them from injury and death, the end of the line for them. Since humans are the only part of creation God gave a soul to our death isn’t the end of the line for us.  Jesus isn’t protecting our bodies from physical death as we are all sure to pass from this Earth, instead, he is protecting us from spiritual death.  Jesus wants every single human soul to be with God the Father in Heaven.  Jesus died for every sin of every soul from the beginning of time to the end of time to help us gain that eternity in Heaven.

A third difference is that when a predator is near, the plover chicks were supposed to ball up, be still, and do nothing as the parents try to draw that danger away from them.  When we feel threatened or troubled by things in life we should do the exact opposite, we should run to Jesus, and pray for help and protection to get us through this trial. We must strive to enter through the narrow gate.  Jesus is that gate! Sometime this week read and meditate over the Gospel of John chapter ten.  It begins with:

“Amen, amen, I say to you, a whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.

And then verses 7-9:

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

How do we enter the narrow gate?  How can we be one of the few?  Here are some suggestions.

Get to Confession:  confess your sins regularly to a priest. Write it as a monthly event on your calendar so you don’t forget.  I need to do this myself, I’m every other month or even an every three-month confession guy myself.  I need to fix that for sure!  After a good confession, all you’re sins are forgiven and you are given a clean slate!

Read your Bible: Read and study the scripture and learn from the scripture!  We try to have a scripture study here every season.  The last one on the Biblical Roots of the Mass was awesome. Studying scripture and the Catholic faith is better with others as we can learn from them as well.  

We should also remember our baptismal roles as Priest, Prophet, and King:  The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about this:

The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one "anointed" by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet, and king.

So you are probably thinking - “So Deacon, How do we fulfill that role”?  We heard the major way to do that in today’s Responsorial Psalm:

Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

Our role as Catholics doesn’t end when we walk out of Church right after the dismissal.  There are options to what we can say after the final blessing.  Things like:

Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord

or

Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life

So remember this, when we leave Church today our job as Priest, Prophet, and King isn’t over, it’s just begun.  

As St. Augustine said:

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.