2nd Sunday after Easter 22 Apr 2012 Sermon

2nd Sunday after Easter 22.4.12 Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd calls us to His flock – and there is only one flock; thus one Church.

There is a communal element to salvation. We are not saved on our own, just as individuals but as part of a larger entity – the Body of Christ, the Church.

We have been very individualistic these last few centuries. This has crept into our view of Christianity, that somehow people have come up with the idea that it is possible to be a disciple of Christ, but without reference to other disciples of Christ.

You will hear people say: I believe in Jesus, but not in the Church. Or: I am spiritual but not religious (code words for: I do not identify with any Church). Or people will speak with a certain contempt for ‘organised religion’ as though organisation necessarily kills the spontaneity of the spirit.

True, we are judged as individuals, but part of that judgment will include to what extent we did identify with the Body of Christ.

To be in union with Christ it is essential to be in union with His body.

It is a delusion to think that Jesus would not mind if His disciples have different beliefs and practices from each other. He wants us all in one body, one in mind and heart with Him and with each other.

[We do not have to agree on everything, but we do have to agree on all the basic issues of faith and morality.]

Which flock is the right one to be in? How about the one that Christ Himself established? That has a fair chance of being the right one. And that is who we are. The one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

Join this and you are not losing anything of yourself. You will be more who you are than you were before.

Discovering our place in a larger body of people is much more exciting and interesting than trying to do it all on our own. In any case no one disciple has all the gifts. We need each other to be fulfilled. We are each a part of the Body of Christ, but only a part.

We identify with others in terms of believing and doing the same things. We are also vitally concerned for their welfare, not just their physical and material welfare, important as they are; but most of all for their salvation.


So we answer the call of the Good Shepherd. We let Him form us, as individuals, but always as part of a larger body.

It is not enough to be in union with Him; I must also be in union with His other disciples, at least in terms of charity, if not yet in belief.

So I must love other Catholics who do not hold to all the Catholic teachings. I must love the Protestants and Orthodox - the heretics and schismatics – love them in the sense that I want them to have full unity with Christ, and by extension with me.

The Body of Christ is torn a thousand different ways presently. The flock is scattered to the four winds. We cannot rest while others are out in the cold. Presently that is most others!

Each of us must make and maintain a strong sense of loyalty to Him, the Good Shepherd, and let Him work through us to bring others to that one flock.