4th Sunday of Easter 2015
Fr. Robert VerEecke, S.J.
We have a treasure of life and love which cannot deceive, and a message
which cannot mislead or disappoint. It penetrates to the depths of our
hearts, sustaining and ennobling us. It is a truth which is never out of
date because it reaches that part of us which nothing else can reach. Our
infinite sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.
Whose voice is this? Do you recognize it? Who is it who
speaks words of hope and not despair, of joy and not
cynicism, of mercy and not judgment? Whose voice is this
that seems to know what we need so desperately to hear? Yes,
it is the voice of Pope Francis. The quote I began with comes
from the final chapter of his Joy of The Gospel.
Way back in September, the Parish Pastoral Council began to
read Francis’ exhortation and were so inspired and enlivened
by his words that we thought: “why not our whole parish
community?” Why not a community reading and reflection
using the Joy of the Gospel? There is so much that Francis says
that is uplifting and so much that is “down to earth”.
Everyone has heard the oft quoted line that the Shepherds of
the Church should have the “smell of the sheep”.
We just heard the very familiar Gospel passage that speaks of
Jesus as the Good Shepherd. 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. There is an intimacy between Jesus and us, his sheep.
He is the life-line that connects us to God and to each other.
He is the one who knows us at the very depths of our being.
He knows our hopes, our dreams, our loves, our hurts. He
knows our brokenness and, most of all, he knows our need
for mercy and healing. He is the one who gathers us into his
arms to hold and embrace us especially when we are
“infinitely sad”.
“Our infinite sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.”
Have you ever thought of “infinite sadness”? Something in
these words of Pope Francis has transfixed me since I heard
them again. This is no fleeting emotion that fluctuates with
happiness. This is not a sadness that depends on mood, on
how we are feeling because of some disappointment. Infinite
sadness describes a state of being where we are completely at
a loss as to what to do to make things better. Infinite sadness
describes a state of being where we feel as if life is slipping
away and all we can do is surrender to the unknown. Infinite
sadness must be what the people of Nepal are feeling as they
wonder how they can face the future after such a great loss. If
you can imagine an ocean of sadness, you only begin to feel
the “infinite sadness” that Francis refers to. It is what God
must feel when God beholds our world and sees the
destruction, the violence that human beings perpetrate on
each other. In human terms, it is what we may feel with the
loss of a loved one, or the loss of a lifetime of human
experience. It is the infinite sadness of a voice that says,
“Where did the time go? And what remains for me?” Infinite
sadness can only be cured by an infinite love.
What makes Francis such a good shepherd is that he really
seems to know us, you and me. He knows our human
condition. He knows how easy it is to be discouraged and
even cynical about what life has to offer. That is why he is
constantly urging us to go with our emptiness to Jesus who
wants to fill us with his love, go to Jesus with our brokenness
who only wants to heal us with his love, go to Jesus with our
infinite sadness, go to Jesus who only wants to turn our
sadness into joy, our mourning into dancing.
What makes Francis such a darn good shepherd is that he is
first and foremost a Jesuit who knows that we are created for
a relationship of beautiful intimacy with Jesus Christ. He,
himself, knows the power and glory of this relationship and
urges each of his flock to know the same.
In union with Jesus, we seek what he seeks and we love what he loves. In the
end, what we are seeking is the glory of the Father; we live and act “for the
praise of his glorious grace” (Eph 1:6). If we wish to commit ourselves fully
and perseveringly, we need to leave behind every other motivation. This is our
definitive, deepest and greatest motivation, the ultimate reason and meaning
behind all we do: the glory of the Father which Jesus sought at every moment
of his life. As the Son, he rejoices eternally to be “close to the Father’s heart”
(Jn 1:18).
Even when we are feeling infinitely sad because of the world’s
worries or our own personal losses, we are close the heart of
Jesus, we are close to the Father’s heart.