Openness and Solidarity
Summary of Fr. Gerry Creedon's homily, May 3,
2009
"I am the Good Shepherd." Jn 10.11
I will consider how this gospel leads to empowerment, openness and
solidarity.
I went to the parish of the Good Shepherd
in 1979 as the fifth pastor in a five-year period. It was a turbulent
time. Fr Tom Quinlan had been pastor. He was prophetic and challenging.
He promoted shared responsibility and creative liturgy. A point of controversy
occurred at Palm Sunday when he celebrated the entry of Jesus to Jerusalem
on a donkey by driving up the main aisle of Good Shepherd Church in
a yellow Volkswagen convertible. The analogy was lost on some of the
flock.
One of his successors introduced himself to the congregation allegedly
by saying, "This is the Good Shepherd Parish. I came to change
a few things here. I want you to know that I am the shepherd and you
are the sheep." Some of Ft. Belvoir's generals and colonels
who had objected to Quinlan's progressive style were not too happy
to be addressed as sheep.
For whatever reason sheep are considered docile, mindlessly obedient
and fickle. It is assumed that they are in need of constant supervision
and protection. I have my doubts personally as to whether sheep deserve
such bad press. I certainly believe that the Good Shepherd image has
often been misapplied. Clergy can easily forget that all the baptized
are christened into Christ, priest, prophet and king. Clergy and laity
alike share a shepherding role. All are called to be sheep who are docile
to the Spirit and yet shepherds too. The sacrament of Confirmation and
the upcoming feast of Pentecost are a call to empowerment in the Spirit.
A second emphasis in this Sunday's proclamation of the Good Shepherd
is the invitation to openness.. "I have other sheep who do not
belong to this fold. These also I must lead." Believers are urged
to move beyond a 'them and us' mentality. However we define
the 'other', none are beyond the pale of the shepherd's
concern.
I recently talked with a woman who told me, "I was involuntarily
banished from the Catholic Church 35 years ago." I asked, "How
did that happen?" She answered, "When my husband up and left
me." I clarified the law of the church. "It is only if and
when you remarry that there is an obstacle to participation."
"Well," she answered, "that was never my ambition."
It was as if an excommunication had been lifted. I wondered why as a
church we are so successful at popularizing restrictions and not so
good at publishing what the liberty of the law allows. The Good Shepherd
urges us to outreach and openness.
Another dimension of Jesus' shepherding is solidarity. As Catholics
we have a charisma for universality. Our Roman structures are a juridical
expression of globalism. St Charles has always taken that challenge
to heart. We were among the first to offer Latin American immigrants
a place to call home. We have fostered a 30-year-old twinning relationship
with the church in Haiti.
More recently through the Philippine
Medical Mission, Africa
Outreach, Communities
Rising, and Banica Outreach we have found ways to articulate the
oneness and solidarity of our parish vision. Easter and Pentecost
bring us to openness, universality and solidarity.
"There will be one flock and one shepherd." Jn 10, 18
