Fr. Brian Soliven Sunday Sermons Rev. Brian J. Soliven

Our history is overflowing with Christians rejoicing in the face of tremendous trial and yes even death. What is the cause of this peace and joy? There is only one source of this peace. The Gospel we read today provides the secret. 

We all fall short of the glory of God. We all sin. Yet hidden within this mess, St. Catherine of Siena, provides a powerful reminder. Recognizing our sinfulness can be a catalyst for deeper faith. 

Reading the Bible is absolutely essential for the Christian life. St. Jerome in the 5th century put it more bluntly, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” The Bible it’s like water to a fish. All that we do, most especially as Catholics during the Sunday Mass, is layered with Sacred Scripture, from the priest's vestments, the gestures we do during the Holy Mass, to our architecture. Nothing is by accident in the liturgy. My hope as your pastor of St. Mary’s is to help people fall in love with the Bible. 


Today in the Gospel reading, Jesus again uses another famous phrase that a first century Jewish person who was familiar with their Old Testament Bible, would have immediately recognized. “I am the vine, you are the branches.” (Cf. John 15:5). Jesus wasn’t simply using a gardening analogy to connect with an agrarian culture; he was doing something much more radical and provocative. Knowing their Bible, the first century listener to Jesus would have made the connection to the “I am” statement found in the Book of Exodus 3:14. This is where Moses famously goes up to Mount Sinai and receives the Ten Commandments from God. As he is conversing with God, he asks the commonsensical and obvious question, “What is your name?” What a fantastic question to ask God! Who am I talking to? We have to remember at this time in human history, the notion of one true God is absolutely foreign.  


This is a time period where having multiple gods is the norm. We have the different gods of the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, just to name a few. So Moses, understandably, wonders, “Which one am I talking to?” This is where God responds with the divine name, a defining moment that would alter the world forever: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.” (Cf. Exodus 3:14). God is telling Moses I am not one of these fake gods that humanity has concocted. That time is over. I am now ready to reveal myself to humanity, beginning with the Jewish people. All of this is in the background of today’s Gospel passage. When Jesus says “I am,” he is appropriating the name of God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai to himself. This is why the message of Jesus Christ was and continues to be, an explosive, life-changing proclamation. Jesus is God walking among us. He is the fullness of God’s revelation to humanity. As if this one statement is not enough, Jesus will go on to say “I am” a total of seven times in the Gospel of John: I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35), I AM the Light of the World (John 8:12), I AM the Door (John 10:9), I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14), I AM the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25), I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), I AM the Vine (John 15:5). 


The more we know and love our Bible, the deeper our Christian faith becomes.




 

Traditional tells us that St. Mark, whose Feast Day we celebrate today, wrote his Gospel in the seat of Roman imperial power. This was a treasonous act, according to Rome. For the Christian proclaims a revolutionary act, Christ is King. Ergo, all earthly rulers must bow down, along with this stubbornness ego of mine.  

If you're wondering which book of the Bible to read next, may I humbly recommend the fast-paced, hard-hitting, Acts of the Apostles. It tells the dramatic story of the beginning of our Church. What makes this book even more compelling is that it has no conclusion. Acts continues to this very day. It has not ended. You and I are the continuation of the book. 

On the front cover of our amazing church bulletin is the oldest surviving painting of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The 3rd century art is found in the dark labyrinth of tunnels that run for miles beneath the city of ancient Rome, where our early Christian ancestors buried their loved ones. It shows Jesus as a young man, surrounded by three goats. He carries one on his shoulders as he feeds the other two. It’s not by accident the family chose precisely this scene to paint on the tomb of their beloved dead. Death is terrifying, confusing, confounding, and utterly heart-wrenching. As hard as we try to prolong our life and wish this pain were not so, the breath-stopping reality eventually arrives, always sooner than expected. This is why we need Jesus Christ. The world needs the Good News of the Church, boldly proclaimed and lived. 


Our precious Lord tells us in this Sunday’s Gospel passage, “I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep…. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me…” (cf. John 10:11-18). If indeed this is true, that Jesus is the shepherd, then we must follow him. The Christian is happily one of these goats that listens to the voice of Jesus Christ. One of the hardest parts of being a goat is trusting in the shepherd's voice when he leads us to places we do not want to go. Christianity is a total reorienting of one's moral life. We can longer behave like the rest of the world who do not believe. The faithful goat follows wholeheartedly the commandments of God, most especially in the challenging aspects of the Church’s teachings. A recent convert to the Church once said that one proof that shows him the Catholic Church is the true church established by Christ, is our stance on sexual morality. If the Church changes her teachings to conform to today’s modern everchanging view of human sexuality, she has stopped listening to the voice of the shepherd. If the Church holds firm, it reinforces the Church’s divine origin.  


Every departure from Christ's teachings is ultimately rooted in mistrust. Every time I sin, I choose not to follow because I believe my happiness will be found in doing my own will. It’s the same rational Adam and Eve used when they ate of the fruit of good and evil (cf. Genesis 2:17). But we all know this road never leads to the deeper peace and joy we all search for. I dare say, only in following the Good Shepherd will we finally find true fulfillment. But to reach this nourishing pasture, we must first trust Jesus Christ. After all, he has proved his goodness to us in the most radical and beautiful way, has he not? “I will lay down my life for the sheep,” he tells us (cf. John 10:18). Jesus dies for you and I. If he’s willing to do that, why should I doubt his plan for me?