Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 3, 2009

Our readings today speak to me of hope…. hope in a future not yet visible on our horizon or on our website …. hope that is rooted and grounded in Christ, Our Shepherd, who will not leave us alone to wander by ourselves in the desert of postmodernity.

When challenged by the leaders and elders of the people, Peter was able to speak the truth, a truth he had learned the hard way. Before the final events of Good Friday he had denied Jesus three times. Gradually, after the Resurrection, he experienced the opening of his mind and heart to a previously inconceivable reality. And hope was born again.

In our post-modern times when the very existence and nature of God is being challenged by an increasingly secular society on the one hand and by fundamentalism on the other, where wars are fought in the name of God, where rugged individualism is widespread, where family life is disintegrating, where human feeling and emotion can get lost in a computer, it is easy to lose hope.

But at the same time we are witnessing a hunger for community and a sense of belonging, especially among young people. The desire to be of service to others continues to grow. Many of us find ourselves searching for meaning, for something deeper than what we can view on our television screen. These are all signs of hope, signs of something new on the horizon. Could this be what John had in mind in the second reading: “…we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed."?

As I continue to reflect on these issues I am reminded of an analysis by William Irwin Thompson which I read recently: “If you feel that you are living in a time of disintegration, your activities will be fearful and violent; if you feel that you are living in a time of reintegration and evolutionary emergence, your activities will be more open and filled with hope and wonder.” The choice is ours, yours and mine.

All of which brings us to our Gospel today. Let us walk with confidence and hope in the footsteps of our Good Shepherd. And let us imitate our Good Shepherd in our relationships with one another.

Reflection by Sr. Theresa Capria, SC
(Sr. Theresa serves on the Campus Ministry staff
at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx.)