Homily – April 25, 2010                                                                              
4th Sunday of Easter
Rev. Gregory Sakowicz                                                                                        
Cycle “C” 

             A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a midwest town he planned to visit on his

vacation.  He wrote:

Dear Sir:

I would very much like to bring my dog with me.  He is well-groomed and very well behaved.  Would you be willing to permit me to keep him my room with me at night?  An immediate reply came from the hotel owner, who said,

 Dear Sir:

I’ve been operating this hotel for many years.  In all that time, I’ve never

had a dog steal towels, bed clothes, silverware or pictures off the walls. I’ve never had to evict a dog in the middle of the night for being drunk and disorderly.  And I’ve never had a dog run out on a hotel bill.  Yes, indeed your dog is welcome at my hotel.  And, if your dog will vouch for you, you’re welcome to stay here, too.

 In some ways, this story –funny- but also sad!  Comical, but very true.  We listened in today’s Gospel:

 “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow we.   I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

 We ought to strive to live as Jesus lived, to love as Jesus loved, to pray as Jesus prayed, and to forgive as Jesus forgave, so as to attain the eternal life that he has promised. 

 I’ll share with you what our attitude should be regarding the Christian life—

 When Ty Cobb, one of the greatest baseball players ever to play the game was seventy, a reporter asked him,  “What do you think you’d hit if you were playing today?”

Cobb, who was a lifetime .367 hitter, said, “About .290, maybe .300.” 

The reporter said,  “That’s because of the travel, the night games, the artificial turf, and all the new pitches like the slider, right?”

“No,” said Cobb, it’s because I’m seventy.”

Instead of asking the question,  “Why are we here?”  We should ask instead,  “Are we here?”  The importance of loving today —

Forgiving Today.

Caring Today.

Putting on Christ Today.

If we live our lives rooted in the Lord Jesus today in this world,  the next world will take care of itself.

Someone once wrote —

“First I was dying to finish high school and start college.

And then I as dying to finish college and start working.

And then I was dying to marry and have children.

And then I was dying for children to grow old enough for school so I could return to work.

And then I was dying to retire.

And now, I am dying… and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.”

 During the depression, a room was filled with applicants for a job opening as telegraph operator.  The drone of conversation competed with a steady flow of dots and dashes.  The door opened and yet another applicant entered the room.  He stood there a minute, walked over to a door marked “Private,” and knocked. A man opened it and said to the others,  “You may all go; we have our applicant.”  The others were furious and demanded an explanation.  The man said, “Listen!”

So the applicants did.  The dots and dashes kept repeating over and over again,  “If you hear this, come in; the job’s yours.”  That story reminds us that God is constantly speaking to us, are we listening?

 Christ speaks to all of us, not in loud, commanding voices but most often in the simplest and smallest of whispers.  To hear the Good Shepherd demands that we come out of the self-imposed isolation of our own fears and interests and hear Christ speaking in the plight of the poor, the needs of the helpless, the cry of the persecuted.  Easter faith calls us to put aside our own crosses when we hear the voice of Jesus in the struggle of those being crushed by the weight of their crosses to rise above our own pain when we hear the voice of Jesus crying in the pain of others.

I welcome this morning Deacon Dexter Watson and all our other guests to our Faith

Community.  I invite all of us to stop by the school corridor after Mass and purchase an outstanding book by Acta Publication entitled:  “Witnesses to Racism.”  

The book is a compilation of stories by various people who have experienced the effects of racism in their lives.  Our Racial and Social Justice Ministry invites you to meet four of the authors after Mass.  They will also be available to sign the book.  See you after Mass!