May 8, 2022: 4th Sunday C
May 8, 2022: 4th Sunday C
‘What do I do with my life now? What should my plans be for the future?’ These were questions that my dad shared with my sister and me as we drove my parents from Dallas to Baltimore the past several days. My parents reluctantly agreed to move closer to my sister’s home near Baltimore as mom is no longer able to walk well after falling several times in the past six months. Both being 81 years of age, uprooting from their home of 34 years left them confused and uncertain. I told them that this move reminded me of our move in 1984 when the whole family arrived in Los Angeles airport from Seoul, South Korea with all of our possessions downsized into just eight pieces of luggage. Yet at that time my mom and dad were 43 years young, brimming with hope for an American Dream. Now, it’s a fresh start for this 81 years old couple in a new place which they’ll call home.
At every transition of our lives, it is helpful to reflect on some fundamental questions about our vocation of life: Why am I here? What must I do to be happy? These are certainly appropriate questions for soon to be graduates from middle school, high school, and college. Really, these questions are meant for all of us who are at a crossroads of our lives and who feel a pressing need to give sense and purpose to a world which is increasingly complicated and difficult to be happy in.
Perhaps we came to church today to ask God for what we think we need in order to be happy, such as a relationship we would like to deepen, to mend, or to cease; healing for a family member; peace in a troubled family; a job for someone unemployed; peace of mind amid anxiety. Jesus the Good Shepherd knows what we need better than we know. While he does not supply us with everything we want, he does supply us with everything we truly need to be happy in this life. The beautiful Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.” If the Lord is my shepherd, then I have all I truly need and I should want for nothing.
The good news is that we are not alone in deciding our future. And when deciding our future, we are not deciding for ourselves alone. God has a unique mission for each of us. As someone said, every person comes into the world not as a blank slate, but with a unique and unrepeatable essence which manifests God’s goodness and love in the world. Each Christian is an extraordinary work of God’s grace with a radical call from Christ the Good Shepherd to the heights of holiness. Each of us is called to accept the responsibility of playing an active and unique role in this world; if this call is not lived out the world is deprived of the unique aspect of God’s goodness. Answering this call is not an easy task, however.
Like Paul and Barnabas who endured persecution during their missionary journeys, our call will be to teach our family, classmates, neighbors, coworkers the truth about the sacredness of life, the destiny that awaits each of us, and the love and mercy of Christ. We are not to be afraid of opposition for Christ himself will lead, guide, and protect us as the Shepherd guides the flock. On our part, we are to trust and to surrender to Christ.
Christ calls us today to follow him! Each of our vocations—single life, marriage, or religious life—is part of a divine plan from the beginning. We are to have the courage to believe the good news that Jesus teaches us in the Gospel and through His Church. We must have the courage to live for God and to live for others. The measure of our success in the eyes of God will be the measure of our generosity. The Lord has given each of us a heart open to great horizons. The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few, Our Lord said. He is waiting for us to say, “Here I am, Lord, send me!”
In this month of May, we look to our Mother Mary to learn how to respond to Jesus’ call. She kept and pondered all things concerning her call in her heart. She also went in haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth. We need both dimensions in our own response to Christ’s call—prayer and action. She teaches us, “Do whatever my Son tells you.” Her whole life was a total yes to the Lord, filled with joy and trust. Today we open our hearts to listen to the Lord, to act on his word, and to put our trust in him.
