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HOMILIES
15. Homily - Sunday, May 3, 2020
Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year A (Jn 10, 1-10)
The Listeners Were Cut to the Heart.
The listeners were cut to the heart. Have you ever felt this way when hearing the word of God?
Have you ever been cut to the heart upon hearing the name of Jesus Christ?
Peter spoke to the crowd and told them about Jesus. He told them that the crucified one has
risen from the dead. And they were cut to the heart. Our heart can be touched in a fleeting
way, but it can also be touched in a profound way, in a lasting way that encourages us, that
pacifies us, that guides us. We can be cut to the heart in a way that transforms our life.
When God touches our heart, when we open our heart to God who comes knocking at the
door of our heart, when Jesus Christ who gave his life for us on the cross and who rose from
the dead comes looking for us, comes to meet us, He comes with the power to cut to the heart!
During these last few weeks that we have been living in confinement, almost like during a
long retreat imposed on us, have we allowed God to touch our heart?
Strictly speaking there is only one good shepherd: Jesus Christ. He works through inter-
mediates, such as priests, but also through lay men and women, through those in consecrated
life, religious men and women. But it is worth repeating that there is really only one good
shepherd who is always at work. Whenever we meet a baptized person who bears witness to
Christ, or a religious sister who consecrated her life, or a priest who speaks of God, the Good
Shepherd is always present, and He cuts to the heart. This is because it is God who has the
power to touch us in the depths of our soul.
Even if the word of God comes through one of the Lord’s servants, when this word is
pronounced it will touch the heart because God is at work in the heart. And it is God at work
in the heart of the disciple who announces the Word of God to touch the heart of those who
listen.
When Peter addresses the crowd by way of naming the name of Jesus and their hearts are
touched, how is it possible? It is possible because God is at work in their hearts so that by
hearing his word, they are deeply touched.
(cont’d)
Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 150
