4th Week of Easter 

Saint Damien de Veuster of Molokai,  priest

Gospel: Jn 10:22-30

22At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem.  It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of  Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How  long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us  plainly.” 25Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; 26but you do  not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27My sheep hear  my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life,  and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one  can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. 30The Father and I are one.” We encounter again in today’s Gospel the mysterious  interplay between divine causality and human freedom,  a common feature in the Bible. God’s unfathomable wisdom  brings about a certain situation. But at the same time, humans too,  of their own accord, put themselves into that situation. From this  perspective, accepting or rejecting Jesus is not purely a human  decision, but something that mysteriously results from God’s action.  No one can come to Jesus unless drawn by the Father (cf. Jn 6:44, 65).  But God can also harden the human heart, making a person deaf to  the words of Jesus and blind to his deeds. Some sheep belong to Jesus  as the Father’s gift to him. But there are also other sheep that do not  belong to him and, thus, refuse to follow him. The Gospel’s consoling  assurance to us, who believe in Jesus and belong to his flock, is that  of being securely held in the hands of both Jesus and the Father. Lord Jesus, in these uncertain times, it means a lot to know that no one Can snatch us from the Father’s and your protective hold. Amen.