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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
May 1st, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Joseph was a carpenter, and Jesus would have learned from Joseph’s hands the trade and tools of the carpenter. The tradition, and what we assume from the Scriptures, is that up to the age of thirty Jesus worked as a carpenter. If you happen to see The Passion of Christ, by Mel Gibson, there are some moving scenes during Jesus’ Passion, as he carries the cross, with flashbacks of Jesus making a table and showing it to Mother Mary. That would have been the way Jesus supported himself. I often reflect on the fact that Mother Mary received a visitation from the angel Gabriel, while Joseph only received a dream. All of us dream every night, but Joseph was able to discern that this was not just an ordinary dream, that God was speaking to him on a deeper level. He was called to trust the words of his wife, that something which had never happened in the history of the world, a virgin conceiving, was true.
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In real social phenomena, there exist some kind of classes that define who we are or what we do. This status deploys certain responsibilities in us. In the division of these responsibilities comes seniors, bosses, employees or lords and subjects. Some may not have search names, however, there exists a life/social distinctive feature. If we look at this with a keen eye, it sounds awkward and even sometimes unexpected for ‘Lord’ to serve the subjects or even bosses to serve the juniors. And even due to such, those beneath us feel unworthy for such services towards them. For those in higher status or privileges which are even gifts or endowed duly by God’s blessings require a higher degree of humility and empathy to come down and serve those lower to them due certain social, economic, spiritual or political factors or any other form of factor that depreciates them. This does not diminish who we are. It does not make us less. Indeed, it uplifts us to true human nature. This is why in the gospel Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, and this does not make him lower. It makes him a true servant. A true leader. A good father or mother in a family lead by example.
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God implanted in our human nature a desire to love and to be loved. When we are accepted by others, we have the assurance that we are lovable. The desire for acceptance is so great that any sort of rejection causes us much pain.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us one of the most tender and powerful images: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This is not just poetry—it is identity. We are the sheep. Christ is the Good Shepherd. But this raises a serious question: What does it mean to truly be His sheep?
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Let me begin with a picture of Australian sheep farming. They have roughly 70 million sheep in this country, more than almost anywhere else on earth. But shepherds? Barely a handful. They have motorbikes, sheepdogs, and helicopters. Somewhere right now, a man in an Akubra hat is mustering a hundred thousand sheep from the air, probably listening to a podcast. This is the world into which Jesus's words land with a somewhat comedic thud today. Because Jesus is not talking about drones or GPS ear tags. He is talking about something far more intimate, There is an old Middle Eastern story that brings it to life. A traveler once spent the night near a sheepfold where several shepherds had brought their flocks into one shared enclosure. By morning, hundreds of sheep were hopelessly tangled together. The traveler assumed it would take hours to sort them out. Instead, one shepherd simply stepped forward and called. Not loudly, just a familiar voice. Slowly, sheep began lifting their heads and moving toward him. Another shepherd called, and a different group peeled away. Within minutes, chaos became order, just by recognition of voice.
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I would like to draw your attention to today’s First reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles. The reading is ordinarily approached as the story of Paul’s conversion — from Saul to Paul. However, I would like us to approach it differently as Ananias’ story, a story of extraordinary risk and courage. We heard that Saul, a radically prejudiced, dangerous enemy to believers in Christ, “breathing murderous threats” was on the road to Damascus on a mission to arrest and murder Christians. Jesus knocked Saul off his high horse! The Lord then asked Ananias to go and pray for Saul to regain his “sight.” Ananias knew how risky this would be to him and to other believers in the city. His reply to Jesus was, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here, here has authority to imprison all who call upon your name.” In US American parlance, Ananias was basically telling Jesus “Seriously? Are you asking me to go to a man who wants to arrest, imprison or even murder me?” That’s how imagine an American would respond!
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