Fifth Sunday of Easter - Year A
Offer Yourself!
Rev. James A. Wickersham

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. For his mercy endures forever.

Over the past two years, my role has been changing. When I was asked to become Vocation Director, I felt the weight of it. The weight was not mainly the meetings or the schedule. It was fear. What if I fail at this? What if no men come forward?

But, you know, fear is not a plan. I knew I had to rethink how I used my time, what I could say yes to, and what I had to say no to. Even handing over my calendar to Kim was part of that. And it has helped a lot.

Now, beginning this summer, my responsibility shifts again. I will be working directly with our seminarians, almost 30 of them, and serving as a bridge between them, their seminaries, and Archbishop Coakley. And I had the same feeling again: What if I fail?

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Fourth Sunday of Easter - Year A
Good Shepherd Sunday
Rev. Mr. James Fourcade

Today’s readings invite us to encounter the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, and to reflect on the call to conversion and deeper trust in God.

Throughout Scripture, there is a consistent image of the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. Jesus’ use of this image makes perfect sense, because people of his time understood well the role of a shepherd to his sheep. The shepherd cared for his flock, even to the point of laying down his life to protect them. He led the sheep rather than following behind them. He gathered them together to himself rather than letting them wander. He instructed them in Scripture which becomes the doorway into the sheepfold of Christ. Those who confess the true Christ enter through the door. Shepherds use the door; thieves seek whatever entrance is possible.

The Good Shepherd is also the gatekeeper. In the evening, shepherds of a village would gather their sheep into a common fold—a corral surrounded by briars or other barriers. The shepherds would take turns lying across the entrance, becoming the gate themselves, protecting the sheep from predators. At sunrise, each shepherd would enter the corral and call his sheep. The sheep recognized their shepherd’s voice, and he would lead them out to pasture.

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Third Sunday of Easter - Year A
This Was the Way
Rev. James A. Wickersham

The two disciples were talking about everything that had happened. That is how the Gospel begins. Two of the Lord’s disciples are leaving Jerusalem, going back to where they came from, trying to make sense of it all.

And what are they talking about? Jesus, the one they hoped in, was crucified. And they say it plainly: we were hoping. You can hear the disappointment. You can hear the confusion. There is a sense that something went wrong. And if we are honest, we would have felt the same way. Many people do feel that way when they look at Holy Thursday and Good Friday. It can seem like something went wrong.

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Second Sunday of Easter
Peace Be With You
Rev. James A. Wickersham

There is a moment in the Gospel today that is easy to miss if we move too quickly. The doors are locked. The apostles are inside. And they are afraid. This is where we find them after everything that happened—after the arrest, the scourging, the crucifixion. After they ran. After Peter denied. After almost all of them disappeared. None of them gave a strong showing. And this is where the risen Lord comes.

He does not wait for them to get their act together. He does not stand outside and demand an explanation. He does not send word ahead to see if they are ready. He comes into the room they have locked, stands in their midst, and says, “Peace be with you.” This is where it changes. Because the story of the apostles is not a story of men who got it right the first time. It is a story of men who failed, who scattered, who were afraid—and who still waited for the Lord to come back to them. And he did.

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