Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the the Sunday of Easter 2026 Year A
Readings: Acts 2:14, 36-41; 1Peter 2:20-25; John 10:1-10
Becoming a conduit for the God of life flourishing
Dear brothers and sisters,
This weekend, we commemorate Anzac Day. We pay our grateful respects to those who sacrificed their own lives for others, for our country and ultimately for the sake of a better world. We remember the pain of those who grieved the loss of their loved ones and others who carry the wounds and trauma of conflict.
Anzac Day is not a celebration of the heroics of war, military power and narrow nationalism. There is so much of it going on in the world at the moment. Pope Leo denounces the tyrants of war and warns that military force will not result in peace or freedom that “comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.” Anzac Day causes us, therefore, to reflect on how we can contribute to a peaceful and harmonious world -one in which the supreme sacrifice does not need to be exacted in the bloody theatre of war. The Anzac spirit is manifested not only at the battle front but also in the way we serve the needs of the community, especially those most at risk.
Scriptures for this 4th Sunday of Easter remind us that the Christian life is fully lived by giving itself away for others. Jesus lived this paradox. He was the stone rejected by others and yet became the corner stone. Therefore, to follow Jesus is to abandon the default pursuit of power, ambition and self-interest. It is to go against the grain and take up the challenge of the cross and to emulate the self-giving God. Christian discipleship is none other than the path of self-sacrifice, the path of the Beatitudes, of loving in spite of being hated, of joy in spite of sorrow, of living by dying for others.
In the first reading, Peter -filled with the Holy Spirit- is able to articulate the core message of the Good News. Instead of relishing the public admiration and drawing attention to himself after he had healed the cripple, Peter attributes the miracle to the power of the Suffering Servant Jesus. He shows the maturity of his faith. He boldly proclaims that Jesus the crucified, the stone rejected which has become the corner stone. This proclamation reflects a totally different vision of Jesus to the one Peter was obsessed with before -a Christ without the cross, a discipleship solely predicated on power, dominion and self-interest. Now, Peter has made a 180-degree turnaround. It is the Crucified who is at the centre of his new life. In the second reading, Peter exhorts his fellow Christians to imitate the Crucified in their suffering. It is the lesson he has taken to heart.
In the Gospel, Jesus uses the metaphor of the gate to speak about his life-giving love for others. We do not usually associate “gates” with freedom, wholeness and flourishing. Gates, fences and walls often conjure up images that remind us of separation, segregation and even imprisonment. In biblical time, sheepfolds were designed without a gate and, because predators or thieves might attack the sheep at night, the shepherd would lay across the entrance as the gate to the pen. He protected the sheep from danger, even stepping into harm’s way on their behalf. Hence, the gate in this sense refers to Jesus’ self-sacrificial love for others.
There is also another meaning to the sheep gate. It is the most important of the 10 gates around Jerusalem. It is the entrance through which sacrificial lambs passed on their way to the temple. The sheep gate also led to the sheep pool where the lame and blind gathered for healing. This metaphor, therefore, symbolizes Jesus as the source of life, healing and wholeness. As the sheep gate is the conduit to the temple, Jesus is the conduit to God. He is the way, the truth and the life.
Dear friends,
We are a community that proclaims and lives the power of the Crucified. In this time of chaos and uncertainty, the paschal rhythm exerts itself even more intensely on the true believers. But as the early Christians showed the way, it is not a cult of popularity, but the essential quality for Christian living and witness that matter. We must make the discipleship of the cross the cornerstone of the Church again. Only by imitating Christ the living gate and the face of the self-emptying God can we be his credible witnesses and his conduit of love, mercy and compassion.
Jesus challenges us as he challenged the disciples to move from the cultural model of power, dominion and self-preservation to the new Kingdom model of service, love and self-sacrifice. Peter who has learned a tough lesson on self-sacrifice as opposed to self-pursuit encourages his fellow Christians not to give up for want of courage but to imitate the one who stood firm against opposition. He is the ultimate exemplar of faith, courage and endurance.
Let his self-sacrificial love be the driving force of our Christian life. On this sacred Anzac Day, we commend those who sacrificed their own lives for others, for our country and ultimately for the sake of a better world. May we be inspired by the same spirit to give of ourselves to others, to fight injustice, to bring true freedom and to build a long lasting peace for all.
