Most Reverend Vincent Long Van Nguyen OFM Conv DD STL, Bishop of Parramatta
Homily for the the Sunday of Easter Vigil 2026 Year A
Readings: Acts 2:14, 36-41; 1Peter 2:20-25; John 10:1-10
Imitating the self-giving Jesus, the gate of the sheepfold
Dear brothers and sisters,
During the week, Tuesday the 21st to be precise, we marked the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ passing. There are many highlights in his pontificate that we can recall with gratitude and admiration. In the context of this celebration, I’d like to mention just a couple of those which I believe are particularly relevant to the diaconal ordination of our brother Paul tonight. The first is his urging of the ministers to have “the smell of the sheep”. It is a phrase that embodies a bold vision for a church deeply rooted in the lives of its people. This simple yet striking metaphor captures the heart of his pastoral mission in a call for shepherds to walk alongside their flock, embrace their struggles and reflect the compassion of Christ amidst the realities of their daily existence.
The second is his forceful denunciation of clericalism that is a perversion of ministerial identity. It is the travesty of a sacred vocation when priests, deacons or seminarians are drawn more by privilege than by sacrifice, more by entitlements than by kenosis. True to form, Pope Francis called out these as “little monsters”.
You will be comforted to know that at the Holy Spirit Seminary, Fr Paul and Fr John and his team endeavour to form our seminarians not into “little monsters” but men configured to Jesus, the humble servant. In fact, our brother Paul here reflects on his vocational journey as a call to imitate the kenosis of Christ. His 5 years of Jesuit formation in Vietnam -for which we can forgive him, and 7 years in Parramatta have shaped him as a fellow pilgrim and servant of the people, especially the poor.
The Word of God on this fourth Sunday of Easter teaches us that God reveals himself in powerlessness, humility and vulnerability. The God that Jesus embodies in his words and actions stands in solidarity with the downtrodden and gives himself away for their liberation. To follow Jesus, therefore, 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.
The early Christian community gives us an example of how they flourished in the face of many trials and tribulations that beset them. The Acts of the Apostles that we have been reading from throughout the Easter season presents us with a small and vulnerable group of believers. They emerged from the turbulent period following the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus. We are told that this early Church was poor, few in numbers, marginalized by the dominant society and persecuted by the authorities. Yet it was a powerhouse of prayer, love and solidarity. They showed to the world what it was like to live with neighbourly concern, compassion and communion.
In today’s episode, Peter shows the maturity of his faith. He boldly proclaims Jesus as the power to the powerless. This proclamation reflects a totally different understanding of Jesus to the one he was obsessed with before his conversion -a Christ without the cross and a discipleship without the cross. 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, he speaks of suffering as a privilege to be like Christ.
In the Gospel, Jesus uses the metaphor of the gate to speak about his life-giving love for others. 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.
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.
Let us pray for Paul as he is ordained to the diaconate, which isn’t just a stepping- stone to the priesthood but a lifelong commitment to configure Christ the servant. May the Good Shepherd inspire and guide him in his ministry of immersion, accompaniment and service. 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.
