4th Sunday of Easter (C)

Last Sunday’s Gospel concluded with Jesus’ revelation to Peter that when he grows old, “you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” John the Evangelist explains, “He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.” Peter would indeed be crucified in 64AD at the command of Nero in his circus on the Vatican Hill outside the City of Rome. 

That Gospel passage and the person of Saint Peter have always been close to my heart. But in the past two weeks, I have stopped to wonder, as I never have before, who exactly Jesus meant when he told Peter someone else will dress him and lead him where he would not want to go. Did he mean Nero or the Roman soldiers who would crucify him? Or did Jesus mean no one in particular but rather that Peter would simply no longer be the master of his own fate? 

To my mind, today’s Second Reading proposes a different reading of this “someone else”.

In the Book of Revelation, John sees “a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count” and these, gathered from every place of the earth, stand “wearing white robes” which they have “washed” and whose whiteness comes from the blood of the Lamb. And the Lamb, we are told “will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water.” It is the who Lamb dresses and leads the people of this great multitude; and the multitude are “the ones who have survived the time of great distress” – that is to say, the martyrs – a company which Peter himself joined that day when he suffered crucifixion in Nero’s circus. 

It seems to me, at least, that the “someone else” to whom Jesus referred was, in fact, Jesus himself. Jesus, the Lamb, leads Peter to the cross – where he does not want to go, to face his own death – and thereafter dresses him in the martyr’s robe bleached with Christ’s own Blood and leads him to the brook of eternal life. While Peter’s death came at the hands of Nero and his soldiers, it was ultimately Christ who called Peter to suffer for his sake and who has robed him in victory. After all, after Christ told Peter that “someone else” would lead and dress him, his next words were “Follow me.”

In following Christ, Christ made Peter a martyr. Martyrdom, however, is not a category reserved for a select number; rather, it is a form of life. In fact, martyrdom is the form of the Christian life. ‘Martyr’ means ‘witness’ – one who has borne witness in testimony to Christ, even, if demanded, to the point of the shedding of one’s blood. Martyrdom is the form of the Christian life, because it is the very life of Christ the Good Shepherd who “lays down his life for the sheep”. And as he lays down his life, he also has the power to take it up again, so that all who lay down their life in his are likewise washed, dressed, and led into the pasture of eternal life, where “they will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them.” 

In the Collect for this Mass, we prayed that we may be led “to a share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before.” Up and down the centuries, in Peter and in all the saints known and unknown to us, the Church has striven to follow her Shepherd, passing as she must through distress, turmoil, and strife to “the springs of life-giving water” where “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes”. 

If we wish to follow where Christ the Good and Brave Shepherd has gone before, then we must also embrace the martyrdom that comes our way, in whatever form it takes for us as individuals. 

On Mother’s Day, I think especially about how motherhood is a kind of martyrdom, involving as it does a sacrifice, a shedding of blood, and a witness. 

Mothers who pour everything they are into providing for their families, especially their children, are an inspiring example of Christian love, which is always a love that requires sacrifice. Even in the best economic conditions, no motherhood is easy. She who is a mother is called to give everything, to hold nothing back, and to keep nothing for herself. And this will demand her to give up her time, her preferences, her ambitions, and to lay them and all that she has and is at the service of the family God has given to her and entrusted to her maternal care. By calling you to motherhood, dear sisters in Christ, the Lord has narrowed the focus of your martyrdom – that each day, through all the sacrifices you must make great and small, you can follow Christ the Good Shepherd in laying down your life for your sheep, the sheep of your house, as Christ has laid down his life for us, his flock. 

Not every mother, however, has the joy of the presence of her children with her. Many women, and perhaps some of you, know the pain and agony of losing a child in the womb or after birth and now feel an immense sense of loss. It’s beyond me to explain why that happens; but I can assure you that our faith in Christ tells us that each of those children are loved, and they now form part of that great multitude as they live forever in the pasture into which the Good Shepherd has led them. And he desires to lead you, mothers, also to the very same place. Although you have not been afforded time to enjoy with your children now on earth, the Good Shepherd invites you to spend all eternity with them, when truly “God will wipe away every tear” from your eyes. Dear sisters, consider the daily sacrifices you make in your families in view of that. Lay down your life now, every day, so that the Good Shepherd will lead you into his pasture, where your children now and will forever rejoice. 

And for some, motherhood is not chosen or sought like it is for others, and unanticipated pregnancies require a sacrifice unlike all the rest. And sometimes the circumstances make it difficult, if not impossible, to see what has happened – the creation of new human life – as a gift. I won’t for a minute pretend to know, in any degree, the fear and anxiety that these women, and perhaps some of you, experience or have experienced. I know that this is a sensitive topic, but, as your shepherd, please let me say two simple but important things, to anyone who is facing an unplanned pregnancy:

First: you are loved. So. Deeply. Loved. You are loved by God and by the Church. Anything or anyone who makes you feel hated or ashamed is not from God or from the Church and does not speak for God or for the Church. You are loved. 

Second: Because you are loved, we are here to help. It doesn’t matter how you got here. You are a mother, and the life inside you is a gift. Both of you are loved and precious in the sight of God. As the Church, we offer everything we have to help you. There are so many resources available. All you have to do is reach out. Call the parish office. Send me an email. I promise you, we will do everything we can to help you be a mother. 

Motherhood, in whatever form, planned or unplanned, takes sacrifice and is an opportunity for martyrdom. As martyrdom, motherhood is truly a witness before all of the sacrificial love Christ to which Christ the Good Shepherd calls us, to lay down our life for others. To all mothers, I thank you, the Church thanks you, for your witness. You remind us that, no matter where we are led, and however we are called to lay down our life, it is Christ who leads us and, in the end, makes it possible to sacrifice for all those we love. 

In this month of May, let us entrust all mothers to the heavenly embrace of our Blessed Mother, Mary, that as she laid down her life to become the Holy Mother of God, she may her prayers inspire, sustain, and encourage women who are mothers to lay down their lives in witness to Christ, her Son.