FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY) - 2021

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me. JN 10:14

ACTS 4:8-12 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

This Sunday's first reading begins with this fact - Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has transformed him from a coward who denied You and hid with the rest of the apostles fearful of what would happen to them because they were Your followers now stands before the very same people who orchestrated Your death and proclaims the truth boldly.

Claiming no credit for himself for the healing of the cripple he tells his interrogators that he was glad to confess to them and to all the people of Israel that it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other than this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence, today. 

Peter tells the religious authorities that the stone they rejected is the keystone and Your Name is the only Name by which the whole world can be saved.

The tragedy of our times is that despite all we know many in the world, including Christians, continue to reject You, the Cornerstone, by rejecting some part of Your teaching and most especially by their rejection of Your unambiguous doctrine on the Holy Eucharist. It is the Eucharist alone that is the answer to Your prayer to the Father that we may be one as You and the Father are one.

PSALM 118:1,8-9,21-23,26,28-29 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The more we come to understand and recognize that those elected to govern us are not to be trusted the more we will lean on You, take refuge in You, and realize that in You alone we must place all our faith, hope, and confidence. In our alarmingly polarized and divided world where confusion, violence, and evil are the order of the day You alone are our safe harbor and anchor. The world fails us but Your Word never fails.

Thank You for being the answer to every prayer. Thank You for being our Savior. Thank You for redeeming us. Thank You for grafting us to Your Body and for providing all we need in this life and in the life to come by Your life, passion, death, and resurrection. Thank You for the work of salvation wrought for the whole world on the Cross.

Your Name is higher than any other name in the world or in the heavens - it is the only Name by which we are saved - there is no other. Thank You for instituting the Church, thank You for providing us with a visible head in Peter who rules and governs in Your Name. You guarantee all who are born in her that she can never teach error on matters concerning faith and morals, hence we can trust her to bring all her children to safe harbor in the Kingdom of God. 

1JOHN 3:1-2 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The disciple You loved, the one who leaned on Your breast lived a long and fruitful life. Filled with the light and wisdom of the Holy Spirit he was granted a glimpse into heavenly things that are beyond the description of human language. He asks us to contemplate the magnanimity of God's love in embracing us as His children which we are in truth because of what You have done for us.

We could have been numbered among those in the world who refuse to acknowledge Him and hence reject all who are called by Your Name, especially those in Your Church. But that it does not change who we are -  children of God and heirs to the Kingdom.

Keep us safe in Your love. Keep us safe in Your Church from the enemies of Truth within and without until You come again to claim Your Bride.

JOHN 10:11-18 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

The Church celebrates today as Good Shepherd Sunday to remind us that we are the sheep of Your flock. Listing the many admirable qualities of a shepherd who faithfully tends his sheep You call Yourself the Good Shepherd and we who are baptized are the sheep who belong to Your fold.

Every bishop, priest, deacon, religious men and women, and religious leaders are to emulate You and heed Your warning against hired hands who will desert the flock at the first sign of danger. 

We pray for all who have received the mantle of a shepherd that they fulfill the vows they have made to lay down their life for their sheep in imitation of You, the Good Shepherd. We pray for those who are tempted by the world, the flesh, and the devil to remain faithful and not abandon their sheep. 

Thank You for Your intimate knowledge of Your sheep. We are comforted to know that no matter who fails us You never will. 

‘I am the good shepherd;

I know my own
and my own know me,
just as the Father knows me
and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.'

We also pray for all Christian denominations that their leaders serve at the Altar of Truth and be conformed to Truth by the power of the Holy Spirit. Every true seeker of Truth, like Saul, will encounter it as he did on the road to Damascus. May they have the courage that he had in embracing it.

'And there are other sheep I have
that are not of this fold,
and these I have to lead as well.
They too will listen to my voice,
and there will be only one flock,
and one shepherd.'

Thank You for the irrefutable proof of the Father's love for You and for us and the honor You receive from Him by freely obeying His command to lay down Your life for us sinners in order that we might share in the glory of Your resurrection.