Easter 4th Week: April 22-27:
April 22 Monday: Jn 10:1-10: 1
Theme: Through today’s Gospel, the Church reminds us
of our call to become good shepherds of God’s flock and good sheep of His
parishes and invites us to pray for the acceptance of vocations to the priesthood,
the diaconate and the consecrated life.
Explanation: In today’s Gospel, the two brief
parables show us Jesus, first, as a selfless, caring “shepherd” who provides
for his sheep protection and life itself, and second, as our unique gateway
("sheep gate") to eternal salvation. Besides guiding his flock to
Eternal Life as does the Good Shepherd, Jesus is himself the gateway to Eternal
Life. The first parable of today’s Gospel contrasts Jesus, the true Shepherd,
with fake shepherds, thieves and robbers. Jesus gives us warning against false
shepherds and false teachers in his Church. Jesus’ love and concern for each of
us must be accepted with trust and serenity because he alone is our God and our
Shepherd, and no one else deserves our undivided commitment. As a true
Shepherd, Jesus both leads his sheep, giving them the food and living water
only he, the Good Shepherd, can provide, and protects us, bringing us safely to
true happiness. In the second parable, Jesus compares himself to the Shepherd
and to the Gate. As Shepherd, Jesus establishes his True Ownership of the
sheep. By naming himself “Gate,” Jesus demonstrates that He is the One Mediator
between God and mankind, and so is the only Way in or out of His Flock. All
must go in through Him, through His Church, in order to arrive in Heaven.By
identifying Himself with the sheep-gate, Jesus gives the assurance that whoever
enters the pen through Him will be safe and well cared-for. Jesus is the living
Door to His Father’s house and Father’s family, the Door into the Father’s
safety and into the fullness of life. It is through Jesus, the Door, that we
come into God’s sheepfold where we are protected from the wolves of life. We
find actual spiritual, emotional and psychological security and safety when we
live within Jesus and his Church, within the protectiveness of Christ,
Christian friends and a Christian family.
Life Messages: 1) We need to become good
shepherds and good leaders: Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others
is a shepherd. Hence, pastors, parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, government
officials, and caregivers, among others, are all shepherds. We become good
shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time,
talents and blessings for their welfare, and guarding them from physical and
spiritual dangers. Parents must be especially careful of their duties toward
their children, giving them good example and instruction and training them in
Christian principles. 2) We need to become good sheep in the
fold of Jesus, the Good Shepherd: Our local parish is our sheepfold, and our
pastors are our shepherds. Jesus is the High Priest, the Bishops are the
successors of the Apostles, the Pastors and their Deacons are their helpers,
and the parishioners are the sheep. Hence, as the good sheep of the parish,
parishioners are expected to a) hear and follow the voice of our shepherds
through their homilies, Bible classes, counseling, and advice: b) receive the
spiritual food given by our Pastors through our regular participation in the
Holy Mass, our frequenting of the Sacraments, and our participation in the
prayer services, renewal programs, and missions they offer; c) cooperate with
our Pastors by giving them positive suggestions for the welfare of the parish,
by encouraging them in their duties, by offering them occasional loving,
constructive correction when they are found misbehaving or failing in their
duties, and always by praying for them;andd) actively participate in the
activities of various councils, ministries, and parish associations. 3) We
need to pray for vocations, and for those to whom they are offered, that they
may accept the call, surrender all to Jesus forever, and follow him faithfully!
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 23 Tuesday:
[St George, Martyr; Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr] ):
The context: It was December during the week of
the Jewish Feast of the Dedication of the Temple or Hanukkah, a
week with the year’s shortest days and longest nights. The feast was also known
as the Festival of Lights because during this feast the
Jews lighted lamps representing the Mosaic Law and put them in the windows of
their homes. Hanukkahserved as a remembrance ofthe cleansing and
rededicating of the Temple and its altar by the Jewish military commander Judas
Maccabaeus in the year 165 BC, after he had liberated Jerusalem from the
control of the Seleucid Kings of Syria. The Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes
had profaned the Temple and its altar. It was during Hanukkah, when
he was teaching in Solomon’s portico, that the Jews plotted to trap Jesus by
asking him to declare whether or not he was the promised Messiah.
Jesus’ reply: 1) Jesus accuses the Jews of
unbelief and challenges them to believe in his Messianic and Divine claims by
truthfully assessing his miracles instead of holding to their own personal
ideas about the promised Messiah as a political liberator. 2) Then Jesus gives
the reason why the Jews cannot believe in him. They are not among his sheep.
Faith and eternal life cannot be merited by man’s own efforts: they are a gift
of God, and the Jews are refusing to accept this gift from God. 3) Jesus gives
the assurance that his sheep – his followers – will have eternal life and will
not perish because they are protected by God his Father Who is stronger than
the Evil One. 4) Finally, Jesus declares that he and God the Father are one. In
other words, Jesus reveals that He is one in substance with the Father as far
as Divine Essence or Nature is concerned, but He also reveals that the Father
and the Son are distinct Persons.
Life messages: 1) When doubts about our Faith
haunt us, let us try to read more about our Faith, to consult Catholic experts
in our locality or reliable Catholic sources on the Internet, and to pray for
the light of the Holy Spirit. 2) Let us find protection from the temptations of
the Evil One in the sheepfold of the Church by frequenting the Sacraments of
Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist, by meditative reading of the Bible, by
personal prayers, and by works of charity.
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 24 Wednesday:
[St Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr]
The context: Today’s Gospel text, taken from
John’s Gospel, is a passage from the last public discourse of Jesus before his
arrest and crucifixion. The main ideas in the passage are 1) Jesus’
relationship with the Father; Jesus’ role as the Light and Life of the world;
and the criteria for His final judgment of us – Heaven or Hell 1) Jesus teaches
us that he is one with the Father and he is the image of his invisible Father.
Because He is one with the Father, the Father speaks through him and operates
through him. Hence, those who accept Jesus and his message accept God the
Father’s message. 2) Jesus claims that he is the Light and Life of the world.
Psalm 27 exclaims, “The Lord is my Light and my salvation!” As
Light, Jesus removes the darkness of evil from the world and from our souls,
shows us the correct way to go in life, and gives us the warmth of his sharing,
sacrificial love. As Light, God’s word enables those with eyes of Faith to
perceive the hidden truths of God’s Kingdom. As the Life of the world, Jesus,
by his words, produces the very Life of God within those who
receive these words with Faith. 3) We are rewarded or punished eternally based
on whether or not we accept Jesus and his teachings and, if we have chosen
Jesus, whether or not we live our lives accordingly.
Life messages: 1) As Christians, our duty is to
reflect and radiate the light of Jesus in the darkness of evil around us by
acts of sharing love, kindness, forgiveness, and humble service. 2) Let us ask
for the strength of the Holy Spirit to choose Christ and his ideals every day
and to reject everything contrary to Christ’s teachings. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
April 25 Thursday: (Saint Mark, Evangelist):
Biography of St. Mark: Most of what we know
about Mark comes directly from the New Testament. He is usually identified with
the Mark of Acts 12:12. (When Peter escaped from prison, he went to the home of
Mark’s mother). Paul and Barnabas took him along on the first missionary
journey, but for some reason Mark returned alone to Jerusalem. It is evident
from Paul’s refusal to let Mark accompany him on the second journey, despite
Barnabas’s insistence, that Mark had displeased Paul. Later, Paul asks Mark to
visit him in prison, so we may assume the trouble did not last long.
The oldest and the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel
of Mark emphasizes Jesus’ rejection by humanity though he is God’s
Son and triumphant envoy. Probably written for Gentile
converts in Rome—after the deaths of Peter and Paul sometime between A.D. 60
and 70—Mark’s Gospel is the gradual manifestation of a "scandal": a
crucified Messiah. Evidently a friend of Mark (Peter called him "my
son"), Peter is only one of the Gospel sources, others being the Church in
Jerusalem (Jewish roots) and the Church at Antioch (largely Gentile).
Life messages: 1) We need to be proclaimers and
evangelizers: In today’s Gospel Jesus gives his mission to all believers:
"Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”
This mission is not given to a select few but to all believers. To be a
Christian is to be a proclaimer and an evangelizer. There is a difference
between preaching and proclaiming. “We preach with words, but we proclaim with
our lives.” No one is excluded, and all are welcome. 2) We are also reminded
that while the Lord gives the mission to all, Jesus does not expect us to rely
only on our own resources to fulfill that mission. The mission is accompanied
by the Divine power that is given to all those called upon to fulfill that
mission, whatever form it may take in our lives.
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/ )
The context: Jesus consoles his apostles who are sad
and disheartened at the prospect of his arrest and crucifixion by assuring them
that he is going to prepare an everlasting accommodation for them in his
Father’s house in Heaven. He gives them the assurance that he will come back to
take them to their Heavenly abodes. It is then that Thomas says to Jesus, "Lord,
we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Jesus
answers Thomas’ question with, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and
the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”
Jesus the Way, the Truth, and the Life: The
basic doctrine of Judaism is that Yahweh is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Hence, Jesus is making the revolutionary claim that he is equivalent to Yahweh.
Jesus declares that he himself IS the safest and
surest way to God, thus discrediting the notions that all
religions are equally sure ways to reach God, and that no organized religion,
but only living a good life of sharing love, is necessary to reach God. Jesus IS the
Way which he calls narrow, for it is the way of loving, sacrificial service.
Jesus IS the Truth who revealed truths about God and God’s
relationship with man in his teaching. Jesus also taught moral truths by
demonstrating them in his life. Jesus IS the Life because he
himself shares the Eternal Life of God, and because He shares his Divine Life
with his disciples through the Word of God and the Sacraments.
Life messages: We should share the Divine Life
of God by making use of the means Jesus established in his Church: a) by
actively participating in the Eucharistic celebration and properly receiving
the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion; b) by the worthy reception of
the other Sacraments; c) by the meditative daily reading of the Word of God; d)
by following the guidance of the life-giving Spirit of God, living in the
Church and within us; e) by communicating with God the Source of Life, in
personal and family prayers; f) by going to God to be reconciled with Him
daily, repenting of our sins; g) by receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation
(yearly, at a minimum), whenever we are in mortal sin (so that we can receive
Him in the Eucharist); h) by forgiving others who offend us; and i) by asking
God’s forgiveness of our own sins.
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Scripture lesson: In today’s Gospel selection,
Jesus, answering Philip’s request at the Last Supper, explains the unity and
oneness of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Jesus clarifies the abiding presence of each Person of the Holy
Trinity — the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Hence, Jesus is the
visible expression of the invisible God. Jesus identified Himself totally with
the Father. At every moment, he did what the Father asked him to do (Jn 5:30;
8:28-29.38). So, in order to see what God looks like, we have only to look at
Jesus, and in order to hear how God speaks, we have only to listen to Jesus. In
Jesus we see the perfect love of God – a God Who cares intensely, and Who
yearns for all men and women, loving them to the point of laying down his life
for them upon the Cross. Jesus makes visible a God Who loves us
unconditionally, unselfishly, and perfectly. If we put our trust in Jesus and
believe in him, Jesus promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when
we pray in Jesus’ Name. That is why Jesus taught his followers to pray with
confidence, Our Father who art in heaven ..give us this day our daily
bread … (Mt 6:9,11; Luke 11:2-3).
Life messages: 1) We believe that God dwells
within our souls in the form of His Holy Spirit, making us the temple of God,
for we have the indwelling presence of the Triune God, the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit, living within us. 2) Hence, it is our duty to live always
aware of the real presence of God within us and to adjust our life,
accordingly, doing good to others and avoiding evil.
Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)