Easter 4th Week, Wednesday, May 6th
Acts 12:24 - 13:5 /
John 12:44-50
Jesus talks about his mission: “I came into the
world as light.”
A group of
Chinese Christian clergymen invited an American professor of Scripture to give
them a workshop on the Bible. In the course of the workshop the professor asked
the clergymen to pick out the episode in the Gospel that impressed them most.
To his surprise, they did not choose the Sermon on the Mount, the crucifixion
of Jesus, or the resurrection of Jesus. They chose Jesus’ washing of his
disciples’ feet. The choice of the Chinese clergymen fits in perfectly with
what Jesus says in today’s gospel about his mission: He came into the world to
be its light. In other words, he came into the world to serve.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd: I need a Shepherd - #3
Jesus, the Good Shepherd: I need a Shepherd- #3
I believe I need a
shepherd.
Because I am sometimes timid and other times overconfident,
because I often don't know the best path yet pretend I do,
because I rush into dead ends or lead others into hazardous places, because my brightest ideas are seamed with darkness,
because the things I crave may not be what is good for me.
Because I am sometimes timid and other times overconfident,
because I often don't know the best path yet pretend I do,
because I rush into dead ends or lead others into hazardous places, because my brightest ideas are seamed with darkness,
because the things I crave may not be what is good for me.
Easter 4th Week, Tuesday, May 5th
Acts 11:19-26 / John
10:22-30
Jesus speaks about
discipleship: “My sheep hear my voice and follow me.”
Two
shepherds were separating their flocks after their sheep had shared the same
pen for the night. The first shepherd called, “Manah” (Arabic for
“Follow me”). At once his sheep came to him. The second shepherd did the same
with the same results. A visitor, familiar with Jesus’ words in today’s gospel
and interested in testing them, put on the outer cloak and turban of the first
shepherd and called, “Manah!" The sheep didn’t budge. “Will your
flock ever follow someone other than you?” asked the visitor. “Yes,” said the
shepherd. “Sometimes a sheep gets sick and will follow anyone.”
May 4-9: Easter 4th Week - Reflections
May 4 Monday: Jn
10:11-16: 11 I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down
his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own
the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the
wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a
hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the Good Shepherd; I know my
own and my own know me, 15 as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I
lay down my life for the sheep. 16…USCCB reflections: (https://youtu.be/KbA1bcD679s?list=PLpTzvCOJa7DA8uaxE25BlBvINntS5bWpi
)
Easter 4th Week, Monday, May 4th
Acts 11:1-18 /
John 10:1-10
Jesus talks about life: “I came to give you life in all its
fullness.”
A 50-year-old
man with a terminal illness wrote to a friend: “I suddenly asked myself, ‘What
am I doing? Why am I working at something I don’t enjoy? Why am I building a
bank account that will do me no good when I am dead?’” Then the man told his
friend that he was going to change his approach to life and live the way his
heart dictated he should. That man lived 18 more months. Before he died, he
told someone that the final 18 months of his life were “the best, the fullest,
and the richest” of his entire life. Jesus came to teach us “the best, the
fullest, and the richest” way to live.
Jesus, the Bread of Life- Prayer -7
As we are called to
Become the Bread of Life for Others
Jesus Lord, many are the ways that you have quenched the
thirst and filled the hunger of your people. You wouldn’t allow the joy and
honour of a family at Cana to be damaged due to a lack of wine, nor would your
generosity stop short for the Samaritan woman at the well. Wasn’t it your love,
Lord, crossing all borders, wasn’t it the living water filling her to the brim that
made her so excited to run to the village to bring her people to you? It’s
saving people that seems to satisfy your hunger for souls and not decorations,
ceremonies, rituals or earthly food that your disciples were able to bring.
Easter 4 A - Liturgical Prayers
Greeting (See Second Reading)
By the wounds of Jesus we have been healed.
We had gone astray like sheep,
but now we have come back
to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
May Jesus our Good Shepherd
be always with you.
By the wounds of Jesus we have been healed.
We had gone astray like sheep,
but now we have come back
to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
May Jesus our Good Shepherd
be always with you.
Jesus, the Bread of Life- Prayer -6
As we Battle our Addictions at this time of Isolation
Lord, our God, though we have learned through your servant Augustine “our hearts are made for you and they shall not rest until they rest in you”, your created things whose only being was to serve you held us back from you and the Bread of life that your son is. Even though, Lord, you tried to break through our deafness, flash through our blindness, flavour through our taste buds, breathe through our nostrils and touch us through our bodies, we have remained cold, stubborn, insensitive and unresponsive because those things fed us in the body and gave us pleasure even as we missed your joy which was not of this world. You have made us, Lord, for happiness.
Lord, our God, though we have learned through your servant Augustine “our hearts are made for you and they shall not rest until they rest in you”, your created things whose only being was to serve you held us back from you and the Bread of life that your son is. Even though, Lord, you tried to break through our deafness, flash through our blindness, flavour through our taste buds, breathe through our nostrils and touch us through our bodies, we have remained cold, stubborn, insensitive and unresponsive because those things fed us in the body and gave us pleasure even as we missed your joy which was not of this world. You have made us, Lord, for happiness.
Easter 3rd Week, Saturday, May 2
Acts 9:31-42 / John 6:60-69
Many people leave Jesus: Peter stayed with Jesus.
A popular poster shows a loaf of bread and a goblet of
wine. On the poster are the words, “Jesus of Nazareth requests the honor of
your presence at a dinner to be given in his honor.” The poster underscores two
important points. First, the Mass is a meal to which Jesus invites us
personally: “Do this in memory of me.”
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