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/)
