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Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 04-29-12, Fourth Sunday of Easter
USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 04-29-12 | Revised New American Bible

Posted on 04/28/2012 6:12:18 PM PDT by Salvation

April 29, 2012

Fourth Sunday of Easter

 

Reading 1 Acts 4:8-12

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said:
"Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today
about a good deed done to a cripple,
namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved."

Responsorial Psalm Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29

R. (22) The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his kindness endures forever.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Reading 2 1 Jn 3:1-2

Beloved:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God's children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.

Gospel Jn 10:11-18

Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion; Prayer; Worship
KEYWORDS: catholic; easter; eucharist; prayer
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To: All
 
Marriage = One Man and One Woman
Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for April 29, 2012:

“A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:11) In today’s world time is often our most precious commodity. It reflects our priorities. When you give time and attention to your beloved, it’s like laying down your life for the other. Save time for each other today.


41 posted on 04/29/2012 5:47:18 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
Catholic Scripture Study

Fourth Sunday of Easter -- Cycle B

Opening prayer

Acts 4:8-12 (Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29) 1 John 3:1-2 John 10:11-18

Overview of the Gospel:

This Sunday’s gospel reading is closely tied to the episode of the healing of a blind man in the preceding chapter (John 9ff). Jesus’ opponents steadfastly refuse to believe he has performed this miracle, probably because it would mean accepting his authority. As a result, they remain blind guides to the people (John 9: 39-41; Matthew 15:12-14).

 In contrast to these leaders, Jesus presents himself as the Good Shepherd (this discourse actually starts at verse 10:1). The theme of God as a shepherd was very important in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 34; Genesis 48:15; 49:24; Micah 7:14; Psalm 23:1-4; 80:1, etc). King David, composer of Psalm 23, was the Old Testament proto-type of the shepherd (see 1 Sam 17:32-37), as was Moses and his successor, Joshua (Numbers 27:15-23).

 As the Good Shepherd, Jesus will watch over his own, protecting them and keeping them united as one flock attentive to only his own voice (verse 16). Ironically, immediately following this discourse (verses 20-21), Jesus’ opponents show a marked lack of unity among themselves.

Questions:

In the 1st Reading, how many times is the "name" of Jesus invoked? What power is there in his name?

 In the 2nd Reading, what is the basis of our great dignity in being Christians? Where did this great dignity come from? How and why is this sometimes hard to see in our lives? What, ultimately, is our destiny in Christ?

 Who is Jesus speaking to in today’s Gospel Reading (John 9:40; 10:6-7)? How does the story in chapter 9 flow into Jesus discourse about the Good Shepherd in chapter 10?

 What do the sheep, shepherd, sheepfold and stranger represent? Who are the "thieves and robbers" (Jeremiah 2:8; 10:21; 23:1-4; Ezekiel 34:2ff)? How is Jesus unlike them?

 How do the sheep respond to the shepherd? How does this relate to the Pharisees’ difficulty in accepting Jesus (chapter 9; 10:19-39)?

 Who are the other sheep Jesus must bring also (Ephesians 2:11-22)? What characterizes his flock?

 What final claim does Jesus make (verses 17-18)? Why do his listeners respond as they do? How would you have responded?

 What was the turning point for you in terms of hearing "God’s voice" and responding? How do you discern his voice from all the voices that vie for your attention?

 How does it make you feel to think of God as caring for you as the Good Shepherd?

Catechism of the Catholic Church: §§ 60, 609, 614, 649, 753-754

Closing prayer

He did what he said he would do: He gave his life for his sheep, and he gave his body and blood in the Sacrament to nourish with his flesh the sheep he had redeemed (John 6:51). ~St. Gregory

Remember to read and meditate on the daily Mass readings!

© 2012 Vince Contreras

Sunday Scripture Study for Catholic

www.sundayscripturestudy.com

"I am the Good Shepherd"

Scripture: John 10:11-18

Meditation: Do you know the peace and security of the Good Shepherd who watches over his own? The Old Testament often speaks of God as shepherd of his people, Israel. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1). Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! (Psalm 80:1) We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3). The Messiah is also pictured as the shepherd of God's people: He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms (Isaiah 40:11). Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd who will risk his life to seek out and save the stray sheep (Matthew 18:12, Luke 15:4). He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Peter 2:25).

Jesus made three promises to his followers. He promised them everlasting life. If they accept him and follow him, they will have the life of God in them. Jesus also promised them a life that would know no end. Death would not be the end but the beginning; they would know the glory of indestructible life. Jesus promised a life that was secure. Jesus said that nothing would snatch them out of his hand, not even sorrow and death, since he is everlasting life itself. Our lives are safe in his hands.

The words which Jesus spoke upset many of the Jewish leaders. How could he speak with the same authority which God spoke and claim to be equal with God? He must either be insane or divine. Unfortunately some thought he was mad even though he cured a man who was blind from birth. We are faced with the same choice. Either Jesus is who he claims to be – the Son of God and Savior of the world – or the world's greatest deluder! We cannot be indifferent to his claim. For those who accept him as Lord and Savior he offers the peace and security of unending life and joy with God. Do you know the peace and security of a life fully submitted to Christ?

Cyril of Alexander, a 5th century church father comments on Jesus as our Good Shepherd:

"He shows in what manner a shepherd may be proved good; and He teaches that he must be prepared to give up his life fighting in defense of his sheep, which was fulfilled in Christ. For man has departed from the love of God, and fallen into sin, and because of this was, I say, excluded from the divine abode of paradise, and when he was weakened by that disaster, he yielded to the devil tempting him to sin, and death following that sin he became the prey of fierce and ravenous wolves. But after Christ was announced as the True Shepherd of all men, He laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16), fighting for us against that pack of inhuman beasts. He bore the Cross for us, that by His own death he might destroy death. He was condemned for us, that He might deliver all of us from the sentence of punishment: the tyranny of sin being overthrown by our faith: fastening to the Cross the decree that stood against us, as it is written (Colossians 2:14). Therefore as the father of sin had as it were shut up the sheep in hell, giving them to death to feed on, as it is written in the psalms (Ps. Xlviii.16), He died for us as truly Good, and truly our Shepherd, so that the dark shadow of death driven away He might join us to the company of the blessed in heaven; and in exchange for abodes that lie far in the depths of the pit, and in the hidden places of the sea, grant us mansions in His Father’s House above. Because of this he says to us in another place: Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you a kingdom (Luke 12:32)."

Do you listen attentively to the voice of the Good Shepherd and obey his word?

"Lord Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd who keeps watch over our lives. May I be ever attentive to your voice and submit fully to your wise rule for my life. Draw me near to you that I may always find peace and joy in your presence."

Meditation: © 2012 Don Schwager Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations www.rc.net/wcc/readings/


42 posted on 04/29/2012 5:56:16 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
Jesus, the Good Shepherd
Pastor’s Column
4th Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2012
 
“I am the Good Shepherd.
A Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
                                                                                John 10:11
 
            The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Jesus has no limits to his love: he has done everything possible for me. What limits do I have in my love for him, or for others? I lay down my life for Christ by dying to my own will, by being obedient to the voice of the Good Shepherd; so any follower of his will be led to lay down his or her life at some point as part of our lesson plan of life. This is one of the key lessons Jesus teaches the sheep who follow him.
 
        A hired leader, someone who works for himself, whose primary interest is to get paid, will run away when he sees danger coming. This type of false guide has no concern for his flock. Jesus is not like this! He will not leave us when we are in danger, like a path that leads nowhere, but instead, will even die to protect us. In fact, he already has by dying on the cross! If our Shepherd-Guide seems to disappear when danger threatens, he has assured us he is nevertheless always nearby. At these times, we are called to grow in trust.
 
      The sheep, that is the individual Christian who follows Christ, will really get to know his voice (John 10:16). This intimacy with the Good Shepherd comes from spending time with Jesus, listening to him speaking: in the Scriptures, in the Church, in our hearts, in the circumstances of everyday life. Other voices, other noises will be competing for my attention to try to lead me astray. Through the daily silence of prayer I will continue to be attuned to the voice of my real guide, Jesus, constantly speaking to me through the Holy Spirit.
 
         Jesus intends to shepherd everyone, even those who do not know him now, with the goal, one day, of having only one flock. Our free will gives us the choice to accept or reject his voice! Every movement of goodness and beauty in the world, everything that ultimately leads to God is, in fact, the voice of the Good Shepherd: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).
                                                                              Father Gary

43 posted on 04/29/2012 7:01:06 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
4th Sunday of Easter: The Shepherd Gathers
 
"They will hear my voice . . ."
Acts 4: 8-12
1 Jn 3: 1-2
Jn 10: 11-18

This weekend we celebrate the reception of Eucharist for the first time for our children here at the parish.  It is always a very special moment as the little “brides and grooms” come forward in procession to the delight of their parents, families, grandparents, general parishioners and whomever else has come to share with them.  As it says in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 11: “A little child shall lead them.” How true that God works wonders through his little ones.
It’s fortunate the Gospel this Fourth Sunday of Easter is that of the Good Shepherd.  Speaking about lambs and wolves to seven and eight year olds is not a difficult theme.  However, the image of the Good Shepherd is anything but childish. 

For one, the shepherd was not exactly among the elite class of ancient Israel.  They lived outside the city, in the countryside, and were not really among the movers and shakers of that time.  Yet, the image of the shepherd is a biblical one that we hear of throughout the Old Testament and often in the New. The Kings of Israel were referred to as shepherds and the prophets themselves spoke of good and bad ones.  
God is spoken of as a shepherd for his people in the Book of Genesis 48.  In the Book of Revelation 7we hear of the “Lamb who will be their shepherd.” The great King David was a shepherd boy, the youngest of six older brothers.  From his task of herding sheep, he was called by God to shepherd his people.  The prophet Hosea was among the shepherd class as images of the shepherd are portrayed by other prophets such as Jeremiah.

God promises a time when a Good Shepherd will come to lead his people. In the Gospel of Matthew 25, we see the vision of the final judgment when Christ separates sheep from goats in the style of a shepherd.  For Jesus, then, to refer to himself as a shepherd was not that unusual.  In fact, I would suspect that many may have done so themselves at that time.
In contrast to the Good Shepherd in the Gospel this Sunday is that of the wolves. Jesus compares himself to those who are simply paid for their service and when he sees “the wolf coming” runs away leaving the sheep unprotected and vulnerable.

In short, this image seems to be of the one who scatters and another who gathers. Like a shepherd who is protective, responsible, and self-sacrificing for his flock, Jesus does even more – he lays down his life for his sheep.  His purpose is to gather his sheep together; to bring them into a protective flock so they need not fear the intent of their shepherd who will love them even at the cost of his own life.
When the evil one (wolf) wants to scatter, divide, attack, and separate, the Good Shepherd steps forth to prevent this action from happening. It is an image that is rooted in scripture but also one that brings comfort and peace.

This may bring us to the Eucharist.  As a Good Shepherd, who cares for his flock with extraordinary care, we can take the image one step farther.  Rather than search for food for the sheep, this shepherd becomes the food itself. In 1910 Pope St. Pius X recognized how rich and essential this food is for all who follow Christ when he lowered the age of first communion to that of the “age of reason.” In fact he not only encouraged communion to be received each week but daily if possible by children.
In his encyclical Quam Singulari, Pope Pius X wrote: “Holy Communion is required the age when one can distinguish between the Bread of the Holy Eucharist and ordinary bread-again the age at which a child attains the use of reason.”  The saintly Pope recognized the power of the Eucharist which should be food given at the earliest time possible to protect us throughout our lives; weekly as a minimum or daily as a perfect ideal.  The graces of the Eucharist, the Pope recognized, are that essential for our spiritual life.  

With that in mind, we may well see this Good Shepherd as one who reaches out to embrace everyone protectively as they come forward and receive Christ himself.  As we eat his Body and drink of his Blood we find a grace like none other available to us. It is a God who is not distant, although at times we would rather he be, but a God who wants to be up close and personal.  Like a Shepherd who walks among his sheep and keeps a keen eye out for threats and enemies, this Christ Shepherd remains forever loyal to his sheep.  He is there for us and reaches out in a grand divine embrace of love.
This love was so great, beyond what we ourselves can accomplish, that five times in the Gospel we hear, “I lay down my life . . .” To the early Christians this became a kind of mantra of how far Jesus had gone for humanity – death and resurrection . We can be completely confident that this Shepherd alone is the whose voice we can follow with no fear or hesitation.

But the Eucharist is not magic.  That strength to grow in holiness and virtue is something the Shepherd wants us to seek – to ask for –and ultimately to humbly receive with expectant faith and a life lived in accordance with the Gospel.
As always, then, the model of this Shepherd is one for all of us when we find ourselves in positions of authority over others:  parents over children, priests in our parishes, Bishops in their Diocese, any position in which we oversee the lives of others.   From this Shepherd we are fed with his life and from this Shepherd we are called to follow and to imitate.


Almighty and ever-living God
lead us to a share in the joys of heaven,
so that the humble flock may reach
where the brave Shepherd has gone before.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.

(Collect of 4th Sunday)
Fr. Tim

44 posted on 04/29/2012 7:25:49 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation
Insight Scoop

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us..."

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, April 29, 2012, the Fourth Sunday of Easter | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Acts 4:8-12
• Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29
• 1 Jn 3:1-2
• Jn 10:11-18

During Holy Week we focused on the Passion, death, and Resurrection of the Son; when Pentecost arrives, we will focus on the transforming work of the Paraclete. It is sometimes said, very understandably, that the Holy Spirit is the most mysterious of the three Persons of the Trinity. But, while emphasizing the unity and equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I often think the Father is, in his own way, just as mysterious.

Today’s readings shed some light on the first Person of the Trinity, particularly on three qualities: his command, his power, and his love. All three help us to appreciate more deeply the Father’s plan, purpose, and person.

The Father is mentioned some 130 times in John’s Gospel, and one of the key themes of John’s writing is the intimate relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father, Jesus states, “loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand” (Jn 3:35). “He who does not honor the Son,” he preached, “does not honor the Father who sent him” (Jn 5:23). And Jesus says directly and simply: “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:30). In today’s Gospel, from the Good Shepherd discourse, Jesus makes clear he, of his own free will and volition, “will lay down my life for the sheep. … No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.” But he also adds that this command to lay down his life was “received from my Father.”

The Father’s command was for the Son to become man, suffer, and die. Yet this command was not accepted unwillingly or received as an order from a superior—after all, the Father and the Son are both fully God. This might seem strange to us since we naturally tend to think of commands as directives from a superior to a subordinate. But this way of thinking is purified and transformed by the revelation of who God is as Trinity—an eternal exchange of perfect and personal love.

This is why Jesus states later, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love” (Jn 15:10), and “This I command you, to love one another” (Jn 15:17). There is no conflict between the love of the Father and the Father’s commandments, for God is love and everything from him is love. To those who are sons of the Father, the commandments are gifts of love. But to those who reject the Father, the commandments are confining, annoying, even angering.

The Father’s power, Peter declared, is shown by raising the Son from the dead. “The Father's power ‘raised up’ Christ his Son,” explains the Catechism, “and by doing so perfectly introduced his Son's humanity, including his body, into the Trinity” (par 648). The Father so loved the world he sent his Son, the Son became man, and the Incarnate Son—fully God, fully man—was taken into the Trinity.

That affirmation of the Crucified Lord and of his body brings us to John’s first epistle: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” The Triune God created man out of love, his plan of salvation flows from his love, and he desires that all men freely choose to share in his gift of boundless love (cf., CCC, par 1). The Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection reveal and make present this perfect love.

“Although the Son is always beloved by reason of his nature,” wrote Cyril of Jerusalem in his commentary on the Gospel of John, “it is evident that Christ is also beloved by God the Father because of his love toward us.” The Father gives his Son, and the Son gives the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit gives us the life of the Father so we might enter eternally into the beatific vision, “the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion” (CCC, 1045).

 (This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the May 3, 2009, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)


45 posted on 04/29/2012 7:30:25 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
Regnum Christi

I Lay Down My Life
| SPIRITUAL LIFE
Fourth Sunday of Easter

John 10:11-18

Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for this opportunity to be with you in prayer. My heart is ready to listen to your words of eternal life so that I may choose to follow you more closely on the path of true love.

Petition: Lord, may I be faithful to your will in my life.

1. I Lay It Down: The Father entrusted Christ with a mission: Christ was to bring about our salvation through a life of unlimited self-giving, even to the point of giving his own life. Being God he could repay the Father for our sins; being man he could identify with our fallen humanity and raise its dignity so that we might become the Father’s children. Christ was the perfect bridge between fallen man and an infinitely holy God. His mission of bridging this chasm came about through freely accepting the will of the Father. Our Lord would receive nothing in return, and yet he was faithful even to the point of death.

2. On My Own: Jesus was not ordered to give himself for our sins. He offered himself. Freedom is best used when it willingly embraces God’s will, whatever the cost might be. We have to remember that Jesus knew what lay beyond his preaching and his miracles: the road to Calvary. He spent many nights in prayer on the Mount of Olives in preparation for his hour. He foretold his fate to his disciples and continued forward towards this end despite their misunderstanding. And in the end, when the hour came, he proved faithful. When the hour of darkness sought him, he stepped forward to say, “I am he.” Christ never flinched in front of God’s will. He felt its weight. Sorrow flooded his heart. An easier path tugged at his humanity. But he proved that love is stronger than death, that true freedom can defeat sin and master it.

3. A Life of Love: Perhaps offering ourselves to God frightens us. What will he ask? What will I have to leave behind? Will I be able to do it? However, fear vanishes when we live out of love, like Christ. We need to remember that the Father asked him to die for us, and look at the fruits this bore! Taking on our humanity, he left behind the splendor of his divinity and raised us to a new level. He did the impossible by bearing the weight of all our sins. He trusted in the Father to give him strength. Today we might be asked to die more to our self-love, to leave behind a vice we have been struggling with or to trust that with grace we can live a truly Christian life in a world hostile to Christianity. In the end, if we love Christ, we will not be frightened because he has already shown us the way –– and he has already conquered.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, give me the courage to be a faithful Christian at all times and in all places, with whomever I meet and in whatever I say. Help me to give testimony to who you are.

Resolution: I will offer one concrete act of self-mastery for love of Christ today.


46 posted on 04/29/2012 7:34:45 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

The Good Shepherd

Do you know the peace and security of the Good Shepherd who watches over his own? The Old Testament often speaks of God as shepherd of his people, Israel. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1). Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! (Psalm 80:1) We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3). The Messiah is also pictured as the shepherd of God’s people: He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms (Isaiah 40:11). Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd who will risk his life to seek out and save the stray sheep (Matthew 18:12, Luke 15:4). He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (1 Peter 2:25). Jesus made three promises to his followers. He promised them everlasting life. If they accept him and follow him, they will have the life of God in them. Jesus also promised them a life that would know no end. Death would not be the end but the beginning; they would know the glory of indestructible life. Jesus promised a life that was secure. Jesus said that nothing would snatch them out of his hand, not even sorrow and death, since he is everlasting life itself.  Our lives are safe in his hands.

The words which Jesus spoke upset many of the Jewish leaders.  How could he speak with the same authority which God spoke and claim to be equal with God? He must either be insane or divine.  Unfortunately some thought he was mad even though he cured a man who was blind from birth.  We are faced with the same choice.  Either Jesus is who he claims to be — the Son of God and Savior of the world — or the world’s greatest deluder!  We cannot be indifferent to his claim.  For those who accept him as Lord and Savior he offers the peace and security of unending life and joy with God.  Do you know the peace and security of a life fully submitted to Christ?

Cyril of Alexander, a 5th century church father comments on Jesus as our Good Shepherd: “He shows in what manner a shepherd may be proved good; and He teaches that he must be prepared to give up his life fighting in defense of his sheep, which was fulfilled in Christ.  For man has departed from the love of God, and fallen into sin, and because of this was, I say, excluded from the divine abode of paradise, and when he was weakened by that disaster, he yielded to the devil tempting him to sin, and death following that sin he became the prey of fierce and ravenous wolves.  But after Christ was announced as the True Shepherd of all men, He laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16), fighting for us against that pack of inhuman beasts.  He bore the Cross for us, that by His own death he might destroy death.  He was condemned for us, that He might deliver all of us from the sentence of punishment: the tyranny of sin being overthrown by our faith: fastening to the Cross the decree that stood against us, as it is written (Col. 2:14). Therefore as the father of sin had as it were shut up the sheep in hell, giving them to death to feed on, as it is written in the psalms (Ps. Xlviii.16), He died for us as truly Good, and truly our Shepherd, so that the dark shadow of death driven away He might join us to the company of the blessed in heaven; and in exchange for abodes that lie far in the depths of the pit, and in the hidden places of the sea, grant us mansions in His Father’s House above.  Because of this he says to us in another place: Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you a kingdom (Luke 12:32).  Do you listen attentively to the voice of the Good Shepherd and obey his word?


47 posted on 04/29/2012 7:39:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All
One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

 


<< Sunday, April 29, 2012 >> Fourth Sunday of Easter
Saint of the Day
 
Acts 4:8-12
1 John 3:1-2

View Readings
Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29
John 10:11-18

 

THE SPIRIT OF OUR FATHER

 
"The Father loves Me for this." —John 10:17
 

The Holy Spirit confirms and strengthens us. He makes us confident, bold, and immune to manipulation by fears. Peter, for example, before receiving the Spirit, denied Christ three times when he was confronted with very minimal pressure from a servant girl (Lk 22:56ff). After receiving the Spirit, Peter fearlessly proclaimed Jesus as Lord and Savior without being intimidated by a formidable group of leaders, elders, scribes, and members of the high priest's family (Acts 4:5-6).

How does the Spirit change the fearful into fearless warriors for God? The Spirit from our hearts cries out "Abba!" ("Father") (Gal 4:6; Rm 8:15) By the Spirit, we become convinced that God the Father loves us. We know that even if a mother would be without tenderness for the child of her womb, our heavenly Father will never stop loving us (see Is 49:15). The Spirit opens our eyes to realize that after the Father has sent the Son to die for love of us, we can be sure that our Father will never forsake us (Rm 8:32). "See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yet that is what we are" (1 Jn 3:1). We have no more reason to fear. If God the Father "is for us, who can be against us?" (Rm 8:31)

When we receive the Spirit from the Father and the Son, we begin to know and trust the Father and the Son so deeply that we can fearlessly face death, endure sufferings, and live the risen life. Come, Holy Spirit!

 
Prayer: Father, give me a supernatural security in Your love.
Promise: "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me in the same way that the Father knows Me and I know the Father." —Jn 10:14-15
Praise: "To the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, be praise and honor, glory and might, forever and ever!" (Rv 5:13)

48 posted on 04/29/2012 7:45:43 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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Life Jewels Life Jewels (Listen)
A collection of One Minute Pro-Life messages. A different message each time you click.

49 posted on 04/29/2012 7:47:01 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Salvation

http://resources.sainteds.com/showmedia.asp?media=../sermons/homily/2012-04-29-Homily%20Fr%20Gary.mp3&ExtraInfo=0&BaseDir=../sermons/homily


50 posted on 05/06/2012 4:23:48 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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