Fourth Week of Easter
22nd April 2024 (Monday)
Psalter: Week 4
Reading of the Day
First Reading: Acts 11:1-18
In those days: The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” But Peter began and explained it to them in order: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3, 4 (R. see 42:3ab)
R/. My soul is thirsting for you, the living God.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my own and my own know me.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel : John 10:1-10
At that time: Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Monday – Fourth Week of Easter
Guidelines: We witness a culture of death in various forms. We experience a tremendous sense of lacking and missing in various aspects. It is in this context we need to adhere to the author of life and abundance
1. “I came to give life and have it in abundance”, says Jesus. Truly we are reeling through a destructive culture of death. Violence and harm mark our days. Some may argue that life is fostered and bettered due to advancement and technology. We do not deny it. But such progress is mostly material and external. But the real culture of life is more a matter of attitude and heart.
2. Further despite material abundance and affluence, there is a deep sense of inner lacking and emptiness. There is a real sense of lack of peace and happiness. This is due to the increasing lack of goodness and faithfulness.
3. Therefore, the words of Jesus that he gives life abundantly are very relevant and urgent. The Lord is the good shepherd. He leads his sheep, feeds them, and grants eternal life. Thieves and robbers and strangers that Jesus mentions refer to Satan and all the false leaders and values. They appear to promote life and abundance. But in reality, they only reduce life and aggravate the sense of meaninglessness.
4. What is needed then? Turn to the good shepherd and follow him. For this, one must repent and be converted. Only repentance of heart and conversion of life is the greatest condition to belong to the good shepherd and experience his life. All the other external requirements like circumcision, food prohibitions, and laws are not guarantees for one’s belonging to the good shepherd as his faithful sheep.
Practice: Jesus says, his sheep do not follow the stranger but flee from him; rather they know the voice of their true shepherd, and they follow him. Is it true?
