Monday of the Fourth week of Easter
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 10:1-10
Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, “Amen, Amen. I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came (before me) are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy, I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Reflection
In our lives, we could hear lots of things whether good or not so good and it influences our regular basis. Often times we can talk ourselves into believing that the many “voices” or influences that we encounter on a daily basis could change us in just a single second or sometimes it does not really affect us depending on how we handle ourselves in that particular voices or influences. We are pressured by the voice of the media, pop culture, love of money, a desire for recognition and so much more. These are a powerful influence and, whether we want to believe it or not, they do affect us.
The Gospel above gives us insight into this internal struggle in that it contrasts the voice of the Shepherd with the voice of a stranger. The sheep are easily taught and conditioned. They learn the voice of their shepherd because it was common practice for the shepherd to regularly speak to their sheep. Once the sheep became used to the shepherd’s voice, they would turn and follow him when he called.
So it is with us too. We will follow the voice of that which we are most familiar. Whatever it is that we immerse ourselves in each and every day will grow on us and draw us, even unknowingly, to follow.
This begs the question, “What are you most familiar with?” Ideally, we spend sufficient time in God’s Word, learning His language, tone, and voice. Ideally, we dedicate some portion of our day, every day, to silent contemplation of God. As we do this, we build a habit of hearing Him speak and we become comfortable with and comforted by His voice.
Once this habit is established in us, it will be much easier to go about our busy day hearing God whenever He chooses to speak. We will immediately recognize it is Him who calls and we will follow Him.
Reflect, today, upon that which calls to you the loudest. Don’t let the many other voices in our world drown out God’s voice. Instead, prepare yourself for the moments He chooses to speak. And when He does speak, let that voice grab your attention so that you can follow.
Source: Catholic Daily Reflection App.
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God has come into human form and there’s no doubt about him especially reading this Bible verse above. Jesus comes in meekness and humility, as the Messianic King who offers victory and peace to his people. That victory and peace would be secured in the cross and resurrection which would soon take place at the time of Passover. What was the purpose of God to come in the world? Jesus Christ came to bring us the kingdom of God which give us salvation from hell. It is to save us and to have eternal salvation. Was it important to God that we have salvation? Yes! Because He loves us so much that He even gave us His only begotten Son who died on the cross. He is the true King who offers peace, joy, and everlasting life for those who accept his kingship. For those who believe in Him may have eternal life and live together with Him and his angels in paradise. Does the King of glory find a welcome entry in your heart and home? Do your walls echo with the praise of his glory?
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light because their works were evil.
How do we know, beyond a doubt, that God truly loves us and wants us to be united with him forever? Simple as you know it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. God proved his love for us by giving us the best he had to offer – his only begotten Son who freely gave himself as an offering to god for our sake and as the atoning sacrifice for our sin and the sin of the world.
But how about those people who do not know Jesus Christ or those people who belong to the other group of religion or those people who do not even know there’s God are they saved also? Well, we could say that they will be saved as long as they believe that through good works and being responsible for their life as a person they can be saved. Actually, it’s not necessary that all or every one of us should be Catholics. In my view of point Catholics are the light and the salt of the world. Meaning Catholics should let their light shine to others. Becoming light and salt makes the world more beautiful in the eye of God.
I’ve been praying for my family since I transferred to Italy, to help them in their daily lives in the Philippines especially I couldn’t help them even I am an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) who try to gain a penny to support them because I still dealing with my own problem or dilemma abroad. I could not tell it but what is certain I am having a problem financially here because I lost my job since 2014. And there was another story behind this, for now, I couldn’t tell it.
From here on my place, I still pray for my family and God shows his mercy to me. I call it answered prayer perhaps a miracle from God. The cycle of prayer by two people is powerful as Jesus said for those people two or many gather together in his name whatever is it He is there. Don’t make me wrong about this. I am far from my family but we have the same intentions as my parents and brother and sister. I can form a cycle of prayer even we were afar to each other. And I believe on this. Whatever we ask full of faith we will receive it. I guarantee this because it already happens to me. God loves us so much that one prayer of his people He can’t avoid it to answer. We just need to be faithful in return.
It’s quite normal to desire the best of the best for our beloved, no, we even desire better for them. We put ourselves and long for the best for the sake of our beloved. This is called love.
As a father, you are willing to sacrifice something for the sake of your beloved. And it’s also the same to Jesus and he proved it that the greatest love is laying once very essence. He nailed and proved it on the cross. I can say that the greatest teacher of love is Jesus and those people who practice the true meaning of love or those people who imitate Jesus. Today, we can see the different attitude of Christ in the Holy Gospel, Third Sunday of Lent.
