God's gift of forgiveness and salvation is not exclusive to only a selected few, it is open to all. Let us broaden our perspective with regards to this and always extend a welcoming spirit to everyone regardless of who they are. We do not have to belong to a particular race. We have all been qualified by God Himself. We are expected to extend this same love to our brothers and sisters regardless of race and culture. Oftentimes we are guilty of discriminating whenever we come in contact with people who are different so to speak or those who do not conform to our standards. Whether we admit it or not we are all guilty of this and we should follow Peter's example of acknowledging God's universal love to all of us. Amen. Hallelujah!
Acts 11: 1-18
...‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane...If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles, too.”
Only Jesus can make us whole and satisfy our soul. We should take note of the fact that we are not just physical human beings. The moment we leave and pass away from this world we cease to be in our physical state but our souls live on. If at this present moment we attend to the needs of our physical bodies we should also do the same for our souls which will pass from this world to life eternal. There is an end to all that we hold and see right now since we are just passing by. Our true and everlasting home belongs with God. If our physical bodies need nourishment in this life in order to live so does our souls. When we are in a state wherein we feel so deprived and famished, a helping hand can go a long way. We may not totally understand the concept of purgatory as a whole but this is what we are supposed to be to our brothers and sisters who long to see God face to face but is yet to happen. We, the Church Militant active and living can serve for them as a beaming light in the darkness and a guide to the right path. Let us not neglect to pray for the faithful departed souls of our loved ones, family and friends. Have you heard of this very vital information about survival. Our bodies can go without food for a long time but not without water. We can all die of dehydration faster than starvation. Let us make sure we don't dehydrate our souls to the point of death and exhaustion. Just like Naaman the Syrian who plunged into the water of the Jordan River and was cleansed, we should also drink from the river of God
Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4
R: Athirst is my soul for the living God.
1 [2] As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 [3] Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and be hold the face of God? (R) 43: 3 Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. (R) 4 Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy; then will I give you thanks upon the harp, O God, my God!
Our Lord draws a comparison between 2 shepherds, hired hand and the Good Shepherd.
There is no indication that the hired hand is a bad shepherd. Not all the money in the world could compel a man to give his life for the sheep. Our Lord tells us that He is the Good Shepherd willing to lay down His life for the sheep. Remember the Good Shepherd knew each sheep by name. He loves the sheep and would die for the sheep. When our Lord went to Calvary he was going away beyond the call of duty. No one could compel or coerce any man to give his life for others. But our Lord made it clear that no one was taking away His life away from Him freely He was laying it down as a sacrifice of love to the Father for you and for me. I wonder if we in our lives have learned that lesson. There are certain demands, certain duties imposed on everyone on this earth. The employee has to go to work every morning, spends a certain number of hours on the job and performs certain duties as expected. It is the same with the mother and father. They must feed and cloth their children, educate them and treat them humanely. And so it is with the husband and wife, certain obligations are laid to them by the fact that they are one and two in one. It is the same with the priest, with the lawyer, doctor and student. There is another dimension to life that we have to learn if we are going to live radiantly on this earth. The student will never learn the meaning of education until he goes to the library himself beyond what is demanded of him by the professor and study and research on his own. Then will he begin to enjoy learning in itself. The mother and the father and the children will never become a family as such until they could go beyond what the law demands. And the man who works would never enjoy his occupation until he stops thinking about the paycheck. In every country and every community there are 3 kinds of people, 1st the lawless who break the law, refuse to do their duty and have to be taken care of with the penal system. 2nd there is the man and the woman who are the people who do what the law demands. Everyday they are the salt of the earth (Mt. 5:13). Last, there are the volunteers who go beyond the call of duty. They are the backbone of every country and every community. But isn’t it what Christianity is all about. Isn’t this what our Lord has taught us, to give our cloak as well as our coat and to go the extra mile. Not to turn away from him who would borrow from us. To forgive not 7x but 70x7 (Mt. 18:21-22) that same person who does the same stupid things all the time who is indifferent and callous who never says thank you and takes us for granted. Our Lord said if you love those who love you what is there to that? The pagans do that. You and I must love our enemies, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who persecute us that we may be the child of our Father in heaven who causes the rain to fall on the good and the bad (Mt. 5:45) and the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. We have been tutored by the years that all the good things and its loveliness is not of our own making. This comes only from our union with God who lives within us. We can not be loving to our enemies, forgiving to those who hurt us, understanding and compassionate on our own. These are all a gift of God to us. It comes from the union with our Lord as we try to live day after day. Who compels Mother Teresa to do the things she does. Who compels the mother and the father to sacrifice themselves and do without so their children can be educated, grow up and take their place in life? All of this comes from the Lord in whom we believe lives within us. Day after monotonous day, we must go on striving, failing, falling and beginning again. The Lord doesn’t ask us to succeed in anything, success is His gift. What we are asked to do is to try and to go on trying all the days of our lives. And so we pray, “Lord lift us up of our lethargy, apathy, coldness, and indifference and make us so aware of your love for us that we may learn to love you in return.”
It is always a consolation and a relief to know that we have a Good Shepherd who loves and cares for us and more. We can be assured that everything on heaven or on earth is under and within the power of Jesus and above all else our Mighty Savior and Redeemer. Only in Jesus can we find everlasting peace and comfort. The Good Shepherd is one who forms and unites the flock as a special people of God. In Matthew 28 and John 20 we read about the great commissioning of the apostles by Jesus. He said to them, “whose sins that you forgive, are forgiven and as the Father has sent me, so I send you, and he who receives you receives me.” He left this ministry to continue the shepherding. This entire mission is directed in gathering the flock, transform and save all of us, the people of God by the word of the gospel and the redemptive paschal mystery of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. Those who follow Him are His ministers and they are to hand on what is given to them. As Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."..."Tend my sheep."..."Feed my sheep... He told him 3x to shepherd the flock but he must be united with Jesus before he can properly tend the flock. Peter had to learn humble discipleship. When Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from the cross he was rebuked “Get behind me satan.” Peter had to follow Jesus. The critical part is when he realized and said in Peter 2:20-25 “…follow in His footsteps, stay close to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.” Peter followed Jesus and recognized His voice. Man needs God. We have to be shown the path to God and this is what real shepherds do unlike the hired hand. According to Blessed Pope John Paul II, priests are called to authoritatively proclaim God’s words. The thieves and robbers apply to those people who exploit, serve themselves, use to their advantage and teach their own gospel not of Jesus. We are all called to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit in order to be saved from this corrupt generation. We need a shepherd because we can’t do it on our own. When we look at our own lives evil is constantly present to us in the world. It’s ridiculous to go into this dark valley without Jesus. People are scandalized by how the world turns out. It could be such a terrible place if people fail to depend on God in prayer. We need to hear His voice, follow Him and be led to find the verdant pastures. If we follow Him then we can drink of the restful waters, He will never abandon us and there is nothing we shall want. The saints would say, “Only the Lord.” To have life more abundantly, this is what we crave for. It is the life in the sacraments and in the gospel that lead us to follow his footsteps to the endless restful waters in green pastures. In John 6, He told us to eat His body and drink His blood to have eternal life. He used the Hebrew word to chew or gnaw, as in eating of the animals. It is the more graphic word to describe it and not just symbolic. The Church can understand the real presence of God in the Eucharist. Transubstantiation where real change has taken place makes His body and blood available to us. If we have Jesus in our life who lays down His life on the cross, bring sheep that are led astray home and continually make Himself available in the Holy Eucharist then we will have the fullness of life in abundance. Amen. Hallelujah!
Jn 10:11-18
Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...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.
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