4th Sunday of Easter

This weekend is the World Day of Prayers for Vocations. This week I would like you to take a moment to pray for those who may have a calling to priesthood and religious life. We need more vocations to priesthood and religious life. May the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd call many young men to follow him as priests in His Roman-Catholic Church.

From the earliest day the Apostles encountered hostility from the Jewish leaders just as Jesus himself had. Even so, the First Reading shows Peter and John fearlessly proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. Having been arrested they stood before the rulers, the elders and the scribes to account for their actions. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter answered that his actions of good works were performed in the Name of Jesus Christ. Who had been crucified and raised from the dead by God. In his statements, Peter added that Jesus was the Stone that was rejected by the authorities and the builders. He had become the Cornerstone.

As the leaders of the people, they had rejected Jesus, the promised Messiah. He who was the Cornerstone of God's people, the Church.

In the Second Reading, John reminds us of the love of God the Father for us. The love of God is so great that it results in our being called His children. As far as we know, we do not know what we will be like after the resurrection of the bodies because it has not been revealed to us. What we do know is that we will be like Jesus glorified. During our eternal life, we will not have a physical form because Jesus no longer has a physical body. This is known by the fact that He is no longer physically present in this world in human form. Nor will we be spirits because Jesus and His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, are two separate Divine Presences in God.

In the Gospel, John reminded us through the spoken Words of Jesus that He is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life to save His sheep from the approaching wolf. So, loving and caring is the Good Shepherd that when He sees one of His sheep is missing, He will leave the ninety-nine who are safe to go and find His missing sheep.

Jesus said that He knows His own and they know Him. Jesus knows each and every one of us by our first name and we know Him by His first name, Jesus. Jesus also said that He has other sheep that do not belong to the fold. He must bring them also and they will listen to His voice. Consequently, they will be of one flock, having one Shepherd. When Jesus spoke of His other sheep, He was referring to the Gentiles who at the time were not included in the Old Testament. He was referring to all the people throughout the world, no matter their language, their nationality, their race or their culture. All are called to be of one flock, to have one Shepherd. Through faith in Jesus and the Sacrament of Baptism, all are born again of the godly seed to belong to the One Body of Christ. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, all are equal as children of God.

                                        May God Bless All of Us

                                                                  Fr. D

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