Daily Liturgy
Monday April 26
you sent your Son, Jesus Christ among us
to reveal to us that you care about people
and that your love extends to all,
without any distinction of race or culture.
Give us a great respect for all people,
whatever way they come,
and let your Church embrace all cultures,
that Jesus may truly be
the Lord and Shepherd of all,
now and forever.
Reading 1: ACTS 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’
But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man’s house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
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?”
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
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!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia: JN 10:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: JN 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.”
Intercessions
– Lord Jesus, let our Church keep its gates wide-open for all, from however far come those who are attracted by your voice, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, make our communities open its bolted doors to strangers and to people who are different, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, do not allow us to close our ears and hearts to people who cry out to us their pains and their needs, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God,
in these signs of bread and wine,
we recognize your care for all
and we welcome your Son, Jesus Christ.
Give us, the Holy Spirit of your Son,
that our love may become
as wide as the world,
and that all people may share
in the life and joy you offer to all
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, source of all life,
we thank you for the presence
of your Son, Jesus Christ, in our midst.
Do not allow us to withhold
his Word and his person
from all who hunger for him,
whether they know it or not.
Let us be his word and his body
to the world of today,
that our words and deeds
may echo his voice
and that we may be the door to you,
our God, for ever and ever.
Blessing
Let Jesus not be a stranger to us but someone whose voice we recognize when he calls out to us in the needy, in loners, in people who have not experienced much justice and love. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
The sheepfold in the Palestinian settings of Jesus’ times were enclosures surrounded by stone walls on which were placed bundles of thorns. Brambles are allowed to grow on it to prevent sheep from exiting and thieves from entering. The enclosure could be in front of a house, built outdoors, or on the slope of a mountain. In the latter case it was typically used by most shepherds who bring their sheep at night; one of them would be awake while others slept.
Armed with a stick, he was positioned at the entrance of the fold—that had no door. He squatted and, in that position, blocking the access to the sheep-fold, he himself became “the door.” Typically he dozed off, but his presence was enough to deter the raiders from approaching the fold and to prevent the wolves from getting into the enclosure. The sheep could be approached only by whomever he allowed to pass. In the later part of today’s gospel Jesus says, he is “the Gate.”
In the morning, when every shepherd stood at the door, the sheep would immediately recognize his step and voice and followed him. From this experience of his people’s life, Jesus sets this parable.
The true shepherd knows his sheep by name, and calls them “one by one.” For Jesus anonymous masses do not exist. He takes interest in each of his disciples. He pays attention to the gifts, strengths, and weaknesses of each. “He carries the lambs in his bosom, gently leading those that are with young” (Is 40:11). He understands their difficulties, helps and respects them.
In contrast to this shepherd, the thieves and bandits appear. Who are they? They could be the religious and political leaders who were posing as attentive guides of the people’s welfare but in reality, they were seeking domination, personal prestige, exploitation: their methods were violence and lies. They steal, kill and destroy. Three verbs summarize the work of death.
Today’s Gospel has an insistence on the “voice of the shepherd” that is “heard”, “recognized”, and immediately distinguished from that of the strangers’. After the resurrection, the disciples could not recognize Jesus when they saw him face to face, but they recognized him for his voice.
The eyes of the disciples will be misled: He will be taken as a wayfarer, a ghost, a fisherman; but who heard him could not be mistaken. His voice was unmistakable.
Today this voice continues to resound, crisp, and alive in the word of the gospel. It is the only one that sounds familiar to the disciple.
Who is “taught by the Spirit” is able to discern the voice of the shepherd. Let us be attentive to that voice that ensures us green pastures, abundance of water, and protection from the impostors.