4th Sunday of Easter (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 4th Sunday of Easter (B), May 6, 2006

"...The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep"

We have seen in the Holy Week that has just passed how Jesus truly lived his mission to be the Good Shepherd. He called people to listen to His word and be counted as members of His flock. And the closest to Him in His inner circle were the apostles. When the time came for Jesus to lay down His life in obedience to the will of the Father, the apostles and all disciples who followed His counsels, fled and were scattered. This fulfills what is said in Scripture: when "the Shepherd is struck down, the flock scatters". But Jesus, with a strength and faith that is only fit of Him as God's Son, truly exemplified for us what it means to the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life life for his sheep.

As Catholics in the Latin Rite of the Church, we have the privilege of having the centralized leadership of a papacy. The late Holy Father, John Paul II, followed the example of Christ, and despite suffering a long illness, showed us very well what the role of leaders in the Church are called to be: good shepherds in the manner of Christ. How does this "shepherding" apply to lay people? Shepherding can mean simply as follows: to bear the ordinary sufferings of earning a living for a family; of doing liturgical ministry on weekends; of caring for a sick family member, or to perform sick or prison apostolate for the parish. Simply dying to one's self daily in view of the greater good is what is called of us. This is already leading by good example; of being good shepherds in the manner and example of Christ. Faithfully living out this call, and acting with endurance and patience in doing God's will is already proclaiming the Good Shepherd gospel to all.

This Good Shepherd Sunday, we can ask and pray to Christ, our Good Shepherd, to grant us His Spirit, that we may obtain the strength to imitate Him in his mission to shepherd the respective flocks entrusted to us. It is not easy at first, but with discipline, patience and the help and grace of God, it can be done well.

3rd Sunday of Easter (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 3rd Sunday of Easter (B), April 24, 2009

First reading: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 4
Second reading: 1 John 2:1-5
Gospel reading: Luke 24:35-48

"You are witnesses of this."

The Sunday gospels in the liturgical season of Easter, are mostly presentations of Christ's resurrection appearances to His Apostles and disciples. In this Sunday's resurrection appearance, Jesus appeared again to the disciples He walked with on the road to Emmaus. As He always does, His greeting begins with "Peace to you". When the disciples became alarmed at His presence - thinking He was a ghost - Jesus invited them to realize that He had flesh and bones. To assure them He was not a ghost, Jesus asked if they had anything to eat. When they were at table, He again opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures - with particular attention to the words written by the prophets about Him (that He would suffer and then be raised from the dead on the third day).

"You are witnesses of this."

Because the apostles and disciples were actual witnesses to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, they were willing to suffer in the same way that their Master did. This is what baffles many non-Christians. If the apostles and those close to Jesus were willing to die as martyrs of the faith, then the impact of Christ's resurrection and the eventual sending of the Holy Spirit, was indeed a true reality they actually saw and experienced. And this spirit of Christ's self-sacrifice out of love for the Father and the world, flowed over not only to the Apostles and the disciples who actually saw Jesus, but also to all the members of the Church, in her growth and development in history. That is why throughout the history of the Church, she continues to give birth to many martyrs. And it is these martyrs that continue to witness to the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord.

Though we, and future generations, are not and will not be actual witnesses of the events that transpired in biblical times, we can be assured of the same quality of faith as the Apostles and the disciples had of Jesus. This is the faith we receive not only from our Baptism, but from what Jesus also said to Thomas: "Blest are they who have not seen and have believed". Our faith in the Risen Lord as an individual, a family, or community, is rooted in the context of the Eucharistic community we are part of and belong to. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist with the priest-presider, the readers, the communion ministers, the choir, and all who contribute to the worship of the Lord on Sunday, we also become witnesses of Jesus - as the bread and wine become His Body and Blood.

2nd Sunday of Easter (B)

(Edited) Reflections (from) 2nd Sunday of Easter (B), April 17, 2009

First reading: Acts 4:32-35
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118
Second reading: 1 John 5:1-6
Gospel reading: John 20:19-31

"Peace be with you."

The gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Easter tells the story of Thomas, who did not at first believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. He was absent when Jesus, in His Risen body, appeared before His companions. But when Jesus came back, and Thomas was now with his companions, he came to believe in Jesus rising from the dead. Jesus told Thomas, "You became a believer because you saw me. Blest are they who have not seen and have believed".

That gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Easter is a gospel well studied by many bible scholars. One of the tools they use to interpret the meaning of that gospel passage is to count how many times a word or phrase is mentioned many times over in the passage. In this gospel passage, we find "Peace be with you" mentioned three times. Then the root word "believe", and all its word variants, are mentioned five times. With all these discoveries of the repetition of certain words, the bible scholars generally say that the themes the evangelist John wanted to convey and present to his readers are "peace" and "faith".

Peace and faith are the messages the Risen Lord wanted to convey to His apostles, and also to us in the present. Jesus knew this was the "solution" after He and everyone at Calvary experienced so much violence and abuse on His person. Jesus proved that peace and faith will always be victorious against violence and discord. God's mercy inspires all to believe and to practice peace in all life and work. Jesus shows us be His very example how, despite being crucified, forgave His executioners. And in His Risen body, He brings a message of peace. We are also called to forgive those who trespass against us, seek forgiveness for own trespasses, and amend our lives to be a herald of peace. It is God's grace in the Eucharist that gives us the strength to forgive as Jesus did and to bring peace to others as He did.

With faith in the Risen Person of Christ, we ought not to doubt like Thomas. It was Thomas' proximity to the Risen Jesus that eliminated all his doubt and brought him to faith again. In the same way, it is by our proximity to the Eucharist, our involvement and practice of its message in daily life and work, that will help us live in faith and believe always in the power of the Resurrection. We can be merciful and forgiving by being rooted in Christ, the Divine Mercy. This Divine Mercy is always in the Eucharist. We shall obtain the peace that only Christ can give (and which we are called to give in the same manner to the world as Jesus did). Together with our brothers in the Franciscan orders and congregations, we sing and pray, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."