SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Tuesday - April 24, 2018

Tuesday - April 24, 2018

"Mary, give me your Heart: so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate; your Heart so full of love and humility that I may be able to receive Jesus in the Bread of Life and love Him as you love Him and serve Him in the distressing guise of the poor."

-- Blessed Mother Teresa

 

 

April 24, 2018

 

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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 280

Reading 1ACTS 11:19-26

Those who had been scattered by the persecution
that arose because of Stephen
went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,
preaching the word to no one but Jews.
There were some Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, however,
who came to Antioch and began to speak to the Greeks as well,
proclaiming the Lord Jesus. 
The hand of the Lord was with them
and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. 
The news about them reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem,
and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.
When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
And a large number of people was added to the Lord. 
Then he went to Tarsus to look for Saul,
and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. 
For a whole year they met with the Church
and taught a large number of people,
and it was in Antioch that the disciples
were first called Christians.

Responsorial PsalmPS 87:1B-3, 4-5, 6-7

R. (117:1a) All you nations, praise the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
His foundation upon the holy mountains
the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,
more than any dwelling of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!
R. All you nations, praise the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I tell of Egypt and Babylon
among those who know the LORD;
Of Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia:
"This man was born there."
And of Zion they shall say:
"One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD."
R. All you nations, praise the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
"This man was born there."
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
"My home is within you."
R. All you nations, praise the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

AlleliuaJN 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 10:22-30

The feast of the Dedication was taking place in Jerusalem.
It was winter. 
And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon. 
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,
"How long are you going to keep us in suspense? 
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 
Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father's name testify to me.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me. 
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. 
No one can take them out of my hand. 
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. 
The Father and I are one."

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The Sound of the Shepherd's Voice

In today's Gospel reading, there's a distinct difference between those who are the sheep of Christ and those who are not. By nature, we all want to follow the Good Shepherd. We were created in the image of God, and we instinctively want to be with the one whom we're most like. More than that, everyone wants a savior who will love them no matter what and who will rescue them from evil when no one else can. But many don't recognize his voice.

"If you are the Christ, tell us plainly," these people say.
Jesus answers, "I told you and you do not believe."

Why don't they believe? Well, why don't we always believe? Our sins are evidence that sometimes we don't really believe that we should follow Jesus. If we always recognized his voice -- and the love behind everything he says, teaches, and commands -- we'd always follow him and never stray into sin. But when we don't understand what Jesus tells us, we doubt it's really him. When we don't like a moral teaching of the Church, we doubt it's really Jesus speaking through the Church Magisterium. And then we listen to false shepherds who give us the words we want to hear, and we follow them.

However, we are the sheep of God's flock. We do know how to recognize the voice of Jesus. We know he is the Good Shepherd and we do want to follow him.

The problem is: We all have imperfect voice-recognition programs running in our ears. Unconsciously, we've been affected by the way humans have modeled (or rather, failed to model) Christ among us. No human person is perfect except Jesus; therefore, every person we've known has imperfectly loved us, imperfectly forgiven us, imperfectly shepherded us -- and we project onto God what we've experienced from others.

The Jesus we think we know is very limited. Has a friend ever let you down? The result is that you probably see (unconsciously) Jesus as a shepherd who can mislead you. Did you grow up in a home where a parent was abusive or short-tempered or too quick to punish? Were you ever treated unfairly by a teacher or priest or policeman or other authority figure? To the extent that these representatives of God failed to convey to you what God is really like, that's the extent to which you believe in a god who is not God.

To discern the difference between false shepherds and the true Shepherd, we need to spend time consciously separating the imperfect image from the Divine Image.

Prayer

Lord, may I always recognize You and discover You in every sign You give me all the days of my life. Thank You for opening my spiritual ears to Your voice. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”