GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Monday - May 09, 2022

  

Monday - May 09, 2022

"So your strength is failing you? Why don't you tell your mother about it?...Mother! Call her with a loud voice. She is listening to you; she sees you in danger, perhaps, and she--your holy mother Mary--offers you, along with the grace of her son, the refuge of her arms, the tenderness of her embrace...and you will find yourself with added strength for the new battle."

- SAINT JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA

May 9, 2022

 

MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER

Lectionary: 279

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    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                                  42:2-3; 43:3, 4

 

R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Alleluia                                              Phil 2:8          Jn 10:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;

I know my sheep, and mine know me.

R. 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 the shepherd 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,

the Pharisees 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.”

 

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The Voice of the Shepherd

“…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.”  John 10:3–5

 

What are you most familiar with in life?  What voice or voices echo in your mind most of the time?  There are many influences we receive on a regular basis.  Some are good and some are not so good.  Oftentimes we can talk ourselves into believing that the many “voices” or influences that we encounter on a daily basis do not affect us.  We are pressured by the voice of the media, pop culture, love of money, a desire for recognition and so much more.  These are powerful influences and, whether we want to believe it or not, they do affect us.

 

The Gospel above gives us insight into this internal struggle in that it contrasts the voice of the Shepherd with the voice of a stranger.  The sheep are easily taught and conditioned.  They learn the voice of their shepherd because it was common practice for shepherds to regularly speak to their sheep.  Once the sheep became used to the shepherd’s voice, they would turn and follow him when he called.

 

So it is with us.  We will follow the voice of that which we are most familiar with.  Whatever it is that we immerse ourselves in each and every day will grow on us and draw us, even unknowingly, to follow. 

 

This begs the question, “What are you most familiar with?”  Ideally, we spend sufficient time in God’s Word, learning His language, tone and voice.  Ideally, we dedicate some portion of our day, every day, to silent contemplation of God.  As we do this, we build a habit of hearing Him speak and we become comfortable with and comforted by His voice. 

 

Once this habit is established in us, it will be much easier to go about our busy day hearing God whenever He chooses to speak.  We will immediately recognize it is Him and we will follow.

 

Reflect, today, upon that which calls to you the loudest.  Don’t let the many other voices in our world drown out God’s voice.  Instead, prepare yourself for the moments He chooses to speak.  And when He does speak, let that voice grab your attention so that you can follow.

 

Today's Prayer

 

My speaking Lord, help me to know and love Your gentle voice throughout my daily life.  May that voice overwhelm all others that compete for my attention.  I choose You, dear Lord, as my one Shepherd and guide.  Jesus, I trust in You.

 

 

God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

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