Monday, April 27, 2026

 

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:1-18; John 10:11-18)

A woman had an executive position with a Church organization.  Yet she put her life on hold to take care of her mother in a persistent vegetative state.  The woman was not looking for admiration, much less to be called a saint or to be paid.  She gave of herself out of love for her mother and for God.  She wanted to please God who, she knew, commanded attention to one’s parents.  This woman was acting like Jesus as he describes himself in today’s gospel.

The gospel completes Jesus’ Good Shepherd Discourse begun in yesterday’s mass.  Where yesterday he identified himself as the “gate for the sheep,” today he uses the more familiar metaphor.  He gives two reasons why the analogy obtains.  First, he will die for his sheep, and secondly, he knows his sheep.  Jesus also knows that God, the Father, loves him for giving his life to save his sheep.

When we pray to God, “…lead us not into temptation,” we are asking deliverance from situations like the woman in the true story or like Jesus.  If we do find ourselves facing a difficult task, there may be alternatives which would cost us less than everything. Nevertheless, we should also pray regularly that if complete self-sacrifice is ever required, we will summon the love and courage to meet the challenge.

 

Monday, May 4, 2020

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:1-18; John 10:11-18)

One may be a good shepherd in two senses.  He is good if he always does what he knows to be right.  He is also good if his shepherding is of high quality.  Today’s gospel highlights both these senses of good.

Jesus’ shepherding excels because, first of all, he will stay with his sheep when danger appears.  He will not, as he says of the hired hand, “leave(s) the sheep and run(s) away” in the presence of a wolf.  Reflecting on these words, priest-martyr Blessed Stanley Rother stayed with the persecuted people he served in Guatemala.  Also, Jesus shows his ability to shepherd by knowing his sheep.  Like a teacher knows which of her students need attention and which work better alone, Jesus knows each sheep.  Finally, Jesus is good in the sense that he gives his life for love of his sheep.  Goodness certainly characterizes someone so generous. Again, Stanley Rother serves as an example.  He was murdered by the military when he stood with his people.

We are the sheep that Jesus shepherds.  He loves us collectively and individually.  He provides the sacraments to move us along the road of sanctity.  He also speaks to us personally in our hearts.  We should not hesitate to call on him for help.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

(Acts 11:1-18; John 10:11-18)

When Fr. Stanley Rother received a message threatening his life, he refused to leave his mission.  “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger,” he said.  Fr. Rother was a priest from Oklahoma working among indigenous people in Guatemala.  Eventually he did leave, but he could not stay away long.  Urged by the words of today’s gospel, he returned to the people he had come to love.  Not long afterwards, he was assassinated.  As Pope Francis has declared him a legitimate martyr, Rother will be beatified this September.

Jesus, the Son of God, will lay down his life for all humans.  His death will be neither suicidal nor resisted.  Rather it will manifest sacrificial love for the good of sinners.  Jesus makes them holy – the first meaning of sacrifice – by acting as their representative.  On their behalf he perfectly obeys the Father’s will that he immerse himself in the world.  It is the world under the spell of the evil one who has him crucified.  God in the end will raise him and those who join themselves to him from the dead.

We join ourselves to Jesus in Baptism and live this union in our relationships with others.  Mothers exhibit Jesus’ sacrificial love when they care for a sick child through the night.  Children reflect his love when they take their feeble parents to see the doctor.  All of us show Jesus’ love when we care about and support one another.