“What a joy to worship the Lord!” Kuya Danny said as he approached me after our prayer meeting. He was always encouraging and incredibly generous. He gave me a small paper bag filled with suman and cashew nuts. “This is from Antipolo. Keep on doing your work of evangelizing, OK?”

Kuya Danny was nearing 70 years old but his zeal to spread the Gospel was tireless. He headed our prayer group’s training and was active in our events. “We need more people like you and many others to help spread the Good News!” I told him, “Thanks, Kuya Danny! But I believe we need more people like you. You are an inspiration!” That was our last conversation because Kuya Danny passed away two years after.

Jesus calls us to proclaim the Good News to as many people as we can. We never know how one message can bring entire households to Jesus. Let’s do our part in the Great Commission so that many will be saved. Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com)

reflect

“Missionary zeal does not grow out of intellectual beliefs, nor out of theological arguments, but out of love. If I do not love a person, I am not moved to help him by proofs that he is in need; if I do love him, I wait for no proof of a special need to urge me to help him.” (Roland Allen)

Lord, put the words in my mouth so I can proclaim Your Good News in a way that will draw others to You.

Saint Hermas, pray for us.

In a vision, the Lord affirms to Peter that the Gentiles who repent and believe in Christ are included among the faithful. The Church then has it from the highest earthly authority and leader, Peter, whose successor today is known as the Pope. The Gospel is for all people so everyone may be saved.

¹ The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, ³ saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” ⁴ Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, ⁵ “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. ⁶ 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. ⁷ I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a second time a voice from heaven answered, ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. ¹¹ Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. ¹² The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ 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, ¹⁴ who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning, ¹⁶ 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.’ ¹⁷ 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?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life- giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3, 4

R: Athirst is my soul for the living God.

² As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. ³ Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? (R) ^43:3 Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. (R) ⁴ Then will I go 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)

Gospel | John 10:1-10

We celebrate Jesus the Good Shepherd on this fourth Sunday of Easter. Sheep and goats are not smart animals. They just follow any sheep or goat that takes the lead. However, through their instinct, they learn and associate their well-being (daily food and water) with the voice of the shepherd. When they hear that voice, they will follow wherever he leads them.

Gospel Acclamation

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me.

¹ 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. ² But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. ⁵ But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” 6 Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. ⁷
So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

The Lord today seems a little confusing. He talks about being the gatekeeper and the gate as one. In Italy and other European cultures, the “portiere” (doorman) is not only a useful person but he could be a resource person in many ways, oftentimes also a handyman. He could be relied on for little “secrets,” for one. He can act as some kind of safety deposit box for little knick-knacks or small valuables that need to be kept for a while. After years of doing that seemingly boring job day by day, the porter soon knows all the quirks and quaint personality traits of everyone. The doorman knows—not his flock, but his many bosses in the building.

But the protagonist in today’s short Gospel passage occupies a dual role: the doorman and the door itself. There is, however, a sinister antagonist—the figure of the thief and robber who goes through some other way.

The porter knows the shepherd. But there is someone else other than him that the Lord speaks glowingly about. Let me enumerate the many ways the real shepherd is extolled. First, the sheep hear his voice. Second, he calls his sheep by name. And third, he leads them out to pasture. All three have to do with deep intimacy and genuine caring. The depth of love and caring is mutual. “The sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

As a counselor, I am familiar with the tendency to see narcissists as represented by cats. Cats, unlike dogs, hardly reciprocate the love of their masters. They do not come across as loving and loyal like dogs are to their owners. Having been an educator and formator for many years, I know whereof I speak. The narcissism epidemic has made many young people unable to appreciate the good done to them, and consequently, unable to also be grateful. They all think they deserve it and the world owes everything to them.

The Lord today gives a double dose of care. He is both the door and the keeper of the door. And both are at the service of life—life in its fullness! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB

reflection question

How have you experienced God as the door and keeper of the door in your life?

Dearest God, thank You for keeping me in Your care. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _______________________________________