FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – CYCLE B - 2018

Ø  Today the Church celebrates de 55^th World Day of Prayer for Vocations  

Ø  In the liturgy of this 4^th Sunday of Easter:   

o   Peter explains how the paralytic has been cured by the power of Jesus.  

o   John, in his first letter, says that we are children of God.    

o   And, in his Gospel he speaks of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  

FIRST READING  – Acts 4: 8-12

·         Theology of the book of Acts:  Luke continues in this book   the theological presentation of the prophetic and saving journey that started in the Gospel.   

·         Emphasizing how, this journey   programmed and guided by God the Father  and,

·         Walked during his earthly life by Jesus, the Son of God, prophet and savior,   is now continued by the Glorious Christ through the Spirit and by means of the prophetic witness of the Church.  

Let us reflect on today’s message:

v  Peter speaks to the religious authorities of Israel and says with courage  

o   That the paralytic has been cured in the name of Jesus  

o   Whom “you crucified” but God raised him  

v  This Jesus of Nazareth is 

o   The stone rejected by the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 

o   Peter openly denounces how they, who were supposed to help the people to know God, rejected Jesus, the cornerstone.  But

o   God has given him a name above every other name, a name which saves us  

v  It is a pleasure to see how Peter denounces and at the same time announces to the authorities, those in power, their wrong behavior; and how God has manifested to the whole world that they were wrong, even having the authority,  and how, on the contrary,  Jesus was doing the will of the Father.  

Responsorial Psalm: Ps  118: 1 y 8-9. 21-23. 26 y 28cd y 29

R. (22) The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his kindness endures forever.
R. The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. 

·         In the first stanza we will say to God   “I give you thanks because you are good. I think that this the general experience of those who invoke the Lord and get closer to Him.  

·         And in the next stanza we will repeat again “I thank you, because you have heard us.” When we feel that God pays attention to us we are filled with joy and we feel moved to sing and to repeat   words of thanksgiving to him. 

·         In the last verse we will say “You are my God, I thank you. 

Let us sing with enthusiasm and with a thankful heart this psalm to our God –Father, Son and Holy Spirit.     

SECOND READING  1Jn 3:1-2

      John says that the Father loves us so much that he calls us his children.  

      And this is the reason that the world does not recognize us: what that mean? It does not recognize us: as persons? In what we do? In what we say? … They did not recognize Him either.    

      But when he will appear we will be like him because we will see him. Does that mean that  to see him helps us to be transformed in his likeness?  

GOSPEL Jn 10: 11-18

Jesus addresses the Pharisees and tells them:    

v  I am the Good Shepherd, he had once narrated to us when he lived among us, the story of that shepherd who left the 99 sheep he had and went in search of the lost one, which he might not find. But our Shepherd does not stop until he finds us.  

v  He has called us all, to be shepherds of our sisters and brothers, servants like Him.   

v  In the next paragraph  John uses in different ways the verb “to know” which in Hebrew does not mean only intellectually but by experience, and it embraces the whole person. This verb is used to talk about the relation of intimacy in marriage.   

v  And the last message is “I have other sheep” they do not belong to this fold, we might say they do not belong to our parish, to our apostolic group, they belong to another church, another religion, they do not believe in God… But it seems that Jesus wants to tell us that nothing of this matters, that these sheep will also listen to him, listen to his voice, and that together with us we will make the only fold of Christ.  I think it means also that we are called to go and seek these sheep and love them.

CLARETIAN CORNER 

Our Lord gave me always the greatest love for my neighbor, and much love to endure his defects and bad condition, and always the conviction that they suffer me more. Thus I always was happy with everyone.  (Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress. Memories and Notes 6.)    

Beside the visitation and confirmations, I preached on all Sundays and holy days of obligation. I never failed to preach, no matter what part of the diocese I happened to be in at the time.  Toward the beginning of June I left the city and went to Caney, to conclude the mission that Father Stephen and Father Curríus had started and were very successfully carrying on. After confirming everyone, I preached the closing service of the mission. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder. Autobiography  516).