FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER – CYCLE A - 2023 

INTRODUCTION

Ø  The central theme of today’s Gospel is Jesus, the good Shepherd, who is the gate of the sheep  and for the sheep. 

Ø  In the first and second readings Peter reminds us that Jesus has suffered in the hands of sinners.  

Ø  He who did not know sin, and in whose mouth no evil was found, suffered silently.  

Ø  His wounds have cured us.   

Ø  The theme of Jesus’ suffering is present during the whole season of Easter.  

Ø  The Risen Lord has the marks of the nails and of the lance, so that we do not forget his death even during the joyful time of Easter.   

Ø  Today the universal Church prays for vocations of special consecration, let us ask the Lord to send laborers into his field. Let us ask the Lord that young men and women may follow his call to work in his vineyard as priests, deacons, religious men, and women.   

FIRST READING  – Acts 2: 14a, 36-41

«  Peter is with the eleven, this means that Matthias had already been elected in the place of Judas. 

«   He stands up and proclaims the kerygma, the proclamation of Jesus as Lord and Christ.   

«  Peter announces solemnly that they crucified Jesus whom the Father has made Lord and Christ, 

«  On hearing that they were deeply distressed.   

«  Are we so distressed when we hear these words? We have also crucified the Lord many times during our life, especially when we have hurt anyone of our brothers and sisters. 

«  But we always have hope; Peter invites them to repent, to be sorry for their sin and to be baptized.  

«  Many of us are already baptized, but we always have the opportunity of the “second baptism”, the sacrament of reconciliation.  

«  The promise of the Holy Spirit made to the people of Israel is also for his descendants.   

«  We are the new people of Israel; we also participate in this promise.  

«  Peter continues to proclaim, and many accept and are baptized.   

«  Those who have been baptized become part of the little community of believers in Jesus, the Lord and Christ.    

RESPONSORIAL PSALM  Ps  23 

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want

In verdant pastures he gives me repose

Besides restful waters he leads me

He refreshes my soul.

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

He guides me in right paths

For his name’s sake

Even though I walk in the dark valley

I fear no evil; for you are at my side

With your rod and your staff

That give me courage

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

You spread the table before me

In the sight of my foes

You anoint my head with oil

My cup overflows

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want

Only goodness and kindness follow me

All the days of my life

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

For years to come. 

v  Psalm 23 is one of the most beautiful psalms. 

v  It speaks about unbound and filled with peace trust in the shepherd.  

v  The shepherd is always there, with his staff which gives security and peace   

v  The shepherd who leads the sheep to peaceful places of repose, where pasture and water are abundant.   

v  The shepherd who accompanies the sheep until the end of its life.  

v  Do we trust in this same way in our shepherd, Jesus?  

SECOND READING  1Pe 2:20b-25

Ø  We continue reading the first letter of Peter.     

Ø  Peter says to his community that to suffer being innocent is a grace, is a gift.  

Ø  Because to this we have been called to be like Christ.  

Ø  He suffered and has left us and example so that we may also learn to suffer like him.   

Ø  He did not insult, or threaten, but he handed himself over to those who judged him unjustly, and for whom he also offered his sufferings.  

Ø  Is this our behavior when we are treated or judged unjustly?  

Ø  He carried our sins in his body nailed to the cross, so that on being liberated from our sin we could serve God faithfully.   

Ø  If Jesus had not accepted the cross, we would never have been able to offer our works to God, we would not even had been able to do good works.   

Ø  We were going astray as sheep, and we have come back to the shepherd and guardian of our souls, Christ our Lord and Shepherd.  

Ø  Do we remember to give thanks for all that our shepherd and king has done for us?  And for his continuous care for us?  

GOSPEL – Jn 10:1-10

ü  Jesus says that whoever does not enter through the gate of the sheepfold is a thief and a robber.  

ü  The shepherd enters through the gate.     

ü  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice.   

ü  The shepherd calls them by name; each one is especial for him. Let us remember that someplace else in the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells the story of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep and goes in search of the one that went astray.   

ü  The shepherd goes before the sheep and leads them, they know his voice and they follow him.  

ü  Jesus says clearly that he is the gate of the sheep.   

ü  That the sheep do not follow strangers, but they follow him because they know him.   

ü  On reading this it came to my mind the question, those who leave the church, the community and do not come back, is it because in our words and actions they do not recognize Jesus, the shepherd ?   

ü  Jesus repeats again that he is the door, who enters through him, will be saved, and will enter and come back and will find good and abundant pastures.    

ü  The image of the door is very eloquent and very beautiful:  

o   The sheepfold did not have a gate. 

o   It was a circular place with an opening to enter and to leave.   

o   The shepherd allowed the sheep to enter at night and he slept at the entrance thus being the gate himself. 

o   If a robber or a wild animal wanted to enter the sheepfold, it would have to be through the shepherd.   

o   This is the image which Jesus presents to us when he says that he is the gate.   

o   We may be at peace and secure because our shepherd takes care of us, and he has come so that we may have abundant life.      

o   Are we at peace when we are with him?    

ü  The whole passage has an exceptional beauty, and it transmit a peace which only the Lord can give.   

ü  Why do we still fear? Has he not given us enough proofs that he loves us? 

ü  Some time ago the Pope in one of his short daily messages said:   “Do not be afraid, open  the doors to Christ.”  

CLARETIAN CORNER 

My companion and the three young ladies were firm in this conviction so that they were admired by everybody on the ship at the moment of saying goodbye to their parents. The latter, full of pain for the separation, were not able to hide their tears, and the daughters, with the joyful modesty shown by the smile on their lips more than by the tears in their eyes, bit them the last farewell. Those who said that they were handing five doves up to the hands of wild wolves were not wanting. But, O the infinite power of God who turns wild wolves to mildest lambs. Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 137. 

O my Jesus, give me your holy grace so that I may imitate you perfectly in practicing all the virtues. As you well know, I can do all things with you and absolutely nothing without you.

Love is the most necessary of all the virtues. Yes, I say it and will say it a thousand times: the virtue an apostolic missionary needs most of all is love. He must love God, Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his neighbors. If he lacks this love, all his talents, however fine in themselves, are nothing. But if, together with his natural endowments, he has much love, he has everything. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 437-38. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CLARET, Anthony Mary . Autobiography.

PAPA FRANCISCO, Vatican web page.

PARIS, María Antonia. Autobiography.

STOCK, Klemens. La Liturgia de la Palabra – Ciclo A

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER – CYCLE A - 2023 

 INTRODUCTION

Ø  On the third Sunday of Easter the liturgy, through the readings, invites us to see how a follower of Jesus lives the resurrection. This coming Sunday we will have two readings from Luke, one from Acts, and the other from the Gospel. 

Ø  Raymond Brown in his book A Risen Christ in Easter Time, explains that Luke puts the two volumes of his work within a geographical framework. 

o     The narrative begins in the Temple of Jerusalem (Lk 1:5-8.  When Zechariah, John Baptist’s father offered the incense) and the narrative ends in Rome (Acts 28:28) with an evangelization oriented towards the gentiles.   

o   The connection between both, the story of Jesus of Nazareth and the story of the Holy Spirit who guides the Church is “all the things that have happened in Jerusalem” which are the passion, death, resurrection and sending of the Holy Spirit.    

§  The passion and death  Lk 22-23  are narrated in the first volume  of Luke’s work: the Gospel 

§  The sending of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) is found in the second volume of the work: The Acts of the Apostles. 

§  But the resurrection, being so central for our faith, is narrated twice. We find the  apparitions of the Risen Lord at the end of the Gospel and at the beginning of the Acts. (Lk 24;  Acts 1:3-9)   

o   The Gospel begins in the Temple of Jerusalem  (1: 5-8) and ends also in the Temple of Jerusalem (24:53)

o    Acts begins in Jerusalem and ends in Rome (28:28); from there the Gospel  will be preached to the whole world.    

In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah describes how the nations invite one another to go up to Jerusalem to receive instruction from the Lord, because from Zion will come the Law and from Jerusalem the Word of the Lord.  (Is 2:1-3). According to the Work of Luke, the Good News of Jesus, begin  in Jerusalem and from Jerusalem they   are preached  to all the world.    

FIRST READING  – Acts 2: 14. 22-28

«  In the book of Acts we find this text after the coming of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. 

«  However, the liturgy of our Church offers this text on the third Sunday of Easter because, in his proclamation, Peter announces the Paschal Mystery of Christ, which we celebrate during Easter Season. 

«  The first verse introduces the proclamation 

«  Verses 22-24 are the kerygma or first proclamation of the Gospel of Christ. 

«  Peter is presented here as a prophet in the style of the Old Testament prophets. He denounces “you crucified him” and announces “but God raised him up.” 

«  Peter tells the people:

o   That Jesus is the gift that God had made to them and that they did not know how to appreciate it

o   That Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made by God to his people Israel.

«  On reading these texts it is consoling to realize that God always fulfills his promises and, that none of us is able to prevent them for being fulfilled, God is always faithful.

«  Jesus is the great gift from God, not only to his people but to the whole human race, but we continue to crucify him in the millions of our brothers and sisters who suffer because of our lack of love, our ambition, our avarice, the  consumer society, the lack of respect for our common home, and our indifference. As St Peter puts it “you have crucified him” and we could rephrase this sentence saying: you continue to  crucify your brothers and sisters today. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM: Ps 16

R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.or:
 Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, "My Lord are you."
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.or:   
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.  
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.  
You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life. 

Ø  What a beautiful psalm, we perceive in it the trust that its author had and his complete abandonment in the hands of God.

Ø  The liturgy puts these words in the mouth of Jesus

Ø  O! if we had these absolute trust in our God and Father!

Ø  Jesus has taught this during his life

Ø  May we be able to say to God the Father as Jesus did “my heart rests in you.”  

SECOND READING  1Pt 1:17-21

We continue to read the First Letter of Peter which we began on the Second Sunday of Easter. 

Ø  The Father judges us according to our own behavior.

Ø  Peter invites us to live during our earthly life, as a sojourn in a strange land, remembering that we have been liberated from our old ways of life, not by money, but by the blood of the lamb. 

Ø  During the first Passover celebrated in Egypt before leaving the country; the blood of the lamb,  that had been sacrificed, and was going to be eaten during the Passover meal, smeared on the doors would be a sign for the angel to spare the household members. Peter uses this image to remind us that the true lamb whose blood saves and redeems us is the blood of Christ the true lamb, sacrificed on the cross, and raised from the dead by the Father. 

GOSPEL LK  24,13-35.

      This passage is the image or representation of the journey of faith of the disciple of Jesus.

      And also of the Eucharistic celebration (Word and Body of the Lord) 

      It presents to us the journey of faith based on Scriptures, which the Lord clarifies for us on the way   (vv.17; 25-23)

      Journey of faith  that has its ups and downs    (vv. 21-24)

      Their heart was enkindled as the Lord was speaking  to them, but they were not aware of it,  until   the breaking of the bread    (v.33)

      Faithful to the precept of hospitality that God had given in the law, they invite the foreigner to stay for the night since it was already dark. (v.29)

      The action of Jesus together with the fire that had been enkindled in them on the way, through the words of the traveler, prepared their hearts to recognize him in the “breaking of the bread.”  (v.30)

      When the man on the road joined them, they were tired and sad; now after discovering  that the man on the road was Jesus, the same Jesus whom the women saw  they got the strength to go back to Jerusalem.

       When they arrived all the others told them that the Lord was risen indeed, because Peter had seen him. 

      Let us reflect and meditate: 

o   When we come to the Eucharistic Celebration, do we allow the Lord to enkindle our heart with his love?   

o   Do we listen to his Word with the same attention that we had the first time we listen to it? . 

o   Do we receive the Bread of the Eucharist, his body and blood, with the same enthusiasm and joy of the first time. 

o   Do we ask the Lord to explain to us the meaning of what is going on in our life, in our  family, in our community, in our society, in our world?  Do we listen to what he says?

 CLARETIAN CORNER  

In this occasion, when I needed this hope so much, the Lord enlivened it in my soul to such a degree that it was reflected in my body, and people around me in those last days were amazed to see the calm with which I acted  in everything, a clear sign  of the peace  that my soul enjoyed  in that occasion when all was a motive for disturbance and fear, but for those whose faith is dead, and hope more in powerless men than in God who rules and sustains the whole world with just an act of his will. And neither the earth nor the sea with all the elements will ever surpass their limits without the divine disposition. (Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 136) 

Overwhelmed by the nomination, I had no desire to accept it because I considered myself unworthy and incapable of such a great dignity, for which I lacked both the necessary knowledge and virtue. Even after prolonged reflection on the matter, I concluded that, even if I had the required knowledge and virtue, it would be wrong for me to abandon the Religious Library and the Congregation, which were just coming into being.  Therefore I forcefully rejected all the overtures of the Papal Nuncio, Monsignor Brunelli, as well as those of the Attorney General of Spain, Don Lorenzo Arrazola. When both of these gentlemen, the Nuncio and the Attorney General, saw that they were getting nowhere with me, they decided to work through my superior, the Bishop of Vich, whom I always obeyed blindly, and he, in turn, formally commanded me to accept. (Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters, Autobiography 495.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BROWN, Raymond, A Risen Christ in Easter Time.

CLARET, Antonio María, Autobiography.

PARIS, María Antonia, Autobiography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER- A-20232

In the  second Sunday of Easter the Gospel reading tells us that  Jesus came into the room where his friends were gathered together.   

FIRST READING  – Acts 2,42-47

Ø  These verses describe the life of the first community of the followers of Jesus. 

Ø  Community formed by men and women impacted by the resurrection of Jesus; the Jesus   whom they had seen on the cross;  or had heard about. 

Ø  The first community of followers  devoted themselves to

o    the teachings of the apostles   

o   The communal life 

o   The breaking of the  bread

o   The prayers

Ø  Is it not what we do in our communities? 

o   In the celebration of the Eucharist or Mass 

§  We listen to the Readings from Scripture, “the instruction of the apostles.”  

§  We pray together.  

§  We “break the bread” of the Eucharistic communion. 

Ø  Do we not put our goods in common?  Some   do it more radically while others do it in a less drastic way, but we all share our goods through   

o   The social works of the Church

o   The works of charity when our brothers and sisters are in need.  

o   Helping with the expenses and maintenance of our parishes, where we meet as the XXI  century community of the followers of Jesus  

Ø  But let us ask ourselves: does our enthusiasm about the resurrection of Jesus resemble their enthusiasm? Or maybe time has caused  our enthusiasm, and  our love for Christ and for his suffering members, to cool off? 

The responsorial psalm invites us to give thanks and reminds us of the goodness of our God who has raised Jesus, the Stone which the builders rejected and which has become the corner stone.  

FIRST LETTER OF PETER

Let us say something about this letter of Peter. In the New Testament we find two letters of Peter, the first letter of Peter and the second letter of Peter.    

«  The letter begins saying “Peter, apostle of Christ to the elected…”  and ends sending greetings from Babylon, name given to   Rome. 

«  In chapter 5 the author speaks of himself as elder and witness to the passion and glory of Christ.  

«  From the beginning of the Church the author of this letter was Peter for the reasons mentioned above. 

«  However, for some this affirmation presents some difficulties for the following reasons: 

o   The literary style as well as the Greek language of this letter do not seem to come from a fisherman from Galilee. 

o   The biblical quotes are taken from the Greek Bible instead of the Hebrew one.

o   There is also a lack of references to his personal memories as a close companion of Jesus. 

«  However, there is nothing definite because there are not sufficient arguments to prove either of the two positions.

«  This letter has 5 chapters, and it resembles  more  a homily than  a letter. 

«  The theme is the passion of Christ related to the sufferings of the addressee of the letter.   

«  They knew very well what were the consequences of baptism; the persecutions and sufferings that awaited them. Thus there are many references within the letter to the baptismal catechesis and liturgy. 

«  Peter reminds  them of the future that will be theirs if they remain faithful.   

SECOND READING   1Pt 1,3-9

o   Thanksgiving to the Father who has given new life to us through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus.   

o   The hope we have is the inheritance that cannot be destroyed because it is in heaven.  

o   God protects us so that we may be able to attaint this inheritance.

o   After mentioning hope, the author of the letter speaks of faith. He invites us to rejoice amid the difficulties that put our faith to the test.   

o   He says something which is really beautiful: “although you have never seen the Lord, you love him.” This sentence seems to be the echo of what John will write in his gospel: Blest are they who have not seen and believed.”      

o   The faith in Him produces a joy impossible to describe, joy because we are saved by the Lord. 

o   Is our hope, faith and love for the Lord so strong that they give us this overflowing joy?   

GOSPEL Jn 20,19-31

In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week… what day is that? The day of the resurrection.  Jesus appears to his own, who are hiding because they are afraid.

      The Lord comes and stands before them. He shows them his hands and his side, so they may realize that it is Jesus himself. He allows them to touch him to help them understand that he is not a ghost or an illusion of their mind.  

      His presence brings peace.  The peace he gives, peace that produces joy in their hearts. 

      He sends them as he had been sent by the Father. He gives them the Holy Spirit   who will help them to forgive.

      When he comes back the next Sunday, with love and tenderness he invites Thomas to touch him.  

      Thomas says in response the beautiful prayer “My Lord and my God.”

      And Jesus tells him and to all of us “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those who will believe without seeing.” 

      Is it not that our happiness and blessedness?   We have not seen physically the Lord, but as Peter says we love him and believe in him. 

CLARETIAN CORNER

 

The missionary must be always kind and be all to all but without losing his composure and religious circumspection The whole world must be country for the missionary of Christ, because our Divine Redeemer came to redeem all, sending to preach the same Gospel all over the world.(María Antonia París, Foundress of the Claretian Missionary Sisters; The Apostolic Missionary, part II,1 & 10.)   In many passages of the Bible I felt the voice of God calling me to go forth and preach. The same thing happened to me while I was at prayer. Thus it was  that I determined to leave the parish and go to Rome, to present myself to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith so that they could send me anywhere in the world. (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Founder of the Claretian Missionary Sisters; Autobiography 120.)