MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER - Jn 10:1-10 - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

" I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me." (Jn 10:14)

READING OF THE DAY

A reading from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles

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."

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John

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 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."

Although Jesus used this figure of speech,

they 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."

MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER - Jn 10:1-10

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

In God's Word today, God the Father invites all humanity to run to Jesus Christ. This is because He is the good shepherd, whoever comes to Him will receive His mercy, will be saved by Him, will be cared for and protected by Him. No one, nothing benefits humans, brings life to humans besides the Creator. The One who took on human flesh, Jesus Christ, is the only one who can bring humans eternal life. Therefore, anyone who does not practice the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Bible and in the Realistic Word of God will not have eternal life.

The Word of God today introduces people to the image of a shepherd, Jesus Christ Himself. He said, "Whoever does not go through Him will not have eternal life." Because He Himself had been prophesied in advance: through His death and resurrection, He would bring salvation to humans. Besides Him, no one will bring perfect life to humans. God the Father calls people to be awake. Run to Jesus Christ because He is the good shepherd, He sacrificed Himself to redeem humanity.

Today God the Father also invites everyone to run to Jesus Christ so that He can bring eternal happiness to people. It is the power and love of God the Father, the power and love of Jesus Christ. This power and love will spread down to the bodies and souls of humans when His life and death are manifested in humans through the Eucharist; He sacrificed Himself to bring eternal life to humans. He is the Bread of Life. He is the food to nourish man's soul and body. His words will bring life to those souls who know how to carry out the will of God the Father. And it is His Holy Body and Blood that will nourish people, when they know to trust absolutely in the invitation of Jesus Christ, believing in His death and resurrection in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thanks be to God. Amen