4th Sunday of Easter

 

The Good Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I shall want.

With His rod and His staff

He leads me through my dark valleys into greener pastures.

For Jesus to be our Shepherd we have to be like sheep.

But sometimes we may be more like cats.

Have you tried herding cats?

Can’t be done!

They go their own way and don’t really listen except when they want something.

That is why they need 9 lives because they can get into so much trouble.

Are we like sheep or like cats?

Do we hear the voice of Jesus?

And do we follow Him?

Or do we hear other voices and follow them instead?

The voices of advertising telling us what we need?

The voices of others telling us we are not good enough or pretty enough or smart enough?

The voices of others telling us what to think, what to wear and what to do.

And do we really follow Jesus ?

Or do we follow the crowd;

Or do we follow our own passions and desires?

And then we wonder why we end up where we do sometimes!

Every morning when we wake up,

We should say;

The Lord is my Shepherd!

His Voice is the voice I listen to;

And I will follow Him wherever He leads me.

For even though I walk through the dark valley,

He is beside me!

With His rod and staff that give me courage.

And I shall follow Him all the days of my life.

Friday 3rd. Week of Easter

 

Heavenly Bread Jn. 6:52-59

There are all kinds of bread available

From wheat to rye to raisin.

And they all feed the body.

But end up in the latrine

There is only one Heavenly Bread

That feeds the soul.

This Heavenly Bread,

Is the Flesh and Blood of Jesus.

Those who eat His Flesh and Drink His Blood

Will have Eternal Life

And He will raise them up on the Last Day.

And this Heavenly Bread is only served

at the Table of the Lord at Mass.

Nowhere else.

Thursday 3rd Week of Easter

 

Bread that Becomes Flesh! Jn. 6:44-51

There is life and then there is Eternal Life.

Life is good but Eternal Life is better!

But how does one get Eternal Life?

By eating the Bread of Life.

Jesus is the Bred of Life.

The Bread Jesus offers us is no Ordinary Bread.

It Is His very Flesh. Jn. 6:51

And whoever eats it,

Will not die but live forever!

And this Bread cannot be bought in a store,

But can only be found at Mass.

and it costs nothing.

But is given freely

And was paid for

When Christ gave His life on the cross,

For the life of the world. Jn 6:51

Wednesday 3rd Week of Easter

 The Persecution Acts. 8:1

Sometimes what appears to be a bad thing,

Turns out to be a good one,

When we trust in God.

The Church in Jerusalem experienced persecution

So it spread out into the countryside of Judaea and Samaria.

If the Church had never been persecuted;

It may never have spread out;

Persecution therefore was a means

That God used to spread the Gospel.

God is always taking what appears to be a Sow’s ear,

And turning it into a silk purse!

Philip and James Apostles

 Tuesday :Philip and James Apostles

A disciple is one who learns

And an Apostle is one who is sent.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Apostles,

Philip and James,

Whom Jesus sent out to preach the Gospel.

But first they had to learn.

Philip had to learn that

“Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father.”

Jesus is the perfect reflection,

The perfect image and likeness of the Father

Who is in Heaven and who no one had ever seen.

And this is why Jesus is

The Way to the Father,

The Truth of the Father

And the Eternal Life of the Father.

And once Philip learned this,

He was able to be an Apostle,

Whom Jesus sent out into the world,

To be the perfect reflection,

The perfect Image and likeness of Jesus,

To others.

St. Athanasius

 

Monday : St. Athanasius

Bishop of Alexandria; Confessor and Doctor of the Church; born c. 296; died 2 May, 373. Athanasius was the greatest champion of Catholic belief on the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known and in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of "Father of Orthodoxy", by which he has been distinguished ever since.

“God became Man so that Man might become like God.”

Saturday of Easter

 Queen of Heaven

V. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia. 

R. For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia. 

V. Has risen, as he said, alleluia. 

R. Pray for us to God, alleluia.

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. 

R. For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.