The Sheep and Shepherd

“ I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”

First Reading:  Acts 2:14, 36-41

          But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him." And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Psalm: Psalm  23:1-6

Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:20-25

          For what credit is it, if when you do wrong and are beaten for it you take it patiently? But if when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God's approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Gospel: John 10:1-10

          " Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Reflection
By Benj Santiago

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.”

When I feel fearful and lonesome, my favorite Psalm to reflect on is Psalm 23. I feel secured thinking that my Lord Jesus is my Shepherd. I google searched what a shepherd do and this is what I got. "A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards herds of sheep. The word stems from an amalgam of sheep herder. It also means: One who cares for and guides a group of people, as a minister or teacher."

This song or psalm is attributed to David, a shepherd boy who had been used by God to defend Israel from the Philistine giant named Goliath. As a shepherd, David defended his flock from the attacking lion and bear. As a shepherd, he led the flock of sheep to the green pasture. Jesus, a carpenter, used the imagery of a shepherd and the Pharisees did not understand why he has to use the imagery of a “gate”.

I am a regular attendee of the PICC Feast being led by Bro Bo Sanchez. My whole family, my flock, go to the Feast every Sunday. I feel the Lord’s loving presence in the Feast. My whole family is being led and being fed with the Word and the Holy Eucharist. We are being blessed by Bro Bo Sanchez’ talks on wide ranging topic from practical spirituality to financial management. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Shepherd and He is using Bro Bo to be our shepherd and in turn, we also are sent to be the shepherd to our family and to the people we meet.

Every opportunity to serve and lead people is an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of love and concern our Lord, the Good Shepherd, has for us. We, as Christians are commissioned by Christ to be a good shepherd to others. We can be like David who defended his flock against the lion and the bear. It can be as simple as leading people to attend the Holy Mass or attend a prayer meeting to get their souls nourished. Or it can be a practical help like guiding them in finances, or family life. We can be a good shepherd to our co-employees by guiding them how to perform to the best of their abilities. In the church organizations, we can also be a good shepherd to our co-workers by leading them through imitating Jesus Christ.

In everything we do be it small or big, be it our job, our family activity or a social cause, let us imitate the Good Shepherd. Let us lead and protect all the people we care for. Let us be led by Jesus so that we can lead others too!

Prayer

Our loving and awesome Father, we thank You for giving us Your Son Jesus Christ to be our Good Shepherd. We thank You for giving Jesus to lead us into the green pastures and restful waters. We ask You Lord to make us like Jesus for others; faithfully and lovingly leading others ultimately to You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Limitless Love

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb 23
First reading Leviticus 19:1-2,17-18

The Lord spoke to Moses; he said: ‘Speak to the whole community of the sons of Israel and say to them:

  ‘“Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.

  ‘“You must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must openly tell him, your neighbour, of his offence; this way you will not take a sin upon yourself. You must not exact vengeance, nor must you bear a grudge against the children of your people. You must love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord.”’

Psalm                                                                            Psalm 102:1-4,8,10,12-13
Second reading                                                        1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred; and you are that temple.

  Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men’s thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

Gospel                                                                         Matthew 5:38-48

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer the wicked man no resistance. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if a man takes you to law and would have your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone orders you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.

  ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

Reflection by Rosalinda Markell

Reflecting on today's Gospel, I came across these words:  "The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit, he has ceased to be wise and to do good.  He devices wickedness on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not abhor evil.  Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens.  Your faithfulness reaches the clouds." (Psalm 36:3-5)

In this psalm, David contrasted the way of life of unbelievers and believers. In conclusion, he affirmed that God will protect and sustain the faithful and punish and destroy the wicked. According to David, the unbelieving person is one who has "no fear of God before his eyes."

Regardless of the circumstances of life, whether we are in a moment of sanity or going through a time of trials such as being bullied at work, made a laughing stock in the neighborhood, persecuted for one's belief, victimized by others' gossip, and the like, let's hold on to God’s love which is always a beacon of hope, ever-present and inexhaustible source of strength and confidence. God's love for us is limitless. Do not worry if people say bad things against you, stay humble, and do not be disturbed. "And when you are disturbed, do not sin, ponder it on your beds and just be silent." (Psalm 4:4). Retaliation is out of the question here.  As the saying goes "Live and let live" or, much better "Let go and let God"! A word of caution though.  When Jesus tells us to bear with one another, it doesn't mean we simply accept evil as something normal.  We must endure evil without compromising our sense of sin. For example, bribing government officials would seem to be norm to fast track our request and stealing might be the easiest way to get rich, but they are still evil.

Prayer

Whenever we hear the things that people are saying about us, heavenly Father, we want so much to set the record straight!  We realize that we have two alternatives, to identify and confront the source, or to let it go and let the truth become self-evident. Please show us what the wisest course of action to take. Then please help us to follow through with confidence, knowing that You are ultimately in control of the situation. We pray, Lord, for enlightenment of our minds, soul, and spirit, and we ask You to please bless us all, even those who persecute us.   Amen.

The Dreamer, the Mover

4th Sunday In Advent
19 December 2010





Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.


First reading Isaiah 7:10-14


The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test.’
Then Isaiah said:
‘Listen now, House of David:
are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men
without trying the patience of my God, too?
The Lord himself, therefore,
will give you a sign.
It is this: the maiden is with child
and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel,
a name which means “God-is-with-us.”’

Psalm 23:1-6

Second reading Romans 1:1-7

From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures.
This news is about the Son of God who, according to the human nature he took was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace.

Gospel Matthew 1:18-24

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.


Reflection
By Pietro S. Albano

During my early teens I had a dream of talking with the late Cardinal Jaime Sin, former Archbishop of Manila. When I woke up and told my aunt about it, she only dismissed it. A few years later, during a convention of our religious organization, I was assigned together with other youth members to arrange the stage right after the Mass presided by Cardinal Sin. As my colleagues and I approached the stage, we were surprised to see the Cardinal still there. One by one we approached him to kiss his ring. When it was my turn, I introduced myself as the grandson of Dr. Paulino Albano whom he knew very well. "Oh yeah?" was his only reply with a smile on his face, but for me it was a moment I never thought would have happened. A dream has come true!

In the last leg of our preparation for Christmas, we are presented with a great dreamer: Joseph of Nazareth. A few nights ago, we watched "The Nativity Story" on DVD. It was a movie produced in 2006 which, as the title suggests, tells the story of Christ's birth. Joseph was portrayed as an industrious young carpenter who had feelings for Mary although this was not reciprocated at once by his beloved. He came to Joachim (Mary's father) when the latter did not have enough money to pay taxes which resulted in Joachim's donkey to be confiscated as a collateral. Joseph and Mary were later engaged. However, something happened which almost destroyed the future of this two people. Mary, as what we are told in the Gospel, conceived a child but not of Joseph's. Yet we witnessed how a dream made a U-turn!

Some commentaries stated that although the angel quoted Sacred Scriptures in the dream, the devil may have disguised himself to trick Joseph. But why did Joseph believe? Some said that is because he was a "son of David". He was aware that this Saviour would be born in the "house of David" to which he belonged.

Like Mary, Joseph was one of those who longed for the Coming Messiah. Perhaps this longing may have subconsciously worked its way into Joseph's dream. To obey the angel's instructions in the dream would then be his way of welcoming the Messiah into his family. Hence, Jesus would become known too as the "Son of David".

By his obedience, Joseph the dreamer of salvation became a mover in that salvation. His faithful obedience made that dream come true! Indeed, throughout that movie that we watched, Joseph truly conducted himself as a mature and responsible husband and father, a hero if you like for those in need: the Virgin and the Child in her womb.

We may not be as blessed as Joseph, but we too are called to make that salvation take place in our midst. During the first Christmas, Jesus came to offer Himself on the cross so that you and me would regain our place in heaven. Thus, by baptism we became children of God! As such, we are now called to be the new Josephs who will make dreams into realities. This coming Christmas, there are many out there who dream of a decent meal or dress or any other gift. They may perhaps only wish for someone to be with them this season. Reach out to them!

And if, at times you are hesitant to do so lest others would ridicule you, think of this mantra which I took from what the angel said:

(Your name), son/daughter of God, do not be afraid!

Prayer

Lord, You chose St Joseph to be the father of Your only Son on earth. By his prayers and examples may we take courage in Your promises and plans for us and cooperate in Your works as we prepare ourselves for the Saviour's Birth. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Next week on God-speak

No One Left Out