Liturgical Colour : White
John 13 : 31-33a, 34-35
At that time, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God will glorify Him, and He will glorify Him very soon. My children, I am with you for only a little while.”
“I give you a new commandment : Love one another! Just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Revelations 21 : 1-5a
Then, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.
A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them, and they will be His people; He will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was, has passed away.”
The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 144 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab
Compassionate and gracious is YHVH, slow to anger and abounding in love. YHVH is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.
All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.
That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 14 : 21b-27
Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra and Iconium, and on to Antioch. They were strengthening the disciples, and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith; for they said, “We must go through many trials to enter the kingdom of God.” In each church they appointed elders and, after praying and fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in Whom they had placed their faith.
Then they travelled through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. They preached the word in Perga and went down to Attalia. From there, they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commended to God’s grace, for the task they had now completed. On their arrival, they gathered the Church together, and told them all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the non-Jews.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the fourth in the season of Easter we celebrate the special occasion of the Good Shepherd Sunday, alluding to the Gospel passage today in which the Lord Jesus revealed Himself as the one and true Good Shepherd of all, as the One Who leads all the people, the flock of God’s faithful ones, to Himself and into salvation and eternal glory.
And this Sunday is also known as the Vocation Sunday, as we are all reminded of the role of those who have been called by God to be His priests, that is to be called to be shepherds, shepherds for the flock of the people of God. They have all been called to be shepherds in the image of the one and true Good Shepherd, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in their service and ministry to the faithful.
The Lord used the imagery of a shepherd in delivering the truth about His own ministry and work to the people because at that time, many of the people were shepherds and those who dealt with the flock of sheep and goats, cattle and all animals reared for their meat, or fleece or for milk. And by making the use of allegory and approximation to the role of shepherd in managing the flocks of animals, He wanted to show us how truly He is leading us down the right path, while at the same time loving each and every one of us so tenderly and dearly.
In the Scripture readings today the meaning and significance of this Good Shepherd and Vocation Sunday are brought forth to us, beginning with the Good Shepherd Himself, our Lord Jesus, Who is the model of all the shepherds of God’s people, as He came into this world, calling upon all of His sheep to come to Himself. In another occasion in the Gospel, the Lord used the example of a shepherd and his sheep again to bring across this point, in the parable of the lost sheep.
In that parable, He mentioned how the Good Shepherd, one who is truly loving and caring towards the sheep will leave behind for a while all the ninety-nine sheep that he has shepherded, and go to search for the one sheep that was lost from him. He will not rest until the lost sheep has been found, and when he manages to find the lost sheep, the joy he has is far greater than the joy of having the other ninety-nine. This does not mean that the ninety-nine sheep worth less than the one lost sheep. But rather, without the one sheep, the joy of the shepherd is not complete.
And that is what He has called His Apostles and disciples to do, to be the shepherds in His image and following His example, to gather all the people of God, those who have been lost and scattered away from Him. In the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how the Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas travelled from place to place proclaiming the Good News of God and preaching the Lord’s truth to the people.
The people listened to them and many became believers, leaving behind their pagan ways. This is what it means by the shepherds going out of their way to find the lost sheep. The lost sheep themselves are the people of God who have become lost in the darkness of this world, tempted by sin and by the darkness of this world. By calling upon them, the Apostles gathered the Lord’s flock and prevented them from being lost forever to the Lord.
And the works of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord are far from being complete, as there are still always a lot of the Lord’s lost sheep in this world, all the time, even to this present day and world. In fact, in our present day and world, there are even more and more difficulties and challenges that the world is presenting us, as the threat of secularism and indifference towards God and faith are ever growing, and those who advocate the end of the faith and belief in God are growing ever more vocal and influential.
This is also compounded by the fact that fewer and fewer people are willing and interested to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, as those whom God had called and chosen to be His priests, all those who are the forefront of the Church’s mission and work among the people, the shepherds whom the Lord send out to gather the lost sheep of His flock. And in our present day world today, we are aware of the many challenges faced not just by our priests and all the ordained, but also by the lack of vocation in many places all around the world.
That is why on this Sunday, all of us remember both Christ, our loving Good Shepherd, Who knows each and every one of us, His beloved sheep, that He wants to gather us all and keep us away from the dangers of this world. He has done exactly what He Himself said the good shepherd would do, that is to lay down His life for the sake of His sheep. He laid down His life on the cross, enduring all the bitter suffering, pain and punishment for our sins, that all of us may live and not perish.
And then we also remember all of our priests, all those whom God had called to follow His examples, to the ministry of being shepherds of the Church. They have enormous task awaiting them, as well as many difficult challenges that often become great obstacles in their path, and which surely often make them sorrowful, sad, and even stressed. Our priests and all those whom God had appointed to be shepherds, including our bishops and the Pope need our support and our prayers.
Let us also last of all remember to pray for all those whom God had called, those who have embraced the call and entered the seminary formation, studying and preparing themselves to become one of the Lord’s shepherds, as well as those other young and courageous men of all kinds who have been stirred by God in their hearts and minds to follow Him. Let us all pray that they will be able to discern their path in life, and that they will have the courage to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles.
May the Lord be with our shepherds, that all of them will be like Him, our one and true, and loving Good Shepherd, that in all things, they will give their all to love the flock of God’s faithful, and bring us all closer to Him and His salvation. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 10 : 27-30
At that time, Jesus said to the people, “My sheep hear My voice and I know them; they follow Me and I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, and no one will ever steal them from Me. What My Father has given Me, is greater than all things else. To snatch it out of the Father’s hand, no one is able! I and the Father are One.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Revelations 7 : 9, 14b-17
After this, I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the Throne, and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
The elder replied, “They, are those who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed, and made their clothes white, in the Blood of the Lamb. This is why they stand before the Throne of God, and serve Him, day and night, in His sanctuary.”
“He, Who sits on the throne, will spread His tent over them. Never again, will they suffer hunger or thirst, or be burnt by the sun, or any scorching wind. For the Lamb, near the Throne, will be their Shepherd, and He will bring them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away their tears.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 5
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.
For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 13 : 14, 43-52
Paul and his companions went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. After that, when the assembly broke up, many Jews and devout God-fearing people followed them, and to these, they spoke, urging them to hold fast to the grace of God.
The following Sabbath almost the entire city gathered to listen to Paul, who spoke a fairly long time about the Lord. But the presence of such a crowd made the Jews jealous. So they began to oppose, with insults, whatever Paul said.
Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out firmly, saying, “It was necessary, that God’s word be first proclaimed to you, but since you now reject it, and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we turn to non-Jewish people. For thus we were commanded by the Lord : I have set you as a light to the pagan nations, so that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Those who were not Jews rejoiced, when they heard this, and praised the message of the Lord; and all those, destined for everlasting life, believed in it. Thus the word spread, throughout the whole region. Some of the Jews, however, incited God-fearing women of the upper class, and the leading men of the city, as well, and stirred up an intense persecution against Paul and Barnabas.
Finally, they had them expelled from their region. The Apostles shook the dust from their feet, in protest against this people, and went to Iconium, leaving; the disciples, filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the third in the season of Easter, we are all reminded of the calling that the Lord has called us all Christians to do, as part of the whole Universal Church that He has established in this world. All of us as Christians are called to be the witnesses of the Lord’s truth and resurrection, to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and all those who have courageously stood by their faith as shown in our Scripture passages today.
In our first reading today, we heard of the courage of the Apostles, led by St. Peter, when they were faced with opposition and heavy persecution by the Sanhedrin, the powerful and influential High Council of the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin were filled with many of those who opposed the truth of Christ and who have also been among those who ordered the arrest and condemned the Lord Jesus to death, handing Him over to the Roman authorities to be crucified.
When the Apostles were told harshly and specifically under threat of torture and imprisonment by the authority of the Sanhedrin to stop preaching the truth of Christ, His resurrection and the salvation He has brought into this world, the Apostles, filled with the power and the courage of the Holy Spirit refused to back down and continued to be adamant in their commitment to bear witness for the Risen Lord. None of the Sanhedrin were able to stop the Apostles, and from then on, the Apostles continued their work among the people despite the heavy opposition from many groups.
What they were doing, was basically fulfilling what the Lord had called them to be, to be the fishers of men, when He first called some among them, especially St. Peter the Apostle, leader of the Apostles, who was called with his brother, St. Andrew the Apostle, and the two brothers, St. James the Apostle and St. John the Apostle, from being mere unknown and poor fishermen of Galilee, to be God’s own servants in calling His people to Himself.
In our Gospel passage today, God again called the Apostles, harking back to the first time He called them, as He appeared before them by the lake of Galilee right after His resurrection. The disciples were told to go to Galilee and to wait for the Lord there, and there, they spent their time fishing for fish without managing to make any catch at all despite having spent all the time on the boat all night long.
And in this symbolism laden Gospel passage, we can see the summary of what the Lord has called all of us to do, just as He called His Apostles to do what He had entrusted to them and commanded them to do. He told the Apostles to cast their nets to the side of their boat, and immediately, as they did what the Lord told them to do, an immense number of fishes were caught into their fishing nets, so many that the boat almost could not contain all of them.
In this, we see how the Lord truly guides His Church, and the Church is represented by the boat in which the Apostles worked in. The Church is indeed often represented with the imagery of a boat, sailing through the turbulent and dark waters. And the Apostles who helmed the boat are those who steered the Church through the times of opposition, persecution and challenge, just as what we have just heard in our first reading today, the persecution and opposition of the Sanhedrin among many others the Church had to endure.
The multitudes of fishes represent the multitudes of nations and peoples to whom the Apostles had been sent to proclaim the truth of the Lord and His Good News. Without the Lord to guide them, the Church and the Apostles could do nothing, just as they did not manage to get any fishes despite having laboured all night long and not catching any fish at all. But through the Lord’s works, which He performed through His Apostles, the Church and all those who succeeded the Apostles, the works of the Church came to present rich results and bounties.
And brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all the successors of the Apostles and those disciples to whom the Lord has entrusted the mission which He has bestowed upon His Church, with the clear words of instruction, “Go to all the nations and baptise all in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” And that is the Great Commission which Our Lord has given to His Church, to all of us who believe in Him, as our mission and responsibility.
We may think that what the Lord has called us to do is impossible to be done, or that it is too difficult, too daunting or too challenging. We may think that the Apostles and those disciples mentioned in the Scriptures were kind of superhuman who were given power beyond our normal human means and abilities. No, brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not true at all. For indeed, they were truly superheroes and are great role models for us, but they are equally just man just like us all.
It is a dangerous fallacy to think of the Apostles as people who are fundamentally different from us. They have been given the same ability as we have been blessed by God, and they are not more human or less human than we are. They are no less mortal than we are, lest we think of them as supernatural or even, as some misunderstood them in the early days of the Church, as divine beings. When the Apostles St. Paul and St. Barnabas went to the Greek areas of the Eastern Mediterranean, some of the people there worshipped the Apostles as if they were gods, to their great consternation.
No, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Apostles are just like us all, for they were too once sinners who were weak and easily tempted, who were ignorant and resistant to the faith and to the love of God. We must not forget that the Lord called them from various origins, some from among the educated, while others were poor peasants, uncouth, uneducated and even uncivilised. People looked down and despised some of them, like St. Matthew, a former tax collector.
The Apostles were also once cowards and doubters, who lost their faith the moment the Lord was arrested, and all of them abandoned the Lord and ran away. St. Peter in fact, as we all know, denied knowing the Lord not just once, but three times so that he could save himself and prevent himself from being arrested together with the Lord, and all these happened after the Apostle swore that he would even lay down his life for the Lord’s sake.
But the Lord empowered them and gave them a new strength and courage, by the granting of His Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the Lord Jesus Who gave them the power and the authority of His own power, to be the bearers of His truth and His champions in this darkened world, to be those who would bear the burden of being the ones to be at the forefront of the Church’s effort to seek the salvation of souls.
And the same St. Peter, who had denied knowing the Lord three times out of cowardice, in our Gospel passage today publicly and resolutely declared his obedience, love and commitment towards God, as the Lord Jesus asked him, not just once but thrice, “Peter, do you love Me?” This action is very symbolic and significant as it is the clear sign that not only that God had perfectly forgiven St. Peter for his threefold rejection of Him, three being a number often used throughout the Scripture to represent completeness and perfection, but also that He has indeed entrusted and bestowed on St. Peter and through him, the other Apostles, the very important responsibility and the authority that comes with that responsibility, to carry out the mission which He has entrusted to His Church.
The Apostles were imperfect, mortal and unworthy men, who embraced God’s love and grace, and by the Holy Spirit of God, received the strength and courage that allowed them to perform all that God had done through them. They allowed God to work His miracles and wonders, His merciful and compassionate works through them, by changing their lives and turning them from sinners and people belonging to the darkness, into the people of the light.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the very reason why many of us have not been able to experience this same experience as what the Apostles had witnessed and felt, and why we have not been able to walk in their footsteps is nothing less than our own refusal in refusing to allow God to make His works evident in our lives and through us. This requires us to overcome the challenges of the ego and pride within us, which are obstacles that often prevented us from being able to reach out to God.
Are we willing and are we able to allow God entering into our lives and making a difference not just in our own lives but also in the lives of all those who are around us, through our renewed and transformed lives, by the power and grace of God as He has done through His Apostles? Let us all spend some time to reflect on how we can make this happen, and that is by making ourselves willing and collaborative vessels of the Lord’s grace.
The Apostles and all our holy predecessors, all those who have dedicated themselves to the Lord could not have done so without the Lord being present in their midst and directing their efforts and actions. God made everything possible and He guided them all through the darkest and most difficult moments as was evident throughout the history of the Church. It was God Who made everything possible, and the Apostles and the holy disciples and martyrs allowed Him to guide them in their path and in their actions.
Let us all, as Christians, meaning that we are the successors and the inheritors of the ministry and the works of the Apostles, gather together and commit ourselves anew to the Lord, to the mission which He has entrusted to His Church. Let us all be the bearers of God’s truth and be the workers of God, in everything we say and do that many more people may come to believe in God and be saved, by following our examples and by being faithful in the way that we have been faithful. May God be with us all, and may He bless all of our good works and endeavours. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 