Tag: disciple

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Good Shepherd Sunday

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Mass Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
First Reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52
Psalm: Psalm 100:1-3, 5
Second Reading: Revelation 7:9, 14B-17
Gospel: John 10:27-30

Happy Mother’s Day to all our friends and family around the world who celebrate mothers today.

The fourth Sunday of Easter which is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” is also the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.” As always, you can find the links to today’s readings as well as some excellent resources for vocations and discernment in the notes section and also on our website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org https://www.deaconrudysnotes.org/. Today, we remember in a special way all our bishops and our priests. But the challenge of the Scripture today applies to all in leadership roles over God’s flock, the Church.

First, who is the Church? John tells us today in Revelations Chapter 7, verse 9, that the Church is the “great multitude”. God swore to Abraham his descendants would be too numerous to count. And in the Church, as John sees, this promise is fulfilled.<1>

That’s an awesome image, right? But it can also be an overwhelming image too. I think its very easy to get lost in a big crowd and feel completely alone. Have you ever felt that way? My brothers and sisters, I have good news! Jesus tells us that he is our Shepherd and he will watch over us, so we are never alone. In today’s Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 100, verse 3, reminds us, “Know the Lord is God, he made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the flock he shepherds.”

Indeed, in today’s Gospel, John Chapter 10, verse 27, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” How does that work, exactly? How does he speak to me? Well, I think that in order to hear his voice, we need to stop talking! Right? How many of us in our prayers do all the talking and never pause for a second for the Holy Spirit to respond? I think if we listen, we can hear him speak to us at every Mass, through the Bible, through our pastors, through our parents, through our friends, through the events of our lives, and through his creation all around us. C.S. Lewis reminds us that, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, He speaks to us in our consciences, and He shouts to us in our pain!”

How many of us, I wonder, miss out on the hearing God’s voice or the angels’ song because we won’t quiet our minds or we can’t set aside the pressures of life that we often place upon ourselves? How can we ever really discern God’s will if we don’t hear his voice – if we don’t stop, drop and roll, as the Life Teen ministry suggests, follow the links at the bottom of this podcast notes for more information about that.

But God’s voice is not only for us. That’s why we, as disciples, are challenged to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ, just like Paul and Barnabas in today’s second reading from Acts Chapter 13. They “were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit” and continued to preach to the Gentiles who welcomed them with delight (v. 48).

Our challenge is to become good shepherds and good sheep, good leaders and good followers.

Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a shepherd. So, our pastors, parents, teachers, doctors, nurses, government officials, etc. are all shepherds. We become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time and talents for their benefit protecting them from physical and spiritual dangers. Parents must be especially careful of their duties to give their children good example through the way we live our Christian lives.

We are called to be good sheep – not passive, blind and dumb creatures – no! We are called to be actively good sheep. As sheep we are called to be part of the community – our local parish. There we hear and follow the voice of the shepherd through homilies, Bible classes, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction and advice. We receive from our pastors spiritual food by regular participation in the Holy Mass, by receiving the Sacraments, and by attending prayer services, renewal programs, and missions. We cooperate with our pastors by giving them positive suggestions for the good of the parish, by encouraging them in their duties, by lovingly offering them constructive criticism when they misstep, and by praying for them. We also should cooperate with our fellow parishioners in the activities of various councils, ministries and parish associations.

Together we are a good herd – a good church – when we continue the ministry of salvation begun by Jesus – when we reach out to the margins and share the Good News. God gives us Faith through Baptism, and then he strengthens that Faith in Confirmation. He supplies food for the journey in the Holy Eucharist and in His Divine Word through Scripture. He sanctifies our society through good and holy marriages and through the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life. May we foster a spirit of vocations in our families so that our children know they have options to serve the community as priests, deacons and consecrated religious brothers and sisters.

Our readings today offer us both comfort and challenge. The comforting message is that we are in the hands of the Good Shepherd. The challenge is that pastors and lay people alike should be good shepherds to those entrusted to their care.

Homework! I ask you to reflect on the following questions. I encourage you over the next week to pause at least once a day and consider these questions through your prayer and meditation:

  1. In what ways am I a good shepherd and in what ways must I improve?
  2. In what ways am I a good sheep and how can I be a better, more active part of the community?
  3. And our bonus challenge today is: May we pray for those discerning God’s call to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! May Almighty God bless you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

Notes
<1> Compare Revelation 7:9; with Genesis 15:5.

Resources

  1. World Day of Prayer for Vocations https://www.worlddayofprayerforvocations.com/
  2. Pope France Message for the 2019 World Day of Vocations
    http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/vocations/documents/papa-francesco_20190131_56-messaggio-giornata-mondiale-vocazioni.html
  3. USCCB World Day of Prayer for Vocations http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/world-day-of-prayer-for-vocations.cfm
  4. USCCB Discernment Tools http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/discernment-tools.cfm
  5. 3 Steps for Discernment by Life Teen: Stop, Drop and Roll https://lifeteen.com/blog/discernment-in-3-easy-steps/
  6. Fr. Mike Schmitz 4 Helpful Rules for Discernment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne8n-1ATd1s&vl=en
  7. Bishop Robert Barron How Should I Discern the Priesthood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdxYHfExkfo
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Third Sunday of Easter

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Readings
First Reading: Acts 5:27-32, 40B-41
Psalm: Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13
Second Reading: Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel: John 21:1-19

Peace be with you! Today’s Gospel is from John 21:1-19. You’ll find a link to the readings in the notes for this podcast. If for some reason the links don’t show up, no worries! You can always head over to my website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org, where you’ll always find the full text for this podcast along with links to the readings. Most of the reading links point to the USCCB website. That’s the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website where they have an excellent resource of the readings used in the mass every day of the week.

Now, there’s a lot going on in today’s Gospel where Jesus appears for the fourth time. Don’t forget, the first appearance was to Mary Magdala, (John 20:11-17). There is definitely a theme of reconciliation, right? Peter is reconciled with Jesus, (John 21:15-19). There is a Eucharistic theme in the sharing of bread and the fish, (John 21:12-13). But I would like to talk about the discipleship theme in today’s Gospel.

What does it mean to be a disciple? I think being a disciple means three things.
First, we need to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. (John 21:7). Now, accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior should change everything. It should change the way we look at the world; the way we see our family and friends; it should change everything. But does it? Look at the disciples. Jesus has appeared to them twice before and what are they doing? They went fishing – and not on some leisurely fishing trip. No! They are behaving like the commercial fishermen of their day – fishing by night so that they can bring the freshest fish to market the next morning.

Before you shake your head or roll your eyes in disbelief at Peter, I wonder how many of us, after a retreat, a mission trip, a pilgrimage or some other powerful encounter with Jesus, just go back to our everyday lives without giving it a second thought – just as if nothing happened? Having an encounter with Jesus – accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior – should change everything.

Second, being a disciple means we should want to learn more about Jesus. Jesus asks Peter, just as he asks each of us, “Do you love me?”, (John 21:15). Have you ever fallen in love with someone? Do you remember what it felt like when you first fell in love. It wasn’t enough just knowing their name, right? You probably wanted to know everything you could possibly learn about them. The same is true in our relationship with Jesus. If we love him, then we need to learn more about him. The Church has a treasure trove of excellent resources for us to learn more about Jesus. Many people have come before us and they’ve left us some amazing works of art, literature, stories and theology as they tried to understand Jesus. From GK Chesterton, to CS Lewis to JRR Tolkien; from Michael Angelo to the builders of beautiful churches adorned with magnificent works of art; to great teachers from John Henry Newman, to Teresa of Avila, to Augustine. There’s so much quality information out there to help us learn more about Jesus. Not sure where to begin? Your parish can offer you all sorts of ideas of places to begin. Either way, the great challenge of discipleship is for us to learn more about Jesus Christ.

Finally, discipleship means that we need to go out and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis calls this being a missionary disciple. So many people in this world struggle with all sorts of addiction – alcohol, drugs, pornography, sex – because they are missing something in their lives. But nothing can fill that hole in our hearts except Jesus Christ. So, we need to reach out to people to share with them the message of hope, the message of mercy and the message of love that comes from our Savior.

To be effective, we should emulate Jesus. What did he do? First, he built a small fire and fed the disciples. Like him, we need to meet people where they are. So, from the beginning, the Church has followed Jesus’ example by feeding, clothing, housing, and educating people. Our concern for people’s physical needs not only relieves human suffering, but also constitutes a powerful spiritual witness. We meet people where they are and by our example, we share the love of Jesus Christ with them. Through us, other people can have an encounter with Jesus Christ – an encounter that leads to transformation – transformation that leads to salvation.

Homework! This week I ask you to reflect on the following two questions.

  1. First, what does the way I live my life say about my love for Jesus?
  2. Second, how can I help support the mission of the Church in feeding, clothing, housing and educating people?

I think by doing our homework, we might become more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. Do you got it? Do you get it? Are you going to do it? Good! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!

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Second Sunday of Lent

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Readings
First Reading: Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 7-9, 13-14
Second Reading: Philippians 3:17-4:1
Gospel: Luke 9:28B-36

Jesus…led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them…they became frightened. They fell silent. (Luke 9:28B-36)

The readings about the Transfiguration of Jesus comes at an important time in Lent. As we move closer to Christ’s Passion, we will reflect on the humanity of Jesus. But the Transfiguration reminds of the divinity of Jesus. And of course, these readings remind us that we too need to undergo a transformation as we absorb the Word of God. If we’re truly to become disciples of Jesus, we need to move beyond superficial level of faith into a true relationship with Jesus. But I’d like to share another point of view.
How does Peter react? Scripture says they’re frightened, but Peter starts almost babbling, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” (Luke 9:33). Then, they all become super quiet. Why? What’s going on?

I suggest to you that Peter is fumbling because he’s been confronted with this simplicity of the truth, that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is not an earthly king who will liberate Israel. Rather, Jesus is truly the Son of God who has come to save humanity. This is one of those light dawns on marblehead kind of experiences for Peter, and we can almost sympathize with him, right? It must have been an overwhelming experience.

How many times in your life have you tried to explain something simple, but found yourself making it much more complicated than it really is? Or, how many times has it been so quiet that I felt the need to talk – to break the silence? There’s a powerful lesson I think in the Transfiguration story about being open to the simplicity of the Truth. Too often I think we try to overcomplicate and overthink the Truth. We try to overcomplicate and overthink our understanding of who God is and our relationship to God and His creation now and through all eternity. But like Peter, I think at some point we need to just stop talking and allow ourselves to witness to and try to absorb the simplicity of God’s saving message.

This has implications for the way I live my faith as an individual; for the way we try to cultivate discipleship in our family; for the way we organize and live our faith as the Church.

The Transfiguration is a powerful reading for us during Lent because it challenges us. It asks me to challenge my suppositions. Am I really on the right path? Or have I overcomplicated my faith life? Lent is a great time to stop babbling – stop running around like a hamster in a wheel, and like Peter just try to quietly absorb the simplicity of God’s saving message that comes to us through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Homework. I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions.

  1. Why do the simple disciplines of Lent that we started seem too much?
  2. Why is silence (letting go of thoughts like during meditative or contemplative prayer) so challenging?

I think by doing our homework, we might develop a better understanding of the challenges we need to overcome as we try to deepen our relationship with Jesus as his disciples. Do you got it? Are you going to do it? Well, good! May each of us come to know the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. +Amen!