HCPT – deacon rudy's notes

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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:

In what ways am I a good shepherd and in what ways must I improve?
In what ways am I a good sheep and how can I be a better, more active part of the community?
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

World Day of Prayer for Vocations https://www.worlddayofprayerforvocations.com/
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
USCCB World Day of Prayer for Vocations http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/world-day-of-prayer-for-vocations.cfm
USCCB Discernment Tools http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/discernment-tools.cfm
3 Steps for Discernment by Life Teen: Stop, Drop and Roll https://lifeteen.com/blog/discernment-in-3-easy-steps/
Fr. Mike Schmitz 4 Helpful Rules for Discernment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne8n-1ATd1s&vl=en
Bishop Robert Barron How Should I Discern the Priesthood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdxYHfExkfo

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Mass Readings
First Reading: Acts 5:12-16
Psalm: Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24
Second Reading: Revelation 1:9-11A, 12-13, 17-19
Gospel: John 20:19-31

The Lord is risen alleluia. Peace be with you on this Divine Mercy Sunday. Inspired by a revelation to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy Sunday focuses on the gift of mercy and love that we are given through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. All our readings today in some way describe God’s mercy and love.

The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 5 explains how the Risen Lord continued to show his Divine Mercy to the sick through the healing and preaching ministry of the apostles. The Responsorial take from Psalm 118 shows the Divine Mercy that “endures forever.” The second reading, taken from the first chapter of the Book of Revelation encourages Christians to fight fear with faith, and trepidation about the future with trust and hope. And in today’s Gospel from John 20, we hear that familiar story about doubting Thomas. You know, I think Thomas gets a bit of a bum rap, but Thomas says he will not believe unless he sees Jesus – unless he can see and touch Jesus’ wounds.

You know, I encounter a lot of people like Thomas – or perhaps worse. At least Thomas was willing to believe if he saw Jesus. I’ve encountered people who don’t want to see Jesus. There are those who are so angry about something that happened in their life or over someone they lost, that they are afraid of what they’d say to Jesus if they met him. They’re more willing to scream to heaven, “Where are you God!” Maybe they’re too comfortable with their anger.

I’ve also encountered people who are so embarrassed or ashamed of something they did, or something done to them that they can’t bring themselves to look in Jesus’ eyes. They think they are in some way unworthy. Maybe they’re afraid of being forgiven or they’re too comfortable with their pain or their embarrassment.

And then there are the people I’ve encountered who can’t believe that there is a Jesus at all. They have no desire to look for Jesus, let alone come face to face with him. They’re skeptical.

How do we bring God’s Divine Mercy to all these people? I’d like to share a recent experience with you. Last week, most of my family and I had the chance to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes with HCPT. I think I will dedicate an entire podcast episode to our experience, but for now, I’d like to share this brief story with you. HCPT is a UK-based organization founded by Dr. Michael Strode who is now a Cistercian monk. HCPT helps children and young adults with disabilities travel on pilgrimage to Lourdes. We were blessed to travel with HCPT Switzerland on the Easter pilgrimage.

On our last day, our group leader arranged for us to celebrate our last mass at the Catholic Ukrainian church in Lourdes. It’s a beautiful, small church. We invited the HCPT group from Bristol, the “Green Machine” to join us for our last mass since the Swiss group is an offshoot of the Green Machine. There was a young man in the Green Machine whose name I don’t know. As it happens, he’s confined to a wheelchair. As the mass progressed, he began to cry. Soon, he was outright bawling as were many of the Green Machine helpers. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to speak with him after mass, but what I’ve learned from others is that the end of pilgrimage week can be a highly emotional experience for everyone. You see, when all these youth from around the world gather together at Lourdes for Easter, they don’t experience judgment or prejudice there.

When we gather, we don’t see disabilities. We see people. Period. For some of the youth who come here, this may be a very different experience then their lives back home. I think those who travel here with some sort of disability experience the Divine Mercy of God through all the people around them. Whether the helpers realize it or not or want to believe it or not, they – we – are conduits for God’s Divine Mercy. But Jesus also said, whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me, Matthew 25:40. So when we treat people with disabilities with respect and as equals, we are in fact ministering to Jesus Christ. We are touched by the Jesus through those to whom we minister. So you see, we allow Jesus to touch others through us and we are touched by Jesus through others.

But this experience of sharing with each other God’s mercy isn’t something limited to Lourdes that can be bottled up and brought home. God’s mercy is available to all of us all the time – no matter what we’ve done. We just need to ask. You see, in today’s Gospel, when Jesus appeared to Thomas, he could have run, because Jesus will not force himself on anyone. Like Thomas, we need to be willing to face Jesus and allow God’s healing to wash over us. That’s the beautiful thing about the waters of Lourdes. It helps us experience in a concrete way God’s mercy washing us clean – healing us. But it doesn’t end there.

Jesus gave us his Church to bring us God’s mercy and grace every day! In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his Apostles, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained,” John 20:23. We see this as the foundation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some people ask, “Why do I need to go confess my sins to a man?” But it’s not about the priest. We confess our sins out loud to take responsibility for what we’ve done. We say it! We own it! We ask God for forgiveness. We can also experience God’s mercy through the mass itself – most especially in the Blessed Sacrament. In fact, we can experience God’s mercy through all the Sacraments in one way or another. The question is, are you ready, like Thomas, to face Jesus and proclaim, “My Lord! My God!”? And that leads us to our homework today.
Homework! I encourage you to reflect on the following two questions this week.