Meditation: Monday, April 15, 2002

[joachim]

Title: Meditation: Monday, April 15, 2002

The Catholic Calendar for Monday, April 15, 2002     The Fourth Week of Easter Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:     Acts 11:1-8     Psalm 42:2-3;43:3-4     John 10:11-18 A reflection on today's Scripture: "The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." (John 10:11) The cross represents the depths of human cruelty, but Christ, outstretched on that cross, depicts God extending Himself toward the four ends of the earth to touch the hearts of all humanity. Today's readings remind us of the universality of God's love and should be taken as a plea to receive and surrender to Christ's loving touch, for in that touch is the hope of all mankind. Our problem is that we will not allow Christ to touch us with His love, care and forgiveness unless we recognize our need for what He offers us. If we deny being sinners, if we refuse to listen to and obey the Word of life and instead insist on following our own will anywhere it leads, then we will shrink from Him and not be healed. Appropriately, Jesus cast Himself in the role of a Shepherd, living apart from worldly busyness and commerce, totally devoted to caring for the flock given Him by His Father. For sheep to survive, it is essential that they learn to recognize the shepherd's voice and follow him when he calls. Failure to do so opens them to danger, for in the wilderness a lost sheep, separated from the flock, becomes easy prey for wild beasts. To complete the analogy, Jesus warns us not to follow a stranger's voice no matter how appealing it may sound. As followers of Christ we must remain alert to a voice conflicting with that of the Shepherd, as it will only lead us astray to perish in the wilderness. Jesus assures us that He, the Good Shepherd, will go to any lengths to save us, even to losing His own life.     Almighty Father,          give us strength and courage through Christ,          our Shepherd who will lead us to join Your saints in heaven.          Amen. - Marie L. Bocko, ocds  ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) YOU CAN HELP to evangelize the Word of God: Please recommend our website to your friends and Catholic webmasters. The meditations are in English & Spanish at http://www.borg.com/~joachim/DailyMeds.html (case sensitive). ARCHIVED Meditations: http://www.abcsoffaith.com/quiet/quietplace.html and at: http://www.mail-archive.com/dailymed%40saturn.nibcomp.com For ALL communications, including subscribe/unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (c)2002 The Way, The Truth, The Life. Permission granted to make reprints of the meditations or to post on any web page, except for profit. All scripture quotes are from the Douay-Rheims edition of the Catholic Bible. Full text from the New American Bible: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Lives of the Saints: http://www.christdesert.org/public_texts/martyrology/