EASTER VI [A]: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, I Pt 3:15-18, Jn 14:15-21

In the second half of Eastertide we are encouraged to turn towards the season’s culmination in Pentecost by thinking of the Holy Spirit. This coming Sunday we celebrate the Ascension and the following Sunday the Pentecost. In today’s gospel John uses the term Paraclete for Holy Spirit, meanings that include such as Counsellor, Advocate, Mediator, Helper, or Comforter. In other words, a friend that we could all do with right now.

Jesus’ promised friend is like him: he is to be ‘another paraclete and in fact John refers to Jesus as a paraclete in his first letter (1 Jn 2:1). This Spirit is to be another friend, just as Jesus has been.
‘You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father’ (Jn 15:14-15).

The Spirit is a most needed friend and also one who allows the teaching and saving Lordship of Jesus to remain with his followers.

The Spirit’s presence allows all of us to see and know Jesus and experience his love and friendship. ‘Those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’ (14:21)

The risen Jesus’ continued presence in us and in the Church through the Holy Spirit gives meaning and purpose to all we are and all we do in his Name. As the Divine Advocate, the Holy Spirit will instruct us in Jesus’ doctrines and illumine our minds to receive deeper knowledge of our Faith. In addition, the Divine Advocate will enable us to defend our Faith powerfully and will guide us properly in our practice of true Christian love.

In this moment, when we need a light in the darkness and a friend when we cannot reach out and hold our loved ones, remember that the Spirit who ‘remains with and in you’ (Jn 14:17) is comforter, counsellor, and friend.

We need to be open to the Holy Spirit, our Paraclete. The purpose of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to help us grow towards maturity and wholeness. God, the Holy Spirit, helps us see the truth about ourselves, to discern the blocks that inhibit our growth, and to allow Him to transform us.  Like the Good Counselor He is, the Spirit enabling us to become stronger.  The Holy Spirit also comes to our aid and gives us the strength to make difficult and painful decisions.  The Holy Spirit actually lives in us, and we hear His voice counseling and guiding us in the way of truth.  Let us open the ears of our minds to hear Him and to obey His promptings.

EASTER V [A]: Acts 6:1-7, I Pt 2:4-9, Jn 14:1-12

Today’s Gospel introduces Jesus as the Way to God, the Truth to be accepted, and the Life to be shared and lived.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus consoles his apostles (who are sad and disheartened at His announcement that He will be leaving them soon), by assuring them that he is going to prepare an everlasting accommodation for them in his Father’s House in Heaven. He gives them the assurance that he will come back to take them to their Heavenly abodes. It is then that Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus answers Thomas’ question with, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” The basic doctrine of Judaism is that Yahweh is the Way the Truth and the Life. Hence, Jesus is making a revolutionary claim that he is equivalent to Yahweh. Jesus also declares that he is the safest and surest way to God, discrediting the notions that all religions are equally sure ways to reach God, or that no organized religion but only living a good life of sharing love is necessary to reach God. Jesus, however, is the Way which he calls narrow because it is the way of focused, loving, humble, sacrificial service. Jesus is the Truth who teaches revealed truths about God and God’s relation to man. Jesus also teaches moral truths by demonstrating them in his life. Jesus is the Life because, as God, he possesses the eternal life of God and shares his Divine life with his disciples through the Word of God and the Sacraments. In short, Jesus reveals the Father in the way he lives, in the truth of his word and in the new life that he brings.

The month of May is traditionally the month of Mary. On this Mother’s Day, let us acknowledge the truth that we have two mothers: our earthly mother and our Heavenly Mother, the Mother of Jesus. The Catholic Church proclaims the great nobility of the Mother of Jesus, Mary most holy, and presents her as the supreme model for all mothers. Let us show our love and appreciation for both of our mothers and let us ask our Heavenly Mother to take care of our earthly mothers. Through Mary, the work of Motherhood is glorified and sanctified. We need to be persons for others, sacrificing our time, talents and lives for them as our mothers are.

On this Mother’s Day, let’s present all mothers on the altar and pray that they may be supported by loved ones and warm friends, and that they may be understood and blessed.

EASTER IV: Acts 2:14, 36-41; 1Pt 2:20b-25; Jn 10:1-10 

Today is called Good Shepherd Sunday, and, appropriately, this day is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Today, the Church calls us to reflect on the meaning of God’s call for each of us and to pray for vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate and the consecrated life, because the entire Christian community shares the responsibility for fostering vocations. Both the Old and New Testaments use the image of a Shepherd and His flock to describe the unique relationship of God with Israel and Christ with Christians.

For a long time, the Jewish people had used the Good Shepherd image for God. The psalmist addresses Yahweh as his Shepherd.  Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my Shepherd; nothing shall I want.” “He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand” (Ps.95:7).  “Like a shepherd, He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Isaiah 40:11). Ezekiel foretells what the Messiah will do as Good Shepherd.  “I myself will tend My sheep …I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.  I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak” (Ezekiel 34: 15-16).  In short, God is the ultimate Shepherd of the people, providing guidance, sustenance and protection (Psalm 23), and He intends their Kings and other leaders to be their shepherds as well.

In the gospel, Jesus wants us to know who he is: the Good Shepherd who protects and cares for the people of God. Shepherds always want their sheep to be healthy and happy. They want them to have the best grass, fresh water, and safety, so that they can grow and multiply as much as possible.

A sheep has no greater friend than a good shepherd, and we have no greater friend than Christ. He invented life, he gave us life, and he came so that, in him, we might learn to live it "more abundantly". He does not claim to be one good shepherd among many shepherds, but the only one: "All others who have come are thieves and robbers." Some so called, self proclaimed shepherds simply lack sufficient wisdom or power to provide the human family with the kind of hope we long for and need.  Jesus alone, the Good Shepherd, gives the Church her wisdom and the sacraments their power.

With Jesus’ flock, the problem is not the shepherd's limitations or ignorance, but the sheep's lack of docility: we stray from the flock and trap ourselves in thistles and swamps of self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and stubborn disobedience. 

When a lamb is fearful or overconfident, it constantly wanders away from the shepherd, putting itself in danger. When that keeps happening, a shepherd will sometimes purposely break one of its legs. He then puts the lamb around his neck and carries it to and from pasture for the couple of weeks while the leg heals. By that time, the little lamb has become attached to the shepherd, and never again strays far from its master's protection and guidance. The present situation in the world looks like something like that. The people have been straying away from God, busying themselves in everything except listening to the shepherd’s voice, and to get them back to the shepherd, God allows tough times like this happen so that we get enough time to refocus our life on the good shepherd. As Pope Francis said about the pandemic that it is not a punishment from God but a way of asking us to refocus our life and look for what is essential in our life.

Each one of us needs to give Jesus a chance to feed us with the rich food of Catholic doctrine and literature. 

As sheep we need to obey Jesus our good shepherd by obeying the commandments of the Bible, the teachings of his Church, and the voice of conscience whenever it is clear and well-informed. The Christian also obeys just laws and legitimate authority in society.

Besides attending the Mass via social media now, we need to spend a daily quiet time of at least 15-minutes or more with the Lord, in prayer, reading, and reflection to actively let him be our Good Shepherd.

If we do, as today's Psalm promised us, "there is nothing we shall want."