Fourth Sunday of Easter

April is the month dedicated to the Holy Eucharist and the Holy Spirit

Good Shepherd Sunday

61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week:  Ch 64 The Election of an Abbot - Ch 69 The Presumption of Defending Another in the Monastery

By the Lord has this been done.

SACRED HOST, IN WHICH THE SOUL IS FILLED WITH GRACE,

HOLY SPIRIT, INSPIRE IN US IN THE PRACTICE OF GOOD,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

VIRGIN MOST POWERFUL,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

All of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in His name this man stands before you healed. He is the stone which the builders rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given the human race by which we are saved.

(Acts 4:10-12)

Welcome to the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, and the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations. First, then, let's hear from Pope Saint John Paul II, from his 1981 Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, where, in this passage, he refers to the First Letter of Saint John (1 John 4:8) and Gaudium et spes the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (12):

God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in His own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being (11).

Now I turn to the passage from the Acts of the Apostles above, from the first reading for today's Mass. Among other things, I keep repeating, "there is no other way, or under any other name." We go to the Name of Jesus. The only Name by which we are saved. If we go elsewhere, we are looking to idols. As Pope Francis has said, "Memory alone enables us to discover God's presence in our midst and makes us realize that every attempt to seek salvation apart from God is an idol." Look to last week. Remember. When are three specific times when you were aware that God was in your midst? Lord, Jesus Christ, thank you.

May we, like Saint Peter, be filled with the Holy Spirit (see Acts 4:8) in this month dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Together we pray, Holy Spirit, shed Thy light in our souls. Stop, look, be attentive, and listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, the guardian of our souls. He knows us; let us follow Him, united in faith and prayer. 

Now the moment we've all being waiting for, namely, our voices for the week (as if we haven't heard from enough already), a shout from here and there over the course of the history of the Church. 

The hands should be at work, the heart with God.

(Saint Mary Joseph Rosello, 1811-1880)

Believing in Christ means loving Him ... So don't waste time wondering how to do what Christ commands; you cannot not do it if you love Christ. Love, and you do it.

(Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Doctor of Grace, 354-430)

The world is more beautiful when we are reconciled with God, with ourselves, and with our brothers.

(Mother Elvira Petrozzi, foundress of the Comunita Cenacolo, 1927-2023)

The greatest kindness one can render to another is leading him to the truth.

(Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Doctor of Grace, 354-430)

If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

(Jesus in John 8:31-32)

Faith is born from the personal encounter with the risen Christ and becomes an impulse of courage and freedom that makes one cry to the world: "Jesus is risen and alive forever."

(Pope Benedict XVI, 1927- 2022)

Do only what you can offer to God.

(Saint John Vianney, 1786-1859)

What prevents you from being a saint?

(Saint Sharbel Makhluf, 1828-1898)

And a nice addition, added by my brother, Thomas Billard, on his birthday. Auguri, fratello.

Let all nations know that Thou art God alone, and that Jesus Christ is Thy Son, and that we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture.

(Saint Clement of Alexandria, 150-215)

POPE SAINTS CAIUS AND SOTER,

SAINT ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT MAELRUBHA,

SAINT GEORGE, MARTYR,

SAINT ADALBERT OF PRAGUE, BISHOP, MARTYR,

BLESSED MARIA OF THE CROSS,

SAINT MARK THE EVANGELIST,

BLESSED ROBERT ANDERTON AND WILLIAM MARSDEN,

SAINT ASICUS,

SAINT MAUGHOLD,

BLESSED HOSANNA OF KOTOR, OP,

BLESSED MARIA GABRIELLA SAGHEDDU,

SAINT RAFAEL ARNAIZ BARON,

SAINT ZITA OF LUCA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: It is wonderful in our eyes.

© Gertrude Feick 2024