April 26, 2026 4th Sunday in Easter Gospel: John 10:1-10
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Church celebrates the Vocation Sunday today. Pope Leo XIV has chosen for this year’s Vocation Sunday the theme: “The Interior Discovery of God’s Gift.” I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.
In our daily lives, we often pass through various doors. For instance, when we rise from our beds in the early morning, we go in and out through the bedroom door. When we leave home for various needs of life, we pass through the door of our house. When we take public transportation, we enter and exit through the doors of these vehicles in order to reach our destination. When we arrive at our destination, we pass through the entrances and exits in order to accomplish, within these man-made structures, what we desire to do according to the thoughts in our hearts. However, are the things we want to accomplish the things God wants us to accomplish? Is the place I am entering where God wills me to enter?
When we come to church to participate in the Mass, what intention do we hold? If we want to satisfy our own desires within the church or realize our own ambitions within the Church, then we are thieves. For our improper behaviour causes the sheep belonging to Christ’s fold to go astray. If we understand the Word of God according to our own mindset and preach to the world what we think is the Word of God based on our own ideas, then we are unqualified gatekeepers. Those sheep of Christ’s fold whom we let out—that is, those faithful whose minds are not yet mature—will lose their lives due to our negligence.
Today, Jesus says: “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep” (cf. Jn 10:7). He is the only way for us to reach the City of God. Likewise, we Christians, having received Baptism in Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are called to become the way for others to reach God. Therefore, in our lives, we must rediscover the seed of vocation that the risen Lord Christ has sown in our hearts, eagerly follow the will of the Holy Spirit, and complete the mission He has entrusted to us. Thus, while we ourselves receive the life promised by the risen Lord Jesus Christ, those who live with us day and night may also, through our good works, obtain the richer life promised by the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Almighty ever-living God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever
April 25, 2026 Saint Mark the Evangelist Gospel: Mark 16:15–20
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist. The passage from the Gospel of Mark presents the final instruction Jesus gave to His disciples before His Ascension.
Our Lord Christ, rich in mercy, before He was taken up to Heaven, commanded His disciples to go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15). Originally, this mission was entrusted to the Apostles. After receiving the Holy Spirit, they, through Baptism and the laying on of hands, imparted the Holy Spirit they had received more abundantly to those brethren who, through Christ’s Baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, were to gain a more abundant life. Thus, they came to share in Christ’s royal, priestly, and prophetic office.
Today, we who have received Baptism in Christ Jesus through faith are united to the risen Lord and have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Like the Apostles of the early Church, we are called to serve Christ’s altar and proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom to the world. When we act in accordance with the Savior’s command and embrace His teaching, announcing the Gospel of the Kingdom to every creature according to the will of God, the life-giving Christ remains with us always, just as He promised the Apostles. He continues to manifest His mighty power through all that we do in our daily lives (cf. Mk 16:17–18). This enables those who witness our actions, performed in obedience to the Savior’s command, to join us in receiving new birth through water and the Holy Spirit by means of Baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Thus, together with us, they may inherit the blessings God has prepared for us since the foundation of the world.
O God, who raised up Saint Mark, your Evangelist, and endowed him with the grace to preach the Gospel, grant, we pray, that we may so profit from his teaching as to follow faithfully in the footsteps of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
April 24, 2026 Friday of the Third Week of Easter Optional Memorial of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest and martyr Gospel: John 6:52–59
Today is Friday of the Third Week of Easter. The Church commemorates Saint Fidelis today. The passage from the Gospel of John continues Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life.
At times, like the Jews of old, we too try to understand Jesus’ words about His flesh and blood using merely worldly logic—for our human reason is limited. Even today, many Christians say: “What is in the tabernacle is not truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, but only a symbol.” Others claim: “It is only when the priest takes the host out of the tabernacle and places it upon the altar that the bread becomes the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Still others say: “This is nothing more than ordinary bread and wine.”
If our understanding of the Blessed Sacrament resembles that of these brothers and sisters who argue amongst themselves before the Eucharist, then we are no different from the Jews in Jesus ‘time. We fail to grasp the true meaning of His words. For they thought Jesus meant He would literally cut flesh from His own body to give them to eat.
The “flesh” and “blood” of which Jesus speaks carry profound biblical meaning. His flesh and His blood refer to His entire life. Whenever we receive His Body and Blood, we receive His very life. Just as our perishable bodies require perishable food to sustain them, so too does our spiritual life require nourishment from the Body and Blood of Christ. When we receive Him, He remains in us and we in Him—bound together inseparably. Thus: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” (cf. Gal 2:20)
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who have come to know the grace of the Lord’s Resurrection, may, through the love of the Spirit, ourselves rise to newness of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.Amen.
全属于祢 
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