April 27, 2026 Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter Gospel: John 10:11-18
Today is Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter. The Mass Gospel continues the theme of Christ the Good Shepherd. We often see those who rush about for a livelihood. To survive in this world, they toil daily to receive a just wage from those who, like themselves, are created in God’s image. Sometimes, when they have worked hard but did not receive fair pay, they become discouraged and refuse to serve their employers. This is because they work for the sake of money, rather than obeying their conscience and striving to serve their employers faithfully.
Today, Christians also need to listen. Christians must listen to the laws and regulations established by legitimate civil authorities, yet even more so, they must constantly follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and heed the instruction of God’s Word. For the God rich in mercy wills that through His beloved Son, our Lord Christ, He reveals to us all the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven, leading us to eternal life. As Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep, and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15) We have never seen the Father with our own eyes; only through the Only Begotten Son, who rests in the Father’s bosom—being God—has He fully revealed the truth of the Kingdom to us. That Only Begotten Son, through the sacrifice He offered on the Cross for all the sins we committed, presented Himself as the sacrificial victim to the Father. Through the sacrifice of the Cross, the infinitely merciful Heavenly Father grants us remission for all the debts of our sins and reconciles us with Himself and with the world He created.
Today, the world we live in is filled with all kinds of voices. The enemy of the human soul—the devil—often disguises his voice as God’s voice to lure us away from Christ’s sheepfold and lead us astray. Therefore, we need God’s care and must constantly offer our earnest prayers to Him. Only through praying perseveringly to God can we cultivate trust in Him and align our hearts with His Heart. Only in this way do we carry out the holy will of God.
O God, perfect light of the blessed, by whose gift we celebrate the paschal mysteries on earth, bring us, we pray, to rejoice in the full measure of your grace for ages unending. 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
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.
您必须登录才能发表评论。