36. Meditations: Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

36. Meditations: Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

36. Meditations: Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Lucien Hoydic 01:58 Tue May 2/23 126 lines

Some reflections that can assist our prayer during this season of
Easter.

>>> Christ is our door

>>> The good shepherd calls us one by one

>>> Listening to Jesus in the Church

I AM the door of the sheep (Jn 10:7). Jesus calls himself the
door through which the shepherds and flock must pass. He warns us
against some who try to climb into the sheepfold by other ways
and who are not good shepherds. Only by passing through Christ,
the door, can the sheep walk safely and find pasture, life in
abundance. Jesus is at the center of our faith. He is the
beginning and end of creation, the alpha and omega, as the priest
proclaims when lighting the candle at the Easter Vigil. Stir up
the fire of your faith," Saint Josemar a urged. Christ is not a
figure who has passed. He is not a memory lost in history. He
lives! Jesus Christus heri et hodie, ipse et in s cula, says
Saint Paul. Jesus Christ yesterday and today and forever!" 1

How strongly the figure of Jesus remained engraved on the hearts
of those who came into contact with Him! Saint Peter and Saint
John, after the cure of the man crippled from birth and the
warning from the Sanhedrin never to speak in the future about the
risen Christ, simply reply: We cannot but speak of what we have
seen and heard (Acts 4:20). Saint Paul, who met Jesus on the way
to Damascus, saw Him as his own life (cf. Phil 1:21); his
greatest desire was to preach Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God (1 Cor 1: 24).

When reflecting on the image of Christ as our door, we can
consider whether we truly channel everything that happens to us
through Him. Our relationship with Jesus involves a dimension of
the Christian experience that perhaps we leave somewhat in the
shadows: the spiritual and affective dimension. We should feel
connected to our Lord by a special bond, as sheep to their
shepherd. At times we rationalize our faith too much and we run
the risk of losing the perception of the timbre of that voice, of
the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd, which motivates and
fascinates. This is what happened to the two disciples of Emmaus,
whose hearts burned as the Risen One spoke along the way. It is
the wondrous experience of feeling loved by Jesus. For him we are
never strangers." 2

DURING HIS years of preaching on earth, our Lord was constantly
giving light to a multitude of people. Sacred Scripture tells us
that those who approached Him were amazed by his way of
preaching, so different from what they were used to (cf. Mk
1:22). His words offered a new and deep hope, a hope that does
not end here on earth, and led the crowds to gather around Him
like sheep eager to hear the voice of their shepherd. Christ
calls his own sheep by name (Jn 10:3). He speaks to the heart of
each person. In his voice we always recognize a personal call
from our Lord. Faith is authentic when it becomes one's own, when
we discover that it guides our deepest desires and sheds light on
our daily circumstances, on our family, professional and social
relationships. Then we act freely, like the sheep who enter and
go out of the sheepfold, with the security given to them by the
shepherds (cf. Jn 10:9).

When leading the sheep out of the sheepfold, the shepherd goes
before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice
(Jn 10:4). In order to recognize Christ's voice more clearly, we
need to go ever deeper into the contents of our faith. Saint Paul
compares faith to a shield enabling us to quench all the flaming
darts of the evil one (Eph 6:16). These convictions, when
incorporated into our own life with God's grace, sustain us in
our struggle. But above all they spur us to bring peace to those
around us. Thus, for example, a person whose life is truly
grounded on the truth of being a child of God will be able to
face the difficulties of each day with serenity. He or she will
know how to treat others better because they are our brothers and
sisters, and will view this world of ours as the home that our
Father God has given us.

The experience of meeting Christ transforms our life. It does not
lead to simply believing in something, but rather to being
someone new, to being Christ for others. Saint Josemar a said
that to be holy, to be happy on earth and to attain eternal
happiness which is what holiness entails is to be Christ." 3

THE SHEEP in Christ's fold recognize his voice and reject the
voice of strangers (cf. Jn 10:5.8). To believe in Jesus is also
to become part of the great community of men and women from a
wide variety of conditions and backgrounds who make up the
Church. As the Apostle Saint John wrote: that which we have seen
and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have
fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ (1 Jn 1:3).

As we deepen in our knowledge of the faith, we seek to do so
especially through the teachings of the Church's Magisterium.
This is the door to better appreciate the inheritance our Lord
has left us, the family treasure that is transmitted from
generation to generation, the voice of the shepherd that never
ceases with the passage of time. As a mother who teaches her
children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the
Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to
introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith." 4

Often we have first received this faith in our own home, as
happened to Timothy, to whom Saint Paul wrote: I am reminded of
your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother
Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you (2
Tim 1:5). Often it is the mothers, the grandmothers, who pass on
the faith." 5 Passing on the joy of living close to Jesus finds
a privileged channel in family members and friends, since it is
gratuitous love that expands and transforms a person's life.

We can ask Jesus, the shepherd, the door of the flock, to help us
listen attentively to his voice, a gentle voice that seeks to
lead us to happiness, both here and in heaven.

1 Saint Josemar a, The Way, no. 584.

2 Francis, Regina Coeli, 7 May 2017.

3 Saint Josemar a, Notes from a family gathering, 28 August
1974.

4 Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 171.

5 Francis, Homily, 26 January 2015.

KEYWORDS:
DAILY_TEXT MAY_2023

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