Fourth Sunday of Easter
Memorial of Saint Anselm (+1109), a Benedictine monk and bishop of Canterbury, who suffered exile for his love for the Church.
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Fourth Sunday of Easter
Memorial of Saint Anselm (+1109), a Benedictine monk and bishop of Canterbury, who suffered exile for his love for the Church.
First Reading
Acts 4,8-12
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, addressed them, 'Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple and asking us how he was healed, you must know, all of you, and the whole people of Israel, that it is by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, and God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man stands before you cured. This is the stone which you, the builders, rejected but which has become the cornerstone. Only in him is there salvation; for of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.'
Psalmody
Psalm 117
Antiphon
Eternal is the mercy of the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good,
for his love endures for ever.
Let the sons of Israel say :
'His love endures for ever.'
Let the sons of Aaron say :
'His love endures for ever.'
Let those who fear the Lord say :
'His love endures for ever.'
I called the Lord in my distress;
he answered and feed me.
The Lord is at my side; I do not fear.
What can man do against m?
The Lord is at my side as my helper:
I shall look down on my foes.
It is better to take refuge in the lord
than to trust in men:
It is better to take refuge in the lord
than to trust in prices.
The nations all encompassed me;
in the lord's name I crushed them.
They compassed me, compassed me about;
in the Lord's name I crushed them.
They compassed me about like bees;
they blazed like a fire among thorns.
In the Lord's name I crushed them.
I was thrust down, thrust down and falling
but the Lord was my helper.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he was my saviour.
There are shouts of joy and victory
in the tents of the just.
The Lord's right hand has triumphed;
his right hand raised me.
The Lord's right hand had triumphed;
I shall not die, I shall live
and recount his deed.
I was punished, I was punished by the Lord,
but not doomed to die.
Open to me the gates of holiness :
I will enter and give thanks.
This is the Lord's own gates
where the just may enter.
I will thank you for you have answered
and you are my saviour.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the corner stone.
This is the work of the Lord,
a marvel in our eyes.
This day was made by the Lord;
we rejoice and are glad.
O Lord, grant us salvation;
O Lord, grant success.
Blessed in the name of the Lord
is he who comes
We bless you from the house of the Lord;
the Lord God is our light.
Go forward in procession with branches
even to the altar.
You are my God, I thank you.
My God, I praise you.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good;
for his love endures forever.
Second Reading
1 John 3,1-2
You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children -- which is what we are! The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him. My dear friends, we are already God's children, but what we shall be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
John 10,11-18
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; he runs away because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and I must lead these too. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, one shepherd. The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again; and this is the command I have received from my Father.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
"I am the good shepherd," the Lord also repeated to us this evening in the Gospel proclamation. The image of the shepherd was well known in the First Testament, which several times presents God himself as the shepherd of His people, who even goes as far as to take direct leadership of His flock when those in charge are 'false' shepherds. Extraordinary are the pages of Ezekiel that present God as the "true" shepherd. Jesus here uses the appellation "good," that is, a shepherd who is "moved" over the crowds that were weary and exhausted "like sheep without a shepherd," as Mark writes (6:34). Jesus is the true and good shepherd. He is not a hireling, to whom the sheep do not belong, so much so that when he sees the wolf coming, he "runs away - and the wolf snatches them and scatters them." Jesus offered his life to save us. Death, for Jesus was not a tragic destiny, but a free choice of his, a consequence of an extraordinary, excessive love for us: "No one takes it from me," he repeats and adds: "I lay it down of my own accord. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again."
It is the "power," the strength, of Easter that the Church makes us contemplate also on this Sunday: the passionate and unique love of Jesus. It is the good news that the world needs. In the world, there is no shortage of wolves who kidnap and kill, nor of mercenaries who flee and allow evil to descend and destroy the weak. Even in this time of ours - a time of wars and conflicts, of fear and bitter loneliness - many are waiting for the news of a good shepherd. "I am the good shepherd!" Jesus repeats this evening. It is like a cry that pierces the heavens and the continents. There is a need for a good shepherd to bring the crowds of this world out of the "dark valley" and into places of salvation and peace.
Easter time is the time of the good shepherd, the time in which life can rise again, a time in which it is possible to come out of the tomb in which evil seems to enclose the crowds of this world. The Risen One is the good shepherd of all. That is why Jesus continues to say to the disciples: "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." Jesus does not say that "one fold" will be made, but "one flock," as if to break down every fence, every enclosure. The "good," "generous' shepherd wants one flock, that is, one people, a great people without boundaries, without fences, without anyone being abandoned and forgotten either.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
