The Shepherd and The Lamb

Good Morning, dear reader! Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! I hope your day is blessed with love! 

Yesterday, we saw Saul's conversion on the road to Damascus. Today, we see God has chosen Paul (Saul) and Barnabas to spread the word of Jesus among the people of Greece. They visit the various churches, but, in some, they are not well received. The Jews are a hard crowd. They don't want to hear about Jesus. They consider this blasphemy against God. However, Paul and Barnabas are not flustered by this. They basically tell the Jews "Fine, go off and believe what you want. You are denying yourselves eternal life, but whatever...." So, off they go to preach to the Gentiles, who are more than receptive to our friend's message. They joyfully receive this and praise Jesus's name. The Jews, however, still are angry. They try to incite others, who carry more clout in the community, to get rid of Paul and Barnabas. "This can't continue. We must band together and get rid of these two rebels before they stir up trouble." They begin their protest and manage to push Paul and Barnabas out of the city. But this did not upset our two disciples. They accomplished their task and are filled with joy. 

Our reading in Revelation and in John shows Jesus as both the Great Shepherd and the Lamb. This can be confusing. How can He be both? It is because these are
metaphors. The Lamb symbolises Jesus's death upon the cross, His sacrifice for our sins. The Shepherd is symbolic of Jesus's love for us, and how He cares for each and every person. 

The reading in Revelation gives us a glorious picture of heaven! It inspires hope and feelings of comfort. To think we will all be in heaven with no pain, no infirmity, no loneliness or feeling cast aside. 

"These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress" (v14) refers to the Christians who were persecuted by the Romans. But, it could also mean those who have survived just about anything. It's our reassurance that no matter what we have suffered through in our lives, it will all be redeemed once we get to heaven. God will know each of our stories. Our sins are wiped clean, and our hearts are made pure. And, forever we will remain a nice human. 😇

Father Greg Friedman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, gives us his reflection on today's readings: https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video/2022-05-08-reflection-51

I have chosen a video that really goes with our readings. "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe. It's a song about what we would do when we see Jesus. Will we dance or be so overwhelmed by His majesty that we sit in complete adoration? It gives you something to think about, that's for sure. https://youtu.be/N_lrrq_opng

 

The Crucifixion and Forgiveness

Good Morning, dear reader. Happy Sunday! We embark on our journey into the third week of Easter. The resurrection was so glorious and miraculous that we celebrate it for 50 days, ending on Pentecost Sunday. As a matter of fact, the Easter season is more important than Christmas!! 

We have touched upon the book of Revelation in previous posts. As you will recall, Revelation is mostly symbolic in nature. It is not to be taken literally. There really isn't much explaining needed for this passage. In today's reading, you will see Jesus Christ referred to as the Lamb. We also hear this at mass when we pray "Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us." just before we receive communion. Equating Jesus with a lamb means that He is the perfect and ultimate sacrifice for sin. (There's a longer explanation, having to do with Passover and its celebration, but this is it in a nutshell.) All the creatures in heaven and on earth rejoice and honour God and His Son, Jesus.   

Now, on to John. Jesus asks Peter three times if he truly loves Him. He asks this because Peter was the one who denied Jesus three times before His crucifixion. So, now, Jesus is a little doubtful about how faithful Peter is to Him. However, Jesus is willing to forgive Peter and the role he played in His death. As we have seen throughout the Gospels, Peter becomes the most favoured and important Apostle. Probably because he did feel guilty about what he did to Jesus and now wants to make up for it. 

I think what this passage is trying to convey is that no matter how bad our actions are, Jesus is always willing to forgive and give us another chance. This doesn't mean you should keep doing something you know is bad just because you know that Jesus will forgive you. He can sense when you are insincere, and He will dole out punishment. I'm just saying, that in our everyday, imperfect lives, we mess up. We're all sinners. It's comforting to know that I can never be so awful that Jesus won't forgive me and bring me back to His care. This is our assurance of salvation through His death and resurrection. This is what Easter is all about. So, dear reader, you can rest assured that Jesus will never stop loving you or caring about you. Just try to be a nice human, though. The world will appreciate it. 😇

**I have omitted the video today because Father Bill doesn't upload any on Sunday. Also, it seemed today's readings were ones we have done previously, so I picked the second reading. You'll just have to make do with my thoughts! lol