April 30, 2023・ 4th Sunday of Easter (A)

Acts 2.14a, 36-41・Ps 23. 2+3, 4, 5, 6・１Peter 2. 20b-25・Jn 10.1-10 Today let us reflect further on our calling to serve our respective Christian & parish community, & the wider community. For long years in our church`s life we have considered “serving the community” as a very special assignment (vocation・calling) brought about by our baptism in Christ. By becoming member of Christian Community (People of God), we are called to take specific roles to serve. Regardless of our status in life, age, skin color, culture & nationality, we serve. Indeed our coming to church is to pray with others, & to serve, not to be served. We may also understand “serving the community” as a gift. We know by ourselves that serving the community asks us real interest and willingness from the heart, and demands us time! Indeed, not all are into service, maybe because many hardly find time to. Many of us are busy to take care of our private life, and individual, personal, & private life`s securities and concerns Therefore, as we continue to take specific roles in our community, we are able to share this gift. First Reading: The center of our Church`s life is Jesus, our Lord & Savior. As we deepen our understanding of Jesus, we are all invited to reflect daily, realize how we have been crucifying Jesus again and again because of our indifference, strange motivation and self-serving presence in the community. Maybe, our present time can still be considered “a corrupt generation.” Through our daily conversion, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and we are able to accompany others always closer to the altar (to Jesus) rather than inviting and bringing our friends to strange places. Gospel Reading: The Good Shepherd & the Gate, We continue to recognize Him as our Lord and Master. We remain in his leadership & care. All kinds of leadership and care services in our Church must be founded on his kind of sacrifice, leadership & care and may we always hear and recognize well the voice of the Good Shepherd from people we consider as our mentors and guides so that we do not scatter. So we continue to pray for church leaders, for priests and spiritual leaders that they may always have proper motivations. It may not be too much to also pray for their health and well-being. We also continue to pray that each one of us will be able to find encouragement and courage to specifically consider taking specific role (one is enough) in the parish community. Let us bring others closer to the altar and refrain from closing the gate of our church (We may take it parabolic, metaphorical, or literal). In the first place, we do not keep treasures in the Church except the Spirit of the Risen Christ! Second Reading: The reading from the Acts of the Apostles mentions about encouraging the Jews to save themselves from a generation that is corrupt. Accepting Jesus in their lives must have changed their lives fully and they must have been freed from the said “corrupt generation.” Let us reflect about patience, vocation and grace as the central messages of our second reading. It says that if one is patient to suffering brought about by doing good, we understand it as a grace. The person is called to follow the footsteps of Jesus. The capacity to follow Jesus brought about by the same grace of God is a grace. We are all called to patience. Our gospel invites us to always enter through the Gate (to have Jesus as the center and basis of all our life`s activities, wishes & plans) if we intend harmony (not chaos), true peace, and true happiness. These are all may not be easy so responding requires patience. Patience and all the rest are grace from God.