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Gospel Reflection – Monday, May 12, 2025
Dear friends,
We’ve begun the fourth week of this Easter season—a period that’s actually longer than Lent, because we need time to reflect, become aware, and internalize the central mystery of our faith: the Resurrection of the Lord. I get the feeling that we don’t live Easter with the same intensity as we do Lent—maybe because it’s easier to relate to suffering and pain than to joy and celebration. But this season invites us precisely to do that: to live in joy. The Resurrection of Jesus is also our resurrection. His joy and His victory are gifts to us.
The disciples needed time with Jesus to truly understand this mystery—one that eventually transformed their lives completely. In today’s first reading, Peter convinces the believers in Judea that Gentile Christians, who did not follow the Jewish rites, were also chosen to receive the power of the Resurrection. He shares with them the vision he had in Joppa, about the purity of foods. They had to realize that Jesus’ message and His sacrifice were universal—for everyone, beyond race, tradition, or cultural boundaries.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us He is the Good Shepherd—the one who knows us, cares for us, calls us by name, and knows exactly what we need. But Jesus also warns that not all who approach the sheep are true shepherds. Some sneak in to steal and lead the sheep away from the Good Shepherd. This still happens today—through false ideologies, public opinion trends, or organized campaigns that try to pull people away from faith and foster rejection of anything that smells of Christianity. Jesus calls them “thieves” and “bandits.”
In this Easter season, we want to keep listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd, who—like the poet Lope de Vega once said—calls us with His “loving whispers”:
“Shepherd, who with Your loving calls awakened me from deep sleep […]
Turn your kind eyes to my faithful heart,
I confess You as my love and Lord,
I promise to follow Your voice,
Your sweet call, and Your beautiful steps.”
We pray for the new pope, successor of Peter, that he may be the Good Shepherd our Church needs.
Jesus is the gate, and He came so that we may have life—life in abundance. Let’s not stop listening to His voice.
Your brother in faith,