Able to distinguish (Elizabeth Nava)

        I’ve introduced my children to the voice of the Good Shepherd… so that when they hear it in the world, they are able to distinguish between the Shepherd and the wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

--Elizabeth Nava 

Image source: Artist unknown, Good Shepherd, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Shepherd
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The voice of the Shepherd (Pope Francis)

      Let us pay attention to the voices that reach our hearts. Let us ask ourselves where they come from. Let us ask for the grace to recognize and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, who brings us out of the enclosures of selfishness and leads us to the pastures of true freedom. 

--Pope Francis 

Image source: Tom Denny, Witts Memorial Chapel, Gloucestershire, https://www.facebook.com/groups/303462353173920
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Sunday Gospel Reflection, April 26, 2026: What are we to do, my brothers?

What are we to do, my brothers?
What does it take to be saved? 

    In John’s Gospel, having just healed the man born blind, Jesus points out to the Pharisees that they themselves are blind, for they have failed to hear Jesus’ voice and follow him, even when he demonstrates irrefutably that he is the Messiah. The Pharisees ignore and deny God’s action; they are the thieves and robbers of whom Jesus speaks, those who will not enter through the gate to salvation that is Jesus. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, Jesus tells them, but they pay him no heed, refusing to listen (let alone believe!), refusing to accept their identity as sheep and cling instead to their own self-interest. The Lord is manifestly not their shepherd. 

    After Jesus’ death and rising, the Christian community will cling to Jesus’ promise of salvation. In the Acts of the Apostles, the crowds ask Peter and the other apostles, What are we to do, my brothers? Peter reassures them that Jesus’ promise is intended for them as well: Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is made to you and your children and to all those far off. God raised Jesus, thus opening a door; they have but to step through it to access eternal life. Likewise, although they may have gone astray like sheep, the author of the First Letter of Peter tells his community, they have but to return to the shepherd and guardian of their souls, Christ, who suffered for them. As Christians, they may suffer for doing what is good, but they have been called, and must follow in Christ’s footsteps, in order to live for righteousness. 

    It is through Jesus that we must go in order to embrace our identity as Christians; we cannot pass through the gate without being touched by his life, his sacrifice, and participate. We too must be patient when we suffer for doing what is good, and hold to his promise of salvation. All who listen, follow and believe will be saved. Are we ready and willing to embrace that promise and believe, as Psalm 23 reminds us, that the Lord is our shepherd, too? 

This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture Class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com

Everything visible is the outpouring of God (Fr. Richard Rohr)

    While calling ourselves intelligent, we’ve lost touch with the natural world. As a result, we’ve lost touch with our own souls. 

    When God manifests spirit through matter, then matter becomes a holy thing. The material world is the place where we can comfortably worship God just by walking in it, loving it, and respecting it. Everything visible, without exception, is the outpouring of God. What else could it really be? When we can enjoy all these things as holy, “we experience the universe as a communion of subjects, not as a collection of objects,” as the “geologian” Fr. Thomas Berry said so wisely. 

    When we love something, we grant it soul, we see its soul, and we let its soul touch ours. We must love something deeply to know its soul (anima). Before the resonance of love, we are largely inattentive to the meaning, value, and power of ordinary things to “save” us and help us live in union with the Source of all being. In fact, until we can appreciate and even delight in the soul of other things, even trees and animals, we probably haven’t discovered our own souls either. Soul knows soul through love, which Jesus teaches as the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37–39). 

--Fr. Richard Rohr

Happy Earth Day! 
How (and where) will you
reconnect with nature today?

Image source: Pirates Cove Trail, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, https://www.parksconservancy.org/trails/pirates-cove-trail
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Places of encounter (Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna)

    Brother Lawrence discovered that holiness does not depend on extraordinary circumstances, spiritual achievements or moral perfection. Instead, it flows from a simple, loving awareness of God’s presence in every moment. 

    Whether he was praying in the chapel or working in the kitchen, he sought to remain in quiet conversation with God—not through many words, but through attentive love. 

    This insight reminds us that God is not found only in ideal conditions, but also in the real circumstances of our lives: in moments of joy and pain, clarity and uncertainty, belonging and struggle. This means that our lived experiences—including our questions, wounds and hopes—are not obstacles to God, but places of encounter. 

    Living in God’s presence does not require us to resolve every tension at once. It asks only that we turn our hearts toward God with honesty and trust. A simple intention—“God, I am here with you”—can transform even the most ordinary moment into sacred ground. 

--Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna 

Image source: Still shot, Of Gods and Men (2010), trailer, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhQzn2gVGjQ
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God's self-emptying love (Bishop Robert Barron)

    Jesus enlightens the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Have you ever tried to solve a puzzle and then were surprised when the various pieces suddenly fell into place? Well, this is what happens to these disciples as Jesus begins to speak: “How slow of heart [you are] to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” The whole of Christianity is hanging here in the balance. 

    The disciples didn’t get it at first. They didn’t get the secret, the mystery, the key, the pattern. And what was that? God’s self-emptying love, even unto death. God’s act of taking upon himself the sins of the world in order to take them away, the mystery of redemption through suffering. 

   Jesus explains this first by reference to the prophets; but then, he makes it as vividly present to them as he can: “He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” And that’s when the pieces fell into place—that’s when the puzzle was solved. The Eucharist made present this love unto death, this love that is more powerful than sin and death. The Eucharist is the key. 

--Bishop Robert Barron 

Image source: Pierre Loy, Emmaus, Eglise St Luc, Valais, Switzerland, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1785622648381496
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Jesus accepts their hospitality (Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe)

     When the disciples flee to Emmaus, they are filled with anger and disappointment… The disciples are running away from the community of the Church, like so many people today. Jesus does not block their way or condemn them. He asks ‘What are you talking about?’ What are the hopes and disappointments that stir in your hearts? The disciples are speaking angrily. The Greek means literally, ‘What are these words that you are hurling at each other?’ So Jesus invites them to share their anger. They had hoped that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel, but they were wrong. He failed. So, he walks with them and opens himself to their anger and fear. 

    Notice that Jesus does not attempt to control the conversation. He asks what they are talking about; he goes where they go, not where he wishes to go; he accepts their hospitality. A real conversation cannot be controlled. One surrenders oneself to its direction. We cannot anticipate where it will take us, to Emmaus or Jerusalem. 

    When they reach Emmaus, the flight from Jerusalem stops. Jesus looks as if he wishes to go further but, with glorious irony they invite the Lord of the Sabbath to rest with them. ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is nearly over.’ (Luke 24:29). Jesus accepts their hospitality as the three strangers in Genesis 18 accepted the hospitality of Abraham. God is our guest. We too must have the humility to be guests. [We] must leave ‘the comfortable position of those who give hospitality to allow ourselves to be welcomed into the existence of those who are our companions on the journey of humanity’. 

    When he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him and he vanished from their sight.’ (Luke 24:29). Their eyes were opened. The previous time that we heard that phrase was when Adam and Eve took the fruit from the Tree of Life, and their eyes were open and they knew that they were naked. This is why some ancient commentators saw the disciples as Cleopas and his wife, a married couple, a new Adam and Eve. Now they eat the bread of life. 

    One last small thought: When Jesus vanishes from their sight they say, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked to us on the road.’ (Luke 24:32) It is as if it is only afterwards that they become aware of the joy they had as they walked with the Lord. St John Henry Newman said that it is only as we look backwards at our lives that we become aware of how God was always with us. I pray that this will be our experience too. 

--Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe 

Image source: Sadao Watanabe, Jesus at Emmaus (1969), https://collections.artsmia.org/art/135693/jesus-at-emmaus-watanabe-sadao
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