“... the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” – John 10:4
In a news article I read, a caller claiming to be the amo or employer ordered his maid to get all their money and jewelry and bring it immediately to an appointed meeting place because they got into an accident. The victimized maid had been serving the family for 20 years and still she failed to recognize that it wasn’t her amo she was talking to!
Sad to say we all have fallen prey to this kind of trick. We’ve been Christians since birth but, until now, we still fail to recognize God’s voice. Maybe because we don’t spend enough time to get to know Him. Or maybe because we think we “know “ Him too well that we put our beliefs ahead of Him. “I’m still sick because my faith is not strong enough.” “I’m poor because this is God’s will for me.”
God is too unfathomable and magnanimous for us to place Him in a box called our “mind.” If He would be predictable, then He wouldn’t be God at all. We need to take time to get to know our God so that we will be able to discern if something is really coming from Him or from the enemy. Start now. So the next time the enemy calls pretending to be God’s voice, we can say “Sorry, but you’ve got the wrong number.” Ronna Ledesma (ronnaledesma@email.com)
REFLECTION:
Get to know the voice of the Lord today.
Lord, deepen my knowledge of You and Your will for me.
Peter explains how God has led him to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles and even to baptize them. That Peter is the one recorded to have been the first to do this gives the move strong legitimacy, as he is the Head of the Church, the one appointed by Christ to lead. Paul will take up the mission to the Gentiles and become its greatest proponent and perhaps the greatest evangelist ever. Each of us must do what God calls us to do in the service of His Kingdom.
Acts 11:1-18
1 The apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, 3 saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” 4 Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, 5 “I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. 6 Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time a voice from heaven answered, ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ 10 This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. 11 Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying, ‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, 14 who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning, 16 and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
P S A L M
Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4
R: Athirst is my soul for the living God.
1 [2] As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 [3] Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and be hold the face of God? (R) 43: 3 Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. (R) 4 Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy; then will I give you thanks upon the harp, O God, my God! (R)
G O S P E L
The image of the Good Shepherd for the leaders in the Church is one we need to rediscover today. There have been terrible scandals involving priests and bishops in many countries. Much damage has been done to our image of the priesthood. Let us all pray that this present purification will give birth to a stronger and more faithful priesthood that will deserve the image of the Good Shepherd.
John 10:1-10
1 Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. 2 But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. 5 But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” 6 Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. 7 So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
my reflections
t h i n k : The image of the Good Shepherd for the leaders in the Church is one we need to rediscover today.
We can expect that during our lifetime we will encounter more doors than we care to remember. Those we choose to open and pass through determine our path in life and, in more ways than we might realize, the type of person we become. It is the moral choices we make that determine our character and mark us as a man or woman who is a disciple of Jesus or just simply a person given over to the quests and pleasures of the world.
Jesus tells us that the true shepherd always enters through the gate, that is, he does not break down the walls of the sheepfold because he has a right to be there, indeed a responsibility to be there — to lead and guide his sheep in the ways of life and truth. Let us be sure that we only listen to voices that have legitimate authority in our lives, and not the voice of the evil one that seeks to lead us astray.
Jesus also reminds us that He is the gate of the sheepfold. Thus all true shepherds and guides must approach us through Him, through the test of truth and righteousness. If someone seeking to guide us in our moral choices is not a disciple of Jesus we are in a dangerous situation as we cannot be sure whether they will lead us in the ways of Christ. It is not enough to be just a humanist — they do not believe in the transcendent nature of the human person, or at least not to the degree that we do as Christians. Therefore any advice they give will lack the fundamental basis we have from our belief in eternal life. They may get most of the decisions right, but it is the few that they do not that make all the difference. If a surgeon is operating, I want every one of the cuts he makes to be correct, not just most of them. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL
Reflection Question:
Let us not put to risk the promise of eternal life for the sake of conforming with the world on a few or even just one difficult issue.
Father, You call me to live a righteous life without compromise. Help me to listen to the Word of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as I seek to do Your will in my life.
1. The FEAST is the one of the happiest places on earth.
Find one near you!
Pasig
Sunday
8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Valle Verde Country Club (beside The ULTRA)
Preacher: Bo Sanchez
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Valle Verde Country Club
Preacher: Obet Cabrillas
Quezon City
Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 12 n.n.
Convention Hall, Bureau of Soils, Visayas Ave., Q.C.
Preacher: Eng Si
South
Sunday
11:00 a.m - 12:30 p.m.
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Cinema 10, Festival Mall, Alabang Preacher: Arun Gogna
Rizal Sunday 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Valley Fair, Taytay,Rizal Preacher: Pio Espanol
Bustos
Sunday 2:30 p.m - 5:30 p.m.
San isidro labrador Parish, Liciada, Bustos
Preacher: Chito Manaois
Ortigas
Monday 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Roofdeck, Prestige Tower,
F. Ortigas Ave., Pasig City Preacher: Vic Espanol
Makati
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AIM Conference Center, Benavidez cor Paseo de Roxas
Preachers: Randy Borromeo and George Gabriel
Manila
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Cinema 4, SM Manila (near City Hall), Manila Preacher: Obet Cabrillas
Angeles
1st & 3rd Friday, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Professional Bldg., Angeles University Foundation, Angeles City Preacher: Marvin Tan
Laguna
Saturday, arter the 4:00 pm Mass - 6:30 pm. 2/F Activity Center, Pavillion Mall, Km. 35 San Antonio, Binan, Laguna
Preacher: Hermie Morelos
Marilao
Saturday, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Cinema 2, SM Marilao, Bulacan Preacher: Alvin Barcelona
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A music lover and enthusiast who believes it's never too late to follow your music passion! He knows how to play the keyboards, guitars and drums and learned it through self study. He believes that self education is key in learning your passion.
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