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Reflection for the third Sunday of Easter Year C Reflection for the 4th Sunday of Easter Reflection on the readings of Easter Sunday
The gospel passage is entitled the Transfiguration of Jesus .Why then should this event concern us? What is the significance of this passage for us?
To understand this better we need to carefully read the 1st and 2nd reading.
In both the readings, God’s promises are fulfilled in the future and not at the time they were written.
In Genesis chapter 15, Abram was promised the land from the Wadi of Egypt (which signifies a land of our sinful past) to the great Eupharates (signifying a river flowing with life and abundance). Abram did not receive this land in his life time but his descendants did; i.e. you and me. How? Gal 3:29 says that ‘If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant and will receive what God has promised. We all know that Abram which means’ Exalted father’ was renamed Abraham (father of nations) by God in chapter 17.Jesus said in John 17:10 in his prayer to his father; All I have is yours and all you have is mine’. Since we all belong to Christ we too can boldly say with Jesus ‘All I have is yours and all you have is mine since we are now sons and daughters of God.
In Phillipians 3,
This then answers the earlier
question on what the gospel passage means for each of us. The transfiguration
was Jesus’ way of showing his disciples and us what we shall become
and look like once we pass out of this world in heaven. God’s word is the truth
and each of us can be rest assured that like Jesus we too shall be transformed
from this mortal body into his glorious and everlasting body after we have died to ourselves and walked this life in Love. Amen
Reflection for the third Sunday of Easter Year C
Reading 1: Acts 5:27-32, 40-41 Although Peter and some of the other apostles had been imprisoned and beaten, they continued to preach in Jesus' name. They also dared to accuse the religious authorities of putting Jesus to death. Despite the danger to themselves, the apostles spoke out with great courage. "We must obey God rather than men," they proclaimed. Now that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, facing danger for Jesus' sake actually made them joyful! Responsorial Psalm: The Psalm celebrates God’s victory over death and all that threatens our humanity. We should always praise and thank our Merciful and Loving God forever. Reading 2: Revelations 5:11-14 This reading describes a vision of the heavenly court in which a huge crowd of angels and all living beings are gathered. They are all singing the praises of the Lamb of God that is Jesus the Lord. By his death and resurrection, Jesus has reconciled us with God and given us cause for great joy. God intended for all his creation to live in harmony and wants us to show respect for and kindness to all His creatures. Gospel: John 21:1-19 Today’s gospel tells the story of one of Jesus’ many appearances after his death. In a very human way, it shows the great love Jesus and his friends had for one another. While the disciples are out fishing, the risen Christ appears on the shore at Lake Tiberius. They are anchored at a distance and do not recognize him. But when they follow his advice and wind up with a net full of fish, John figures out that the stranger is Jesus. Coming ashore, they enjoy the breakfast Jesus has prepared for them.
The principle message or theme of this Sunday is 'Our calling to proclaim the Lords name' Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead to show us that our life has more to it than just living day in and day out. From timid apostles, who were scared to confess and profess Christ after his death, the courageous and bold apostles set the world on fire for Christ. Peter was called by Jesus to feed and care for Gods people. This was not physical food, but spiritual food for the souls. Peter not only proclaimed the risen Christ but in all boldness challenged those who prevented him from doing so, by his bold preaching and works in Jesus name. Jesus has rescued us from the wages of sin and death by his death and resurrection. He therefore has been conferred all glory, praise, honour and power and given the name that is higher than any other name. We too are called to bring this name of Jesus all the glory and honour, praise and power by being doers of his word. When others see us, they must see in us Christ whom we follow and experience his presence in the world through you and me. We are all called to proclaim Christ not only with our words, but by our lives; by the way we deal with others, by the manner we speak, by the things we do in love and by our conviction in the one we follow, ie our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Peter who betrayed Jesus three times at Calvary was now asked three times by Jesus to prove that his love for him was true and genuine.Peter on this occasion told Jesus that he loved him and on all 3 counts the love he expressed for Jesus was sincere. This confession so to say cancelled the 3 earlier denials of Peter and the Lord strengthened him and appointed him to lead his Church here on earth. Like Peter, we too may have denied Jesus not once, twice or thrice but on innumerable occasions. Today each one of us is called to reaffirm our love for the one who died and rose for us, who set us free from the clutches of sin and Satan and who has called us to proclaim his name to the nations(our family,friends,work place and all we meet.In the nut shell the world we are in today).Let every moment of our day be a moment of thanksgiving and gratitude to our God who has saved us and made us his own and called us to share in his glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
REFLECTION FOR 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER The first Reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles 13: 14, 43-52. The Responsorial Psalm 99: 1-3, 5. The Second Reading is taken from the book of the Apocalypse 7:9, 14-17 and the Gospel reading is from John 10: 27-30.
The Main Theme is, the Lamb will be our Shepherd. This is beautifully explained in Psalm 23.
The one who was slain is the Lamb and he will lead us to the living water if and only if we accept him as our Savior.
Believing in what Paul & Barnabas taught in synagogues the pagans earned eternal life whereas Jews, the chosen people, did not choose to believe in the Word of God through the apostles and rejected the eternal life. In the reading the verse; “All who destined for eternal life became believers” can be taken very meaningfully.
God has told in the Gospel many a times that he gives first preference to his chosen people but we should not harden our hearts, for that we should forgo our human tendencies like jealousy, greed, anger, lust and pray to the Holy Spirit to come upon us and remain with us, so that we can receive all the fruits of Holy Spirit.
As Christians we are privileged to belong to the flock where the shepherd is our Lord Jesus Christ. We should joyfully worship the Lord, for choosing us to belong to his flock.
In the second reading John explains his vision of seeing the countless people in front of God in white robes. He says: They have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb and the lamb will be their shepherd. Since they have been faithful to God in their journey in this World, God has provided them the eternal life.
Jesus says, the sheep that belong to me listen to my voice and no one can steal them from me. These words give hope and meaning for our lives.
We should have faith that the Lord is a good shepherd. He protects us in the shadow of his wings and comforts us in our day to day struggles.
In the Holy Bible we come across so many examples where Jesus mentions that He is the Shepherd and we are his flock. In Mathew 18: 12 & Luke 15: 4 Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd, who will risk his life to seek out and save the strayed sheep. In 1 Peter 2: 15 Jesus says, He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.
In Isaiah 40: 11 says, he will feed his flock like a shepherd and will gather the lambs in his arms.
In today’s busy & corrupted world, where people run behind various means to find peace and solace, we who follow Christ know that:
Through acceptance of Jesus’ call to belong to his flock and with the help of the Holy Spirit in God the Father we can follow the footsteps of Jesus and gain eternal life. Amen.
REFLECTION ON THE READINGS OF EASTER SUNDAY A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John. John 20:1-9 1"Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. 2So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." 3So Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. 4The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; 5and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. 6And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered and he saw and believed. 9For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead." This is the gospel of the Lord. There are several interesting discoveries here. For instance, one of our most common desires is the perfect cure for cancer. And when found, the magnitude of that discovery would result in a wave of relief for millions! BECAUSE WE CAN’T BEAR THE PAIN WHEN OUR LOVED ONES SUCCUMB TO THIS DISEASE. Remember when they discovered a vaccine for polio, what that meant to the world? But in John chapter 20 is the record of the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. An empty tomb! and poor Mary did not know what to think. It provided a great deal of grief for Mary, knowing that her son's body was gone. For human eyes this was just a matter of inconvenience but simultaneously, it provided a solid ground for hope, and later, much more JOY. Is there any hope? We are no different than the early disciples who stood at the foot of the cross on Good Friday. They saw their hope for the future die at that place. How would they live? How could they go on? We all face the burden of aging, the destruction of family life, diseases, unstable economy, and violence everywhere. We cry out to God, "Is there any hope?" YES, there is hope. It comes in the form of Jesus, crucified and resurrected from the dead 2,000 years ago. He was raised from the dead, and the event of his resurrection has become core of our faith. Not only was he resurrected, but also he ascended to his father in heaven and now gives the hope that we long for. But here is the most important truth of Christianity taught - THE TOMB WAS EMPTY! THE GRAVE COULD NOT CONTAIN JESUS! THE EMPTY TOMB MEANT VICTORY OVER SIN AND SATAN, AND DEATH ITSELF. Lord Jesus Christ triumphed over the grave and won new life for us. We have to open the eyes of faith to see his glory and to grow in the knowledge of his great love and victory over sin and death by participating wholly in THE MASS BY COMMEMORATING LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE LORD " We can join St. Paul and say nothing can separate us from the love of GOD. Thru Jesus, in Jesus and with Jesus we have victory over our own sins, faults Martin Luther King said "I have a dream." I also have a
dream: that God's people put as much time, energy and imagination into living
for Jesus as they put into their jobs, farms and businesses; that God's people
put as much time & energy into seeking treasure in heaven as they put into
seeking treasure on earth. Triune GOD IS OMNIPOTENT still he HAS GIVEN US FREE WILL, A WILL TO FORGIVE, A WILL TO ACCEPT, A WILL TO DISCERN BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL. A will to know his love and love him in return. HE WILL NOT FORCE US. ALL THESE THINGS ARE POSSIBLE ONLY WHEN WE SURRENDER AND PLEAD FOR GOD’S MERCY AND GRACE WHICH WILL SUPERCEDE ALL OUR INIQUITIES. WE HAVE TO BURY OUR PAST IN THE TOMB OF CONFESSION. THROUGH THE POWER OF RECONCILIATION WE ARE HEALED AND MADE WHOLE. JESUS IS RISEN AND HE IS ALIVE, HE IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER. AMEN Let us bow our heads and pray: Abba Father, in whom mercy is endless and the treasuries of compassion – inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your Holy will, which is love and Mercy itself. Amen.
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