These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:11-18)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042124.cfm
Here in the 21st century most of us live in bustling cities. We don't know much about shepherds and sheep. But when Jesus says, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” we somehow know that the real world doesn’t work that way. If the shepherd dies, the sheep will be at the mercy of the wolves. In the financial world, if you lose a few sheep, you just cut your losses. But in God’s world, Jesus lays down his life for us. As the old songs taught us, all of us “are precious in his sight” and he is precious in ours.
As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." (Jn 6:60-69)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042024.cfm
The Bread of Life Discourse proves too much for many of the disciples and they leave. But Peter speaks for all of us: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Together with Peter and the others, we continue in prayer with the Mother of Jesus.
But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name." (Acts 9:1-9)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041924.cfm
Today we have the first of three accounts in the Acts of the Apostles of what happened to Saul (Paul): See Acts 22:3-16 and Acts 26:2-18. But the Apostle Paul himself never mentions any of this. Paul only says, “I have seen the Lord” (1 Corinthians 9:1 and Galatians 1:11-23). The imaginative accounts in Acts were written 30 years after Paul’s death.
As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:26-40)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041824.cfm
The eunuch’s question: “What is to prevent my being baptized?” Is central to the passage. Of course, the law of God says that a person like him can never be admitted to the people of God (Deuteronomy 23:1). Nevertheless, Phillip baptizes him, and the eunuch goes his way rejoicing.
Jesus said to the crowds,"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." (Jn 6:35-40)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041724.cfm
Meals are an essential part of the ministry of Jesus. In the context of a meal, Jesus gives us the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. In the gospels, he welcomes all sorts of unsavory people to the table. As the church has always proclaimed, Jesus satisfies the deepest hungers of the human family. Lord, only say the word and our souls shall be healed.
