Fourth Sunday of Easter
Intention: That all who serve in the ministry of education devote themselves to giving care and attention to every student, especially those who are most in need, by teaching their minds and touching their hearts.
Today’s Gospel | John 10:1-10
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. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
From the First Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
This is why you must honor your ministry and keep trying to save some of these children. Because God, according to the expression of the same Apostle, has made you his ministers in order to reconcile them to him and has entrusted to you for this purpose the word of reconciliation for them, exhort them as if God were exhorting them through you, for you have been destined to cultivate these young plants by announcing to them the truths of the Gospel and to procure for them the means of salvation appropriate to their development.
Prayer
Eternal Father, you sent us your Son so that we might learn to recognize the sound of your voice calling us to you. There are times when the noise of the world makes it hard for us to hear you, and sometimes we even mistake that noise for your words. Help us to become better listeners and to have the courage to answer your call to live with faith, compassion, and justice, standing securely in your love and in your mercy. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.