MONDAY MAY 8, 2017
Introduction
“I have come that they may have life – life in abundance,” says Jesus, the Good Shepherd. He is the door to all. In the first reading, Peter defends his action of baptizing the pagan Cornelius on the same grounds: also pagans are called to accept the Gospel: and the Holy Spirit comes down on them too, although apparently the same Christians seem to have understood the case of Cornelius and his household as an exceptional instance. Is the Church – are we – open to accept all? What do we do to make this a reality? So, Jesus had come to bring life to all.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, Father of all,
you sent your Son Jesus Christ among us
to reveal to us that you care about people
and that your love extends to all,
without any distinction of race or culture.
Give us a great respect for all people,
whatever way they come,
and let your Church embrace all cultures,
that Jesus may truly be
the Lord and Shepherd of all,
now and for ever.
Reading 1: Acts 11:1-18
The Apostles and the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
'You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them."
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
"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.
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.
I also heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.'
But I said, 'Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
'What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.'
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man's house.
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,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.'
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
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.'
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?"
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
"God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too."
Responsorial Psalm: 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a)Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R.Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R.Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R.Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R.Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R.Alleluia.
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.Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R.Alleluia.
AlleluiaJN 10:14
R.Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R.Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Jn 10:11-18
Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."
Intercessions
– Lord Jesus, let our Church keep its gates wide-open for all, from however far come those who are attracted by your voice, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, make our communities open its bolted doors to strangers and to people who are different, we pray:
– Lord Jesus, do not allow us to close our ears and hearts to people who cry out to us their pains and their needs, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine
we recognize your care for all
and we welcome your Son Jesus Christ.
Give us the Holy Spirit of your Son,
that our love may become
as wide as the world,
and that all people may share
in the life and joy you offer to all
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, source of all life,
we thank you for the presence
of your Son Jesus Christ in our midst.
Do not allow us to withhold
his word and his person
from all who hunger for him,
whether they know it or not.
Let us be his word and his body
to the world of today
that our words and deeds
may echo his voice
and that we may be the door to you,
our God for ever and ever.
Blessing
Let Jesus not be a stranger to us but someone whose voice we recognize when he calls out to us in the needy, in loners, in people who have not experienced much justice and love. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
