＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 2: 14a, 36-41

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and,

with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Let Israel then know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.” When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

Peter answered: “Each of you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.   For the prom­ise of God was made to you and your chil­dren, and to all those from afar whom our God may call.”

 With many other words Peter gave the message and appealed to them saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”  So those who accepted his word were baptized; some three thousand persons were added to their number that day.

 

Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6(1)

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Peter 2:20b-25

What merit would there be in taking a beating when you have done wrong? But if you endure punishment when you have done well, that is a grace before God. This is your calling: remember Christ who suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you may follow in his way.   He did no wrong and there was no deceit in his mouth.  

 He did not return insult for insult and, when suffering, he did not curse but put himself in the hands of God who judges justly.  He went to the cross bearing our sins on his own body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live an upright life. For by his wounds you have been healed.  You were like stray sheep, but you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 10:1-10

Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.  But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate.  The keeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.  

A stranger they will not follow, rather they will run away from him because they don’t recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I am the gate of the sheep­.   All who came were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them.

 I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved; he will go in and out freely and find food. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

Jesus calls himself the “gate” in today’s Gospel, and the second reading calls him our “Shepherd and Guardian” of our souls. There’s reason shepherds at that time were sometimes referred to as the “sheep gate” and it was because they would often lie down where the opening to the pen would be, in order that none of the sheep may go out and stray, and no wolf or wild animal could go in and harm the sheep. Good shepherds literally “laid down” their lives in order to protect their sheep.

Reflect:

Too often, when we face difficulties and hardships and approach Jesus for help, we think of him as someone who is able, because of his power, to somehow “swoop down” and change the situation for us, to solve the problem or to just make it go away. He is of course, more than able to do that.

But how often do we think of Jesus as someone who is “present” with us, walking with us, accompanying us, comforting and consoling us, when the storms of life come our way? The readings for Mass today remind us that Jesus, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, is also the ever-present friend who never leaves us to face our perils alone, but is always there to assure us that no matter what, our life is in God’s hands and nothing can ever truly harm us.

Pray:

Lord, let me trust in your presence. Let me be reminded that I never face the difficulties and perils of life alone, for you are always by my side, laying down your life so that I may live the kind of life God wants for me.

Act:

Make it a habit to call to mind the presence of God from time to time during the day.