Bad Shepherds
May 12: Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
We have a new pope! And by all accounts, Leo XIV seems like a great guy. If you’re curious about the election from a Cardinal’s perspective, you might find this video interesting. Also, he picked a great namesake, as explained in this post from
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Today’s readings, however, have some words of caution regarding our religious leaders here on Earth.
Reading I
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.”
There are, broadly speaking, three kinds of laws in the Old Testament, i.e. The Law as the ancient Jews and first Christians understood it. They are: moral, ceremonial, and judicial. The Moral laws are those that apply to everyone everywhere for all time, such as don't murder and don't steal. The Judicial laws are also often called "civil," because they concern the organization of the Israelite civil society, government and courts and stuff. They don't apply to people living under different civil jurisdictions, obviously.
The Ceremonial laws are trickier to understand, because they seem arbitrary. Some of them relate to the care of the temple or methods of worship, but others pertain to dietary restrictions, which is what today's first reading is about. The purpose of these restrictions was to set God's chosen people apart, to separate them from the rest of the world, in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
But now that the Messiah has come and shown Himself to be the savior of the entire world, these means of differentiating believers in the one, true God are no longer necessary. And so, angels instruct Peter to welcome all people into the new Church (of which he is the present leader on Earth).
Peter conveys this instruction to the Church in Jerusalem, which resolves the debate for now. It will come up again soon, with regard to circumcision this time, which then necessitates the calling of the first ecumenical council. We'll read about that next week.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 42:2-3; 43:3, 4
R. (see 3a) Athirst is my soul for the living God.
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.
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.
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.
All humans have a natural longing for God. Paganism and other false religions stem from this urge. That's why we find solace and comfort in God's Church, and why we're called to bring as many others as we can.
Alleluia
Jn 10:14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus calls to us, but we have to be ready to hear his voice.
Gospel
Jn 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.”
Last week we read a lot about Peter's role as the shepherd of the Church on Earth, and yesterday was all about Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Today's reading brings a dire warning—there is such a thing as a false shepherd. We can't just follow anyone who calls our name. And again, the desire to be called is always there, so we must use discernment.
Thankfully, the Church is there to help guide us with tradition as well as scripture. There have been both good and bad priests, bishops, even popes. But under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church endures. We have to faithfully follow the true shepherd that leads us to God.