Not feeling qualified to deal with questions of this sort, I asked him if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there on this issue. But Paul put in an appeal for his case to be reserved for the judgement of the august emperor, so I ordered him to be remanded until I could send him to Caesar.’
I sometimes don’t feel qualified serve the Lord Jesus. Nonetheless, we are chosen when in Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus says to make disciples of all the world. I also have a y responsibility to grow in my relationship to the living Jesus and the living scriptures. I recently listened to an interview with a nun who was an editor to one of our national Catholic publications. She talked about her prayer life. She was not talking about our Gospel but was talking about cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, she mentioned how the Gospel gives us answers. She didn’t quote this scripture from Luke, but she was talking about scripture and how it came to her in her prayer life and how it motivated her. Luke 6:37-38 “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Jesus wants everyone to partake of the Eucharist and same with food or healthcare. no one would feed one child and let the other go hungry. Mercy takes many forms. Peter was upset that he asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and said, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.
What brings me to today’s Gospel is our relationship to the Good Sheperd and His sheep. Shepherds are leaders and so must we lead. Using our prayer life and our relationship with Jesus as an inspiration to motivate us to follow the Gospel. What strikes me most is the sheep and shepherd live together. They eat together. The face adversity together. We are His flock, and we could not exist without Him. We like Jesus must show mercy to others and there is no room for hate or violence. You can’t convert someone who is dead. We are not going to get it all right with everyone, but we can treat everyone with the mercy and love of the Good Shepherd.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please Pray for the soul of our beloved Pontiff, Pope Francis and for his successor, Pope Leo. Please Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the salvation of the Ukrainian and Russian people and their soldiers. Pray for the Holy Land. Pray for peace! The impossible could and can happen. Never deny God.
