Study: Consider a time when your drifted in your convictions and faith.  What helped you get back on track?

Pray: Is there something keeping you from the Lord or another person?  Pray for the grace to reconcile.

Serve: Do you know others who are struggling with their faith?  How can you support their journey back to God?

Mass Readings – 4th Sunday of Easter

Themes of repentance, baptism, and sheep surface this week.  Take a look:

• 1st Reading – Peter exhorts the crowd to repent and be baptized
• Psalm – “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”
• 2nd Reading – Christ bore our sins on the Cross, for we were like straying sheep
• Gospel – The Lord is the gate for the sheep; we must pass through Him

The Scriptures speak of Jesus as both Shepherd and Gate.  Why?  Because like sheep sometimes we find ourselves in trouble, unprotected, abandoned, and in need of serious help.  The shepherd guards and guides the sheep; entry through the gate allows the sheep to pass into a place of safety.

Our human need for help arises from our sins.  While the joy of this Easter season is ringing in our hearts, we still take the time to call to mind our need for the Savior – the Good Shepherd – who offers his life for us.  Indeed, it is the saving death and resurrection of Jesus that we proclaim in every Baptism, Confession, and Eucharist…sacraments that many receive in this holy season.

Knowing that the Lord has freed us from sin and death, we can honestly acknowledge our sins and joyfully offer our gratitude – running to the Lord for the grace and strength we need.

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Note: This post was first published on May 1, 2017.