9781644135945

The Easter Cycle
“I know Mine, and Mine know Me.” Where? In the offering of true love. Only the spirit of
sacrificial love can build a bridge between the Shepherd and His sheep. Only when love has
been purified of all selfishness, can a true interior and vital union, based on perfect mutual
understanding, be realized between the Shepherd and His sheep. No one can remain faithful
unless he bears the imprint of the Lord’s wounds in his heart. That is the mystery of the true
shepherd, Jesus Christ.
Prayer
O God, who by the humility of Thy Son hast raised up a fallen world, grant to Thy faithful people
abiding joy; that those whom Thou hast delivered from the perils of eternal death, Thou mayest
cause to enjoy eternal happiness. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday
“You were as sheep going astray. But you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of
your souls” (Epistle). What a wonderful Easter message!
“But you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” Through baptism you
have found your way back to the Shepherd in the Church. You were without guidance, without
suitable pasture, and destined for perdition. At Easter, through the holy sacraments of baptism
and penance, you were restored to the Good Shepherd. He directs and guides you with divine
wisdom and love; He leads you without error; He directs you with ineffable goodness and
strength. How fortunate you are in having found your way back at Easter to the Good Shepherd
of your soul! You are fortunate to be placed under His direction and guidance, for those who
follow His direction and guidance cannot go astray or be lost.
He and He alone is able, by His divine power, to defend us against the enemy, however
powerful that enemy may be. Neither hell, nor the world, nor the flesh can have any part in us
as long as we are under His protection. Any other guide is uncertain and treacherous, and any
measures we may take to protect ourselves against such false leadership will lead us to perdition.
Only when we subject ourselves to Christ can we proceed with perfect certitude and assurance.
How deceived we are when we depend on any other guide, on our own judgment or our own
personal desires, submitting to the rule of our passions! Rather, we must give ourselves to Jesus
with complete confidence and with an unshakable trust in Him to whom we have been restored.
Jesus has already trod the path over which He leads His sheep. The Epistle points out the
way for us. “Dearly beloved: Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should
follow in His steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who, when He was
reviled, did not revile; when He suffered, He threatened not [to avenge Himself], but delivered
Himself to him that judged Him unjustly; who His own self bore our sins in His body upon
the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice; by whose stripes you were healed”
(Epistle). The path is the way of self-sacrificing love, the way of suffering, the way of perfect
submission to the will of the Father in heaven. By this path Jesus reached the glory of His
Resurrection and His exaltation in heaven. This is the way of salvation; there is no other way.
In the Gospel today Christ assures us that “Mine know Me.” They know Him not only
in prayer, in the celebration of the liturgy, in spiritual meditation, or in the momentary
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