The Gospel for other nations has also the gift of repentance that leads them to life. Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Monday of the 4th week of Easter, April 26, 2021. Reading is delivered by Priska and meditation delivered by Lynn Baru, from Saint Peter’s School in Jakarta, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 11: 1-18; Rs psalm 42: 2-3; 43: 3.4; John 10: 1-10.
THE DOOR FOR ALL
Our meditation today has the theme: The Door for All. In His sermons and teachings about the Good Shepherd, Jesus gives assurance to all of us as His flock of sheeps, that He is the door for us. He even explains that He also shepherds other sheeps outside the fold. He is also the door for them. Therefore, Jesus is actually the door for everyone and all.
Jesus as the door for all people has been a manifestation of God’s powerful love for His people, for example, since the days of the spread of the gospel by the apostles after His resurrection. He was not only the door for the flock of God’s people in Jerusalem and surroundings who already had faith and tradition of Moses. Faith and the gospel proclaimed to anybody worldwide are very universal. Thus many others outside the circle of Jerusalem and the Jewish people were privileged to accept this faith and believe in Christ too.
The Acts of the Apostles in the first reading explains that even to the Gentiles God grants repentance which leads them to a true life offered by Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter was accompanied by some of his companions on a mission to evangelize outside Jerusalem and they received a great welcome from the uncircumcised Gentiles. This achievement seemed to be a joyful progress, but in reality it was questioned by the circumcised believers in Jerusalem. In the end, thanks to the light of the Holy Spirit, and through the apostle Peter’s sincere explanation, everyone could accept the fact that Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of all mankind and he is actually the door for all of them to believe in one God alone.
How can Jesus Christ be both a good shepherd and a door? Certainly yes! This should be a truth for us to accept and believe. He is the shepherd because of His role of guiding and leading. But before and after this duty, it is actually His duty as a door. He recognizes and sends us out of fellowship with Him in order to become true witnesses in the world. He also recognizes and welcomes us to enter again into fellowship with Him when we return from a missionary work. He makes sure that no outsiders sneak in or disturb us, especially when we come home in the fellowship with Him.
This is a model of our life from one time to another in the grace of God. There is no time without God’s guidance and accompaniment. While we are in this world, Jesus is the main door, and after our death, Jesus is also the door that welcomes us to meet God the Father in heaven. Let’s pray. In the name of the Father … O God almighty, we thank you in abundance because Jesus Christ is the main door for us to arrive at You. Hail Mary full of grace … In the name of the Father …