The Shepherd as moral guide

May 9, 2017
Tuesday,
4th Week of Easter
1st Reading: Acts 11:19–26
Gospel: Jn 10:22–30
The time came for the feast of the Dedication. It was winter and Jesus walked back and forth in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in doubt? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have already told you but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name proclaim who I am, but you don’t believe because, as I said, you are not my sheep.
“My sheep hear my voice and I know them; they follow me and I give them eternal life. They shall never perish and no one will ever steal them from me. What the Father has given me is stronger than everything and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Someone said that after Jesus died for us we have become precious in God’s sight. Wrong. We have always been valuable to God from the start and not just after Jesus’ oblation. This explains why he made the first move towards reconciliation. The mediator had to be both God and man. He had to be God so he could be at par with the offended party. He also had to be a man so he could represent humanity. This only Jesus going through the process called incarnation could accomplish. It was thus that the Father sacrificed his only Son to perfect the process of reconciliation.
We are so precious to God that in today’s Gospel reading Jesus makes the big commitment of sparing us from destruction. Calling us his sheep Jesus makes this promise: “They shall never perish and no one will ever steal them from me” (John 10:29). He put up the Church to make sure an institution will take up this commitment in His name. Mindful of how Jesus values us, the Church will never compromise with the forces of darkness. That is why in protecting her flock the Church will not sanction the immoral option simply because the intention is good and the option is convenient. Valid practical considerations can never override morality. The moral principle that the end does not justify the end has not been abrogated. The path to hell is paved with good intentions.
So if you find the Church stubbornly standing firm on moral principles, know that the Church is just doing her duty as steward of the people God so love from the beginning. Being so, the Church is just trying to match God’s love for humanity with the highest degree of accountability. If the Church is unbending when it comes to moral principles, it is for the protection of our souls, mindful of how precious we are in Gods’ sight. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
May comment ka ba sa column ni Father Dan? May tanong ka ba sa kanya?
I-type ang BANDERA REACT at i-send sa 4467.