June 14, 2026Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 91 – Gospel Reflection

June 14, 2026
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 91
– Gospel Reflection

by | Jun 13, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 91

First Reading: Exodus 19:2-6a

In those days, the Israelites came to the desert of Sinai and pitched camp.

While Israel was encamped here in front of the mountain,

Moses went up the mountain to God.

Then the LORD called to him and said,

“Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob;

tell the Israelites:

You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians

and how I bore you up on eagle wings

and brought you here to myself. 

Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant,

you shall be my special possession,

dearer to me than all other people,

though all the earth is mine.

You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 100:1-2, 3, 5

R. (3c) We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;

    serve the LORD with gladness;

    come before him with joyful song.

R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Know that the LORD is God;

    he made us, his we are;

    his people, the flock he tends.

R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

The LORD is good:

    his kindness endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

R. We are his people: the sheep of his flock.

Second Reading: Romans 5:6-11

Brothers and sisters:

Christ, while we were still helpless, 

yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,

though perhaps for a good person

one might even find courage to die.

But God proves his love for us

in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood,

will we be saved through him from the wrath.

Indeed, if, while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,

how much more, once reconciled,

will we be saved by his life.

Not only that,

but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Alleluia: Mark 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the Gospel. 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Matthew 9:36—10:8

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them 

because they were troubled and abandoned,

like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples,

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;

so ask the master of the harvest

to send out laborers for his harvest.”

Then he summoned his twelve disciples

and gave them authority over unclean spirits

to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.

The names of the twelve apostles are these:

first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew;

James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector;

James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus;

Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus,

“Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town.

Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.

Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Reflection

We’re back to the season called Ordinary Time. However, there is nothing ordinary about salvation or anything which culminates in a soul getting closer to God by following His will. Such an issue does not follow seasons and is not bound by any time or period. Any day is a good day to start seeking God in one’s life. And when one becomes “right” with God or when one gets “closer” to God’s heart, the seasons in our faith’s liturgical calendar become rich with meaning and begin to offer clear historical perspective and theological depth. To be closer to God should be a lifetime mission for anyone who declares his love for God and is willing to dedicate his life to the mission of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth. One cannot do the latter without the former and vice-verse. Remember, to spread the Gospel to the ends of the world may be as mundane being a good member of the family or as significant as being God’s messenger like a bishop or Moses in the First Reading.

To be closer to God presumes that we value our salvation because in the end, that is all that matters. We are all called to work on our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), not because Christ’s salvation is incomplete or sold at a price, thereby opening the opportunity for man to buy his way to heaven. We need to heed Saint Paul’s advice of working for our salvation with fear and trembling because the enemy is strong and cunning in his ways of snatching souls away from God. It is in this context that we need to be with God always, making sure that we never leave his side by falling away from grace. 

For most Catholic Christians, we are called to simply offer our daily life to God by doing the ordinary routine extraordinarily and with holy purpose so that doubters and unbelievers can see that Jesus is truly alive in us.

First Reading

In our First Reading, God gives a message to Moses to be heralded to the House of Jacob a.k.a. House of Israel: “…if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

To be a people “close” to God’s heart, such a nation should listen to His voice (“hearken to my voice”) and obey Him (“keep my covenant”). These acts of listening and obeying God should not be your average daily item BUT must be the highlight that governs one’s very core of existence. The Word of God must be our principle concern in life but because we must do God’s will first and foremost. Nothing else should please us than to be pleasing to God. 

In the Old Testament, God’s voice has always been revealed directly or relayed through the prophets and holy persons who have been ordained to serve God and his people. These people acted like ambassadors for God and some of them had to go through tremendous suffering for God’s plan to be fulfilled. Some of them were not even from the House of Jacob. It is both a privilege and a responsibility to be a messenger from God. In the same way, being God’s chosen people is both a privilege and a responsibility. Keeping the Covenant with God is, in itself, a great responsibility because God’s will is to bring everyone into covenant relations with Him. God’s relationship with man has always been and will always be through forging covenants.

The verse quoted also emphasizes that it is listening that qualifies as a very important element in our relationship with God. In fact, listening is a great sustainer and fertilizer to any relationship either with God or with others. Our God is all-knowing. Therefore, it stands to reason that we must always take time to be still and ask the Lord to speak to our hearts. In our world of loud and ambient noise, from opinions and comments, we need to go off-the-grid and connect with God, and the more frequently we do this, the better it will be for us. Remember, God wills only our good because of His unconditional and limitless love for us. The more we do things using our own capabilities and the more we take God out from our decision making, the more we get into trouble. 

We must also remember that listening to God’s voice should be our inspiration to keep our Covenant obligations and be faithful to it. Keeping our Covenant relations with God is the “obeying” part of the equation. In other words, we listen to God and we obey what He tells us. This should be our daily agenda in life and everything should flow from this practice of listening and obeying Him who is Lord of all. For most people, they wouldn’t hear an audible sound of a voice coming from an unseen man. For most of us, we have already heard God’s voice in our hearts because it simply demands a very basic thing in life—that we love one another!   

Gospel

Today’s Gospel is about the call of the workers who labor in God’s vineyard. This is also the “obeying” part mentioned in the First Reading. As you well know, the whole world is God’s vineyard and the mission is to spread God’s Word to others, especially to those who have not yet heard or seen to glory of the Lord, so that they too may hear and be saved. The Gospel is also about praying to the God, who is the Master of the Harvest, for Him to send more workers to the vineyard.

It is true that the phrase “laborers working in the Lord’s vineyard” refers to priests. However, it is also refers to the laity and all baptized Christians who take to heart the command contained in the Great Commissioning in Matthew 28: “…make disciples of the all nations.” The “harvest” refers to all those who have not heard about Christ or those who have given up their discipleship.

What is at stake here is ‘the harvest’ or more importantly, ‘to secure and keep the harvest safe’. It is true that God is Almighty and He can secure the harvest on His own. But that would defeat the very purpose of Christianity as a faith community and family of the chosen people of God. 

Remember, the Church built by Jesus is the New Israel and we are it. Therefore, what was said in the First Reading applies to us, and that is ‘to hearken to God’s voice’ and keep the new and everlasting Covenant sealed with the blood of the Lamb. We are the new priestly Kingdom of God, and we are duty-bound to gather others and bring them closer to our Lord. Our constitution as a priestly clan was confirmed by St. Peter when he said: “…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). 

As a priestly clan, we are called to mediate between our fellowman and God, and this is the reason why Jesus left behind His priests or those ordained to the sacerdotal life because Christianity is indeed about shepherding others closer to God. This is also the reason why our Lord Jesus calls us to pray to the Master of the Harvest for Him to send more workers to the vineyard. The harvest is abundant but the harvesters are few; there is so much work but there are only a few workers who can be tasked. Jesus’ solution is: “…ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”

The Easter Season may be over but we are still basking in the perpetual glory of Easter because Christ already defeated death. This is the Gospel worth preaching even if it takes one to climb the highest mountain and sail the seven seas. The pathway to life is already set and cleared for all mankind. What remains to do is to listening and to obey God Word, Jesus the Christ. It is imperative that we abide by Him and in Him who is the Vine. Our aim is for us to be the branches of the Vine and never be pruned away by the Master of the Harvest, left to dry and burned. Attached to Christ, we have life and we flourish. Detached from Christ, we wither away and die.

Second Reading

Today’s Second Reading is one of St. Paul’s masterpieces in explaining how Jesus paid for every sin committed before and after His death on the Cross, and how Adam and Eve’s fall from the Garden becomes an important reckoning point.

Man’s disobedience in the Garden not only made him sin against God and discovered what evil was, he also lost his preter-natural gifts of innocence and immortality. As a consequence, man became spiritually broken and vulnerable to committing sin, which even became a predilection for some. In other words, man’s brokenness puts him at odds with God. Some, by virtue to their continuing sin, are always at odds with God and this is NOT why God created man.

It is in this context that God rolls out his plan to save mankind and it is rooted in His unconditional love—that God decided to love man, a mere creature and elevate him to the status of child. This is no ordinary love. It is the kind which is described in Greek as “agape”, as differentiated from “phileo” (affectionate love), “storge” (familial, natural love) and “eros” (romantic, passionate love). It is divine love and the good news is that man possesses this capability of loving like God because we were created by Him who is love personified. It is a “whatever-it-takes” kind of love.      

The plan is for God to send us His only begotten Son: “Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6). Jesus took on human flesh precisely to bridge the divine and the temporal orders in His person, so that He can give His life away, as expiation, to appease God and for man’s salvation. Man has been made right and justified by Christ and His death. God knew that man’s knowledge of evil and sin, a consequence from disobedience and fall from the Garden, would weaken his resolve towards good and would make him helpless against the forces of evil. Sin truly makes ungodly people out of some.   

Jesus, being God, knew that some will reject the Father and the Son and become unworthy of salvation and divine adoption. But He still offered His life to take away the sins of the world because it was the will of the Father that all be saved by believing in the Son (see John 6:40 & 1 Tim 2:4). Saint Paul declares how difficult it was for the Son of Man to die for mankind: “Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:7-8). This only proves how much God loves man.  

“How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life” (Rom 5:9-10). God did everything just to reconcile us to Himself, even to the point of dying on the Cross for both the righteous and the sinners. Every single person, past-present-future, was and is justified because of Jesus. In other words, God has opened to us every single access there is available for us to reach heaven IF ONLY WE BELIEVE IN GOD AND IN JESUS WHOM HE SENT (see John 17:3). Believing in Christ means abiding in Him until the end of our earthly existence because after our earthly lives, we no longer need to believe, we only have to see God face-to-face and appreciate the glory of the Trinity.

A blessed Sunday to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

May 3, 2026– Fourth Sunday of Easter Lectionary: 52 – Gospel Reflection

May 3, 2026– Fourth Sunday of Easter Lectionary: 52 – Gospel Reflection

by | May 3, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

May 3, 2026

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 52

First Reading: Acts 6:1-7

 

As the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
because their widows
were being neglected in the daily distribution.
So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
“It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
whom we shall appoint to this task,
whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.”
The proposal was acceptable to the whole community,
so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
They presented these men to the apostles
who prayed and laid hands on them.
The word of God continued to spread,
and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly;
even a large group of priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19

 R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Exult, you just, in the LORD;
praise from the upright is fitting.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

 

Second Reading: 1 Pt 2:4-9

 

Beloved:
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it says in Scripture:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.
Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone, and
A stone that will make people stumble,
and a rock that will make them fall.
They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.

You are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a people of his own,
so that you may announce the praises” of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

 

 

Alleluia: John 14:6

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the way, the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father, except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

 

Gospel: John 14:1-12

 

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.”

 

 

Reflection

 

The Gospel today is almost the middle part of the Last Supper Discourse found in St. John’s Gospel which starts in Chapter 13 and culminates in Chapter 17 with the Prayer of the High Priest of heaven and earth to the Father.

 

It is worth considering that the words of Jesus in the said discourse practically make up our Lord’s “last will and testament” because He knew what was going to happen to him on Good Friday. Since Jesus is true man and true God, human nature will dictate that what he said thereat would be some of the richest teaching our Lord would ever reveal and they would form doctrine of the Church and faith.

 

Jesus’ mission was to save mankind from everlasting death because such is the will of God. The solution was to obey the New Commandment: “love one another” (John 13:34). We have to love like Jesus by believing and knowing Him who was sent by the Father who loved the world so much that He sent Him (His only begotten Son), and whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life (see John 3:16).

 

 

Our Trinitarian Faith

 

“The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves” (John 14:10-11).

 

Saint John’s Gospel Prologue starts with these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1: 1-3).

 

Saint John declares that Jesus is the Word of God and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). In other words, nothing in the universe came to be without the Father willing it and without speaking it through his Word. What the Father wills, he realizes through his spoken Word. What the Father utters, he speaks through his Word, and it comes to be or into being by the animation of the Holy Spirit.

 

God’s Word is not some audible sound or arrangement of letters, and it is not some alphabet or piece of paper with letters written on it. God’s Word is a person. The Word of God is the Son because He is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God; begotten not made and consubstantial with the Father. Through him all things were made (from the Nicene Creed).

 

The oneness of the Father and Son is so real and true that the powerful and unending transmission of life and love between them requires a third person to convey their unity to each other in the person of the Holy Spirit.

 

Therefore, when Jesus says that “the Father who dwells in me is doing his works”, he is just revealing a fact which has existed since creation. This is the reason why we have always believed that no person in the Godhead is older than the other because they have “existed” in unity since the beginning (noting that God has no beginning and end; time is merely a unit of measure for reference purposes when we compare it to what is eternal).

 

Jesus was incarnate and became man because of the will of the Father to save mankind from everlasting death, and Jesus always seeks the will of the Father and obeys it because he makes God’s will a reality in His person in the temporal realm. It was (and still is) the will of the God the Father that all men be saved and the only solution was the incarnation of the promised salvation in the person of Jesus not in servitude but out of the unconditional, unlimited and unfathomable love and mercy of God. Jesus loves the Father in total trust and obedience, and is one with the Father’s will to save mankind from everlasting death by defeating death on the Cross.     

 

 

What did Jesus mean by ‘the Father who dwells in me is doing his works’?

 

What are these ‘works of the Father’? The answer is Divine Fatherhood rooted in Divine Love. Among all the attributes of God, the greatest is fatherhood because he was Father even before time. God our Father has been Father to the only begotten Son before everything came to be. Therefore, everything that Jesus did and said or does and says is rooted in the work of God as Father of us all.

 

Yes, God is Creator. However, God is creator insofar as creation is concerned. When time gives way to eternity at the end of the age, God ceases to be the divine creator but he will never ceased to be Father of the Son and to all of the elect in heaven. He was Father even before man came to be. And, He will be Father to us all in heaven, with all the Angels and Saints, forever and ever.

 

Yes, God is Mercy. However, when all of the elect have been saved and entered into Heaven, God will cease to be our merciful God because there will be nothing more to forgive in heaven.

 

Yes, God is the Divine Judge. However, His final and definitive judgment will come at the second coming of our Lord Jesus when He renders judgment upon the living and the dead. After this, there will be nothing to judge because the salvation plan will see its completion and fulfillment at that time.

 

God our Father loves us all unconditionally and without limit. It goes without saying that as our Father, He wants only what’s best for us and what is best is to be in His presence forever. It is when we sin that we choose our separate way instead of God’s way and it is sin that separates us from God. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This means that even when we disobey God, even in our unfaithfulness which deserves death as punishment, He still rolled out His salvation through the death of Jesus on the Cross on Good Friday.

 

Jesus did His work of salvation because the Father wanted all mankind to be saved. The planned salvation had to be set in motion by the Word of God because it was conceived even before time started. And this is the reason why God’s salvation couldn’t be replicated or copied by anybody because the person who was aggrieved is God. It takes a perfect sacrifice to appease God for the sins of the world. The person who was mocked by man’s disobedience and sin is no less than God himself. Therefore, only God, in the person of Christ, could save mankind because anything less would be unjust, imperfect and unworthy of God’s appeasement. The perfect sacrifice is the one capable of taking away the sins of the world and that has to involve a priest who mediates between God and man, and He has to be true God and true man. There is only one who fits the bill—our Lord Jesus.

 

This is the reason why the work of saving His children is a continuous process until the last child listed in the book of the elect enters heaven. The entire work of salvation has been executed and completed by Jesus by the will of the Father and we are merely waiting for the return of Christ at the end of time when He judges the living and the dead. Those who obeyed will receive their reward in heaven and those who disobeyed will be thrown into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (see Matthew 13:42).      

 

This is the kind of God that we have – a just, loving and merciful Father who only wants the best for His children. He cannot be compared to any father on earth because He is our perfect Father and His fatherhood is the best there is. God loves each and every one of us more than we can love ourselves and He knows us more than we can know ourselves.

 

God, we thank you for being our Father and thank you for making us your children. Father, we thank you for being our God forever.

 

 

Second Reading

 

“…let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)

 

Last week was Good Shepherd Sunday and Jesus calls all mankind to enter His sheep pen because it was His prayer to the Father at the Last Supper that all be one, led by Him who is the one Shepherd of His one flock. The flock being referred to is none other than the Church He built, of which He serves as the cornerstone, foundation and mystical head. Please remember that the concept of our Lord being the Good Shepherd necessarily includes the topic of the Church, its management and leadership. All bishops have crosiers, also known as a pastoral staff, and it symbolizes the governing office of a bishop as an overseer and head shepherd of a diocese—the smallest geo-episcopal division.

 

Today, Saint Peter, our first Pope, fulfills our Lord’s mandate of making disciples of all nations by reminding all of us to come into the Church and allow ourselves to be built into a spiritual house of which Jesus is the builder, the foundation cornerstone, the Eternal High Priest and unblemished sacrificial Lamb of God. These elements of priest, sacrifice and church inevitably point to one thing: the worship of the one true God. 

 

Though the church may refer to the edifice or place of Christian worship, it more importantly refers to the congregation of faithful Christians all over the world who were baptized into the one faith and one flock of Jesus. Throughout the ages, generations and generations of people have come into the Church to profess their belief in our Trinitarian God. Some have already died and some of them have already inherited their everlasting reward of communion with the Trinity in heaven. So long as babies are being born every day, we can safely say that God has not lost hope in humanity and the world because every life born into this world is given a chance at everlasting life through the salvation of Jesus on the Cross.

 

All those who come into the Church are obliged to help build up, increase the numbers of those who come in and spread the faith to the ends of the earth in fulfillment of the mission order of Christ before He ascended to Father. To assure this, the Church will always have the presence of the Life and animator in the person of the Holy Spirit as the guaranty of God’s faithful adherence to the New and Everlasting Covenant by simply being our God and Father because the Church is His Kingdom and family.

 

The call for us to always abide in Jesus (John 15:4) cannot be more pronounced and truer than our incorporation into His body which baptism, as a sacrament, actually does and bestows. It elevates us into the status of heir and child of God’s kingdom. Saint Peter said: “…baptism, saves you now” (1 Peter 3:21) and echoed by St. Paul when he said: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27). These are not just statement of facts or more importantly doctrine for our belief. These are realities that maybe unseen by the naked eye but are no less powerful because of the grace that baptism and our incorporation into the Body of Christ bestow. Baptism is so real and true that every Christian baptized in our trinitarian faith is indelibly marked as a child of God forever, even if that child rejects God and the faith. 

 

A blessed Fifth Sunday of Easter to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

April 26, 2026 – Fourth Sunday of Easter – Gospel Reflection

April 26, 2026 – Fourth Sunday of Easter – Gospel Reflection

by | Apr 25, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

April 26, 2026

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 49

 

First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
“What are we to do, my brothers?”
Peter said to them,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off,
whomever the Lord our God will call.”
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,
“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand persons were added that day.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6

 R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

 

 

Second Reading: 1 Pt 2:20b-25

Beloved:
If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good,
this is a grace before God.
For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.

When he was insulted, he returned no insult;
when he suffered, he did not threaten;
instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross,
so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed.
For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

 

 

Alleluia: John 10:14

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: John 10:1-10

Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

 

Reflection

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and we are the sheep. More accurately put, those who believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd earn the right to be part of His sheepfold. To be clear, the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord completed the work of salvation for all mankind. There is no sin on earth that has not been paid for by the blood of Christ and there is no sin on earth that cannot be forgiven because God’s mercy is limitless, except for the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: “whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (see Matt 12: 31-32). But those who do not humble themselves and ask for forgiveness from the Lord, those who do not believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the only way to the Father, cannot be part of His flock.

 

Please note that Jesus didn’t come for the sheep inside the flock but for the lost sheep of Israel. Kindly note further that when Jesus said that He came for the lost sheep of Israel, it was also a notice and a warning that He shall build and inaugurate a new Church, under a New Covenant, for a new way of worshipping God, led and administered by His Apostles and a new priesthood. Our Lord, if He had a hundred lambs, will leave the ninety-nine (99) behind just to look for one lamb which is lost.

 

The Church built by Christ upon Peter is the new flock and the new Israel. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and all those who enter into his sheep pen—which is the Church—become part of the flock. Wherever the Good Shepherd is, so must His flock be and wherever Jesus is, so must Israel be; Israel—the nation and kingdom of God; the Church is the New Israel.

 

This may look like a radical departure from the old dispensation of Temple worship and the Levitical priesthood but a critical unpacking of this will lead us to the realization that everything that the nation of Israel believed in about God finds perfected continuation by the coming of the Son of Man, the one sent by the Father to fulfill the promised salvation for Israel and the whole world.

 

God our Father is the Gatekeeper (John 10:3). He alone decides who enters or does not enter through the Gate and into the sheep pen. Jesus is both the Gate (John 10:7) and the Good Shepherd. Let us not forget that Jesus is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The elect who have been destined to inherit salvation and divine sonship have been and are all anointed by the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and giver of life.

 

At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed to the Father saying: “When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12).

 

 

Question: Lord, of all the images that you could associate with, why did you choose to be the Good Shepherd?

 

Is it because we are like lambs which are timid, could easily go astray and off the righteous and lighted path? And when we get lost, we become fair game to predators-the forces of evil. Please note that the greatest predator of the Lord’s flock of sheep isn’t a wolf or bear but a snake, the one who is called Ancient Serpent, especially the Books of Genesis and Revelation. This is the reason why we need a Good Shepherd who is unlike any other shepherd we know because He lays down His life for His sheep, lambs which He already considers friends and feeds them with His own body and blood in the Eucharist.

 

There is a war that has been going on since the dawn of earthly time and it is between the forces of good against the forces of evil. The fight is for the souls of each and every human being. The forces of good are led by Jesus and His heavenly hosts a.k.a. army of angels. The enemy is the Ancient Serpent and his group of fellow fallen angels who rebelled against God before creation.

 

Make no mistake folks, there is a war going on but hidden from our sight and it is between supernatural forces: good versus evil. It is this force of evil that has been fueling all the sin in the world. The leader of the forces of good is both the Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd, and His name is Jesus, our Savior and High Priest.

 

Our Lord’s compassion for those who are lost and have gone astray is evident in St. Matthew’s Gospel: “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:36).

 

 

We are all called to be shepherds to others.

 

Because of the war between good and evil, we are all called to be shepherds to others. More accurately put, we are called to be shepherds by obeying, imitating and listening to the voice of our Lord who is the Good Shepherd. We can only be shepherds to others if we have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

When Jesus said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20), it was a call about shepherding others so that they would have the faith and not squander it by choosing sin and evil.

 

Jesus makes us instruments of His good news and salvation and this is the reason why the faith must be strong in our hearts and minds, with total conviction to be disciples of Jesus so that we too can be instruments of handing the faith to others through our shepherding, all in imitation of Christ our Lord.

 

Christianity is all about believing in Christ and our faith has to be spread to the ends of the earth by being ambassadors of the faith. People have to see that Christ dwells in us so that they too can believe and see. This is shepherding at the very basic. Preaching Jesus, the Word of God, must be as basic as the air we breathe every day. Remember, shepherding others can be as basic as being a loving father to your family members or a brother to your siblings. It can be as basic as being a good boss or officemate in the office. Everybody needs shepherding because we are creatures who have been broken by sin and can easily lose our way to righteousness. 

 

 

What makes a shepherd good at his job?

The obvious answers would be to multiply the flock and not to lose any sheep to predatory animals, falling off a cliff, trapped in a thicket or similar situations. In our Lord’s case, it was Him who lost His life because He deliberately or voluntarily gave it up for the sake of His flock; so that those inside it may live forever. It was in giving up His life that enabled Him and the Father to send the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life at Pentecost to animate and inspire the Church—the flock of the Good Shepherd, the family and the Kingdom of God. 

 

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). This laying down of one’s life is the same posture Jesus had when he said at the Last Supper: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15: 13-14).

 

This is an all-encompassing quality or attribute of the good shepherd: someone who is willing to lay down his life for the sake of others. Why? A shepherd who is willing to lay down his life for his sheep must have unconditional love for his sheep. We are the sheep who entered the sheepfold. Once inside, we are protected from the enemy for so long as we remain inside. Jesus laid down his life for us to make sure that salvation is available for all mankind and the Church is our vehicle of salvation because in the Church, Jesus is present.

 

Again, the way into the sheep’s pen is Jesus because He is the only Way to the Father (John 14:6), he is the Good Shepherd and he is the Gate. The Father is the Gatekeeper because only He decides who enters the sheepfold.

 

In Matthew 15:24, Jesus told the Canaanite (Syro-Phoenician) woman: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel“, because Jesus is a Good Shepherd who looks for the lost sheep. In that episode, the Canaanite woman became part of Jesus’ flock when she exhibited tremendous faith by saying: “But even the dogs eat the scraps from their master’s table.

 

In the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matt 18: 10-14), it tells of a shepherd who leaves behind his ninety-nine sheep “on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray.” Those who are in Jesus’ flock but have gone astray will always be pursued by our Good Shepherd because each and every one of us is precious to the Lord. 

 

 

One Shepherd, One Flock (John 10:16)

 

There is only one shepherd and it is Jesus. He does not have many flocks. He only has one flock. Salvation is for all of mankind. When Jesus died on the Cross, it was to pay for all the sin of the world and for the benefit of all mankind.

 

But Jesus has only one flock. This is clear when he said: “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). Therefore, those who believe that Jesus is the Good Shepherd but do not belong to his fold must be brought into the one flock. This highlights and emphasizes the role of the Church which Jesus built on Peter. There is only one Church built by Christ because it was intended to be the one flock of the Good Shepherd. Those who are outside of the flock must be brought in by those who are already in the flock. This is the reason we need to tell the world that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and work at Church unity. The mission order from Christ is to unify His flock towards one communion. Saint Pope John Paul II wrote about his desire to unify the two (2) traditions of the Church, the East and West, stating in his 25 May 1995 Encyclical Ut unum sint (Latin: ‘That they may be one’ [John 17:21]): “…that believers in Christ, united in following in the footsteps of the martyrs, cannot remain divided.”

 

Remember, the word “church” comes from Greek and it means “to call”. Those who enter the Church are “called” to come in because they have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd when they were still outside and will hear His same voice once inside. Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10: 14-15). There is one Good Shepherd, who is shepherding one flock, because there is one faith which partakes of the one Bread of Life and that bread is the Lamb of God.  

 

The New and Everlasting Covenant was already sealed and in existence since Holy Thursday and it is mediated by the Eternal High Priest between God and the one Church built by Jesus, who is both priest and victim, for the worship of the one true God of us all.

 

 

A blessed Good Shepherd Sunday to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

April 19, 2026 – Third Sunday of Easter – Gospel Reflection

April 19, 2026 – Third Sunday of Easter – Gospel Reflection

by | Apr 19, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

April 19, 2026

  

Third Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 46

 

Reading 1: Acts 2:14, 22-33

 

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.
Let this be known to you, and listen to my words.
You who are Israelites, hear these words.
Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God
with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,
which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,
you killed, using lawless men to crucify him.
But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.
For David says of him:
I saw the Lord ever before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.

“My brothers, one can confidently say to you
about the patriarch David that he died and was buried,
and his tomb is in our midst to this day.
But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne,
he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,
that neither was he abandoned to the netherworld
nor did his flesh see corruption.
God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.
Exalted at the right hand of God,
he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father
and poured him forth, as you see and hear.”

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

 R. (11a) Lord, you will show us the path of life.

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.

Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.

You will show me the path to life,
abounding joy in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. Lord, you will show us the path of life.

 

 

Reading 2: 1 Pt 1:17-21

 

Beloved:
If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially
according to each one’s works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning,
realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished lamb.

He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.

 

 

Alleluia: Cf. Lk 24:32

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us;
make our hearts burn while you speak to us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

 

Gospel: Lk 24:13-35

 

That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted
what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

 

 

Reflection

 

Please note that in the First Reading, St. Peter “took the stage” by speaking to congregation of the first Christians on the planet, excluding them. Meanwhile, in the Second Reading, it is St. Peter again who takes the stage because of his authorship of the epistle that we read today. In the Gospel, St. Peter is again mentioned when St. Clopas and friend run to Jerusalem to report to Peter and the Apostles the episode that just transpired in Emmaus, when they recognized our Lord Jesus in the “breaking of the bread.”

 

This is one of those Sundays in Easter that the prominence of St. Peter, our first Pope, comes forth because he indeed is the Prince of Apostles and the Vicar of Christ, and all those who succeed him inherit both titles and the office of Pope who is primus inter pares or the first among equals, in reference to the bishops—he is the first among all bishops of the Church. It is no wonder that in the Gospels, whenever the Apostles of our Lord are mentioned, Peter was always mentioned first and Judas was always mentioned last to show that the synoptic evangelists were deliberate in their writing in presenting the preeminence of Peter among the other Apostles.

 

 

First Reading: “God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses.” (1 Peter 2:32)

 

We just like to emphasize the fact that our faith is also based on the witnesses of people who had the great privilege to be with Jesus when He was on earth, as St. Peter proudly declares in the verse quoted.

 

We do not believe for the sake of just believing. On the contrary, we believe because our faith in God is anchored on the declarations of Jesus and of those who were there with Him. They have written about it with the specific intention of spreading the faith, based on what they saw and heard. This verse from the first epistle of St. Peter declares that he was with our Lord Jesus and he saw the things he is now writing about. Our faith is based on the truth, a truth which is based on the account of witnesses who have been in the thick of it all, the Apostles.

 

Sadly, in today’s world, there are those who claim to be from God and they have been called “to call” God’s people once again, as if Jesus failed in what He did when He established the Church upon Peter. What is sadder is that there are people on the face of the planet who are gullible enough to believe these claims simply because they sound new and novel. They simply don’t realize that these things, heresies in fact, have to be presented as novel and new because that is the only way to make their claims indefensible and fool-proof that only they can explain it. They often espouse arguments critical to what the Church has already established and taught for centuries because it would make them look brilliant and therefore attractive to people who never bothered to delve into critical thinking or refer to history, particularly the Church’s history.  

 

The Catholic Church has been in existence since the time of the Apostles. Earthly kings, empires and despotic leaders have all come and gone but it still exists and is growing. It is intact and alive not because those who run it are always holy but it is because the founder is holy, faithful and true. Remember, our present Pope Leo XIV can trace his office and succession back to St. Peter, the Prince of Apostles. This is proof that the Church established by Christ is real and is here to stay until the end because Jesus promised that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

 

These ‘wannabe’ prophets of our times claim to be Bible-based but never acknowledge that it was by virtue of the authority of the Catholic Church that the books of the Bible were compiled and canonized, the very same Bible they preach from and interpret sadly according to what fits their teaching and some of what they teach are against the Catholic faith. We can go on and on and on.

 

In the end, it is really about believing Jesus when He said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:16).

 

 

The Eucharist: The power to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread because He is the Bread of Life.

 

Note: In the Bible, the phrase “in the breaking of the bread” in Acts 2, Verse 46 and others, technically refers to what we know now as the Liturgy of the Eucharist and therefore, the precursor of the Mass as we know it today. Today’s Gospel story, together with other verses in the Bible, including what we call “sacred tradition”, form our bases for the celebration of the Mass and why we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. 

 

In today’s Gospel, St. Clopas (also spelled “Cleopas”) and companion recognized that their guest was our Lord only at table, while saying a blessing, breaking the bread and distributing the bread. After going through all these, our Lord Jesus vanishes before their eyes as if to say: You don’t need to see me in person. Just believe and do what I told you to at the Last Supper in remembrance of me. I am the Eucharist.

 

The sequence at the Last Supper, as contained in the Gospels, together with the Walk to Emmaus account are, the same and therefore, necessary for our belief in re-presenting what happened at the Last Supper in remembrance of our Lord during Mass. Also, please note that the dedicated altars or altar of sacrifice in all the churches throughout the world are also called ‘Eucharistic Tables’ or Altars of Thanksgiving. It is called as such because on the altar during the mass, the rite of calling upon the Holy Spirit during consecration (called the Epiclesis), which changes unleavened bread and grape wine into the body and blood of Jesus (transubstantiation) is performed, in remembrance of our Lord and according to His command. 

 

At Mass, Jesus is both the victim – the ‘Agnus Dei’ (Lamb of God) and the priest: the sacrifice and the one offering the sacrifice.

 

In the Mass, the terms of the divine Covenant are re-presented before our eyes and Jesus, as the ‘Agnus Dei’ and the seal of the Covenant, is the made present to us together with the entire worshipping community in heaven. At Mass, Heaven and earth meet, the temporal order and the eternal realm unite in Jesus who is the Eternal High Priest and the only mediator between God and man because He is true man and true God and therefore, the only way to the Father.

 

“Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” (Luke 24:35)

 

In our opening discussion, we said that the Eucharist empowers us to see Jesus because He is truly present in the Eucharist in the form of bread and wine. The above-mentioned verse in St. Luke reinforces our teaching of the faith, particularly about the Eucharist which is the center and summit of our lives as believers of Christ.

 

Opening up one’s heart and soul to receiving Jesus in the Eucharist is truly a personal encounter with our risen Lord in a physical manner that is incomparable to anything in this world. Being one with Jesus and abiding in our Lord cannot get more up close and personal than encountering him and receiving him in the Eucharist. 

 

 

Second Reading

“If you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning…”

 

Our God is Father in the real sense of the word. He is also the judge of us all. Jesus is the only way to the Father. In other words, we need to abide in Jesus because only He is the way to Heaven. Abiding in Jesus means obeying the Father because of what Jesus commands us to do. We need to live our lives according to what Jesus says and the only way to do this is by invoking the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the Trinitarian nature of our faith and this will be how we’re going to be judged by the Father. The rendering of judgment will come at the end of our lives on earth. The judgment will consider only this question: “Did we choose good or evil?”

 

There is nothing that is hidden and can remain hidden from our Father’s eyes because He is the all-seeing God and is present in all time. Whatever we do or say and whatever we don’t do or don’t say shall be the basis of divine judgment. Did we become true to our covenantal vows or not, and did we obey God’s Word? God is always impartial and fair in His judgment. Therefore, repentance is indispensable to salvation because the standard by which we will all be judged is Jesus Christ and His mandate was: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt 4:17). We may have chosen evil but did we ever repent from them and asked God’s forgiveness?

 

This is the reason why we should have a devotion to the Lord’s divine mercy, even more than His divine justice. We would rather face God the merciful Father rather than God the fair judge because we will surely fail and be convicted if the “books” were thrown at us in a fair trial in heaven, akin to a criminal who is caught and prosecuted. Again, the standard of a righteous life is and will always be Jesus and what He taught us. Our actions and words must give reverence to God and others because this is pleasing to God.

 

Our true home is in heaven with our God and Father. What we do and say here on earth echoes into eternity and become evidence for us or against us before the heavenly court where God is the Judge. We are only sojourners on the way to heaven. 

 

“…ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb…”

 

Here, our First Pope, St. Peter teaches us that Jesus is our Lord and Savior because mankind has been ransomed from sin with no less than the body and blood of the one who died on the Cross – the Lamb of God. In other words, we now belong to Christ because He has ransomed us from death. We owe him our lives. Without Him and his death on the Cross, we would not have been saved from eternal damnation.

 

The divine plan is simple: To save mankind from eternal death. And why does God do this? He does this because He loves the world so much, and He even sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in the Son shall not perish but have eternal life. Saint Paul echoes our Lord’s call of repentance in his first letter to St. Timothy:

 

“…God our savior…wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God…one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all” (1 Tim 2: 3-6).

 

Truth is a person and His name is Jesus.

 

 

A blessed Third Sunday of Easter to everyone.

– Gospel reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry

April 12, 2026 – 2nd Sunday of Easter – Gospel Reflection

April 12, 2026 – 2nd Sunday of Easter – Gospel Reflection

by | Apr 11, 2026 | Gospel Reflections

April 12, 2026

Second Sunday of Easter (or Sunday of Divine Mercy)

Lectionary: 43

First Reading: Acts 2:42-47

 

They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions
and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves
to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

 

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24

 R. (1) Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.

Let the house of Israel say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
R. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.

I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
R. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.

The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
R. Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love is everlasting.

 

Second Reading: 1 Pt 1:3-9

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith,
to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
In this you rejoice, although now for a little while
you may have to suffer through various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith,
more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire,
may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Although you have not seen him you love him;
even though you do not see him now yet believe in him,
you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

Alleluia: John 20:29

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

You believe in me, Thomas, because you have seen me, says the Lord;
blessed are they who have not seen me, but still believe!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: John 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

 

Reflection

 

The Second Sunday of Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday.

 

Wait a minute! Why do we have a separate celebration for Divine Mercy Sunday? Isn’t Good Friday the day of divine mercy? Is there any other day that compares to what Jesus did on Good Friday insofar as mercy is concerned?

 

Also, aren’t all masses offered throughout the world, in all days of the year, liturgies which allow us to ENTER into the perpetual heavenly liturgy which, among other things, which makes the saving work of our Lord Jesus eternally present before God and atones for all the sins of the world? In other words, isn’t it that all masses are thanksgiving celebrations of the divine mercy of God?

 

To better understand the impact of these questions and what they imply, it would be best to take a dive into what Good Friday and Easter brought about and what it is that really resulted when our Lord Jesus rose from death as He promised.

 

First, kindly note that we start the novena of the Divine Mercy on Good Friday because, and rightfully so, it is the day of absolute goodness and mercy: When the only Good in this world freely gives up His life just to ransom and save a slave to sin (which is man), that is undoubtedly, unequivocal and unmistakably the highest good mankind has ever witnessed. Good Friday is “good” because the Good offered His life in exchange for our lives by hanging on the Cross.

 

Second, when Jesus rose from death, this wasn’t a resuscitation to life of a corpse by the power our Lord, like what happened to St. Lazarus (John 11). This was no less than marriage union of the temporal order into the divine, because now God lives with his people (see. Rev 21:3). Jesus truly bridged the divide between earth and heaven in His very person because He proved that there is indeed life after death, not just any other life but eternal life or the very life of God. By rising from death, Christ defeated death, the last and greatest hindrance to life eternal. Jesus is the very proof because He indeed is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  “Christ is the firstborn of many brethren” (Rom 8:29). Jesus took preeminence in His resurrection into a new life by ascending into heaven with His glorified body to open the gates of the Kingdom of the Heaven and lead the brethren who inherited life everlasting.

 

Third, the Mass that we celebrate daily throughout all the Churches in the world is our worship to God, and our thanksgiving for His salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who, by His passion, death and resurrection, complies with the everlasting command to perform the Passover in the new Passover of the Lord’s Supper. It is also the Festival of the Unleavened Bread because our Lord identifies himself as the Bread of Life, which needs to be blessed, broken and eaten for eternal life. Jesus’ body and blood, presented as bread and wine in the Eucharist, is our expiation and Atonement, because He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.         

 

 

Gospel: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:29)

 

To believe is to see! To accurately put it: To believe allows us to see. More accurately put: To believe allows us to see with the ‘eyes of faith’. To believe requires faith and faith comes from the grace of God with one indispensable element – our DECISION to accept God’s will for us. Obviously, St. Thomas the Apostle decided wrongly. If he probably prayed before doubting, he could have been graced with the power to believe in our Lord’s resurrection without the Lord showing himself to him with His nail marks and all.

 

There is a direct relationship between believing in God and God’s mercy, on the one hand, and Jesus and his passion, death and resurrection, on the other. On its face, this statement looks simple but there’s more than meets the eye. In other words, the mercy of God is all about believing in the resurrection of Jesus. Those who do not doubt that Jesus is the Messiah – the one who died for our sins and save mankind for the eternal sonship that awaits all of us in heaven, including living out our baptismal vows, they are truly children of the resurrection or children of the perpetual Easter. 

 

Mind you, during the time of Lord on earth, there were those who believed in God but didn’t believe in life after death. There were also those who believed in God but didn’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Today, the mutations of these have been many and these are heresies that have merely been recycled from antiquity. They have all been convincingly rebutted by the Church because the fullness of the faith is reposed upon her.

 

In today’s Gospel, St. Thomas, who wasn’t present in the Cenacle Room on Easter night, was being told by his brother Apostles that they have already seen the resurrected Lord because He appeared to them a week ago.

 

St. Thomas, in his doubt, sets aside the witness of his brothers, asks for physical evidence and demands to see the wounds of Jesus for him to believe in the resurrection and that He is truly risen. Imagine that! Like a faithful Jew, he believes in God. He also believes that Jesus is from heaven by the works and signs performed by our Lord, and some of them were performed before his very eyes, especially raising Lazarus to life. As an Apostle, Thomas had the privilege to be with the Jesus up close and personal. Now, he does not even believe that Jesus has the power to rise from death as He himself promised.                                                                                                                                                                               

If St. Thomas, an Apostle, failed in his faith because he didn’t initially believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and didn’t believe the declaration of his brothers that they have seen the Lord (and he apparently forgot what Jesus said about his passion and resurrection), how much failure would it be for us who are ordinary mortals and who live in this neo-pagan world of secularism, materialism and hedonism (among others)? If St. Thomas failed, we all can easily fail.

 

There is that component in faith which expects us to believe in things even in the absence of physical proof. Otherwise, physical proof would even serve to negate or hinder our belief and faith. In Hebrews 11:1, faith is defined as follows: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen“.

 

In other words, to believe in God requires his grace through the Holy Spirit. God’s grace will always be sufficient for hearts and souls to want to draw closer to him. But it will always require our accent and decision to believe in God and everything that the Church proposes for our faith. That is why we are “a” universal and “the” universal Church. There are those who believe in God but don’t believe that Jesus is God. A lot of people believe that Jesus is God but don’t believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Grace alone may be sufficient for us to tackle matters of faith but it still needs our assent to and about the faith for faith to really matter in our lives and create an impact in this world which Christ ordered to be evangelized and make disciples of all nations.

 

St. Thomas had all the “evidence and tools” before him to just believe anything and everything about Jesus rising from the dead. Jesus’ resurrection is at the very core of our faith. But at that moment requiring him to take that leap of faith, he doubted and he was admonished for it by the Lord: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

 

Let’s always pray that Jesus doesn’t have to show himself to us with a rebuke saying that His grace is more than sufficient for our faith and for us to stop doubting Him.

 

 

The Eucharist: “Blessed are those who see bread but believe that when consecrated, see the real presence of Jesus and blessed are those who know that in the Eucharist, Jesus is really present—body, blood, soul and divinity.”

 

Next week, the Third Sunday of Easter, the Gospel will be the Road to Emmaus episode from St. Luke. The story goes something like this: Towards dusk, our resurrected and unrecognizable Lord Jesus, walks towards Emmaus with St. Clopas and another fellow who was unnamed. Since nighttime was upon them, the typical Middle-Eastern hospitality kicked-in for them to invite Jesus into their homes, who at this point, was still unrecognized. Our Lord was prodded by the two men to remain and break bread with them. Fast-forward to dinner – “…while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him but he vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:30-31).

 

St. Clopas and friend recognized Jesus only in the breaking of the bread. Therefore, when Jesus vanished from their very eyes during the meal, our Lord wasn’t doing it for show. He wanted us to believe that he is present with us in the Eucharist; he makes himself sacramentally present to us in the Eucharist and this even connects with his promise that he will be with us until the end of time (Matt 28:20).

 

Going back to today’s Gospel, St. Thomas is asking for empirical proof before he believes in the resurrected Jesus. However, to be with Jesus requires a lot of faith because He is absent from our physical eyes.  But like the incident at the Road to Emmaus, we too are being asked to just to take a giant leap of faith and not doubt like St. Thomas.

 

Our physical eyes might not see Jesus because he already ascended to heaven. But there is such a thing called ‘eyes of faith’ and this allows us to see what can’t be seen by human eyes. Through baptism, and reinforced by confirmation, we are given grace to see with the eyes of faith the deepest mysteries of God and His Bride the Catholic Church, IF ONLY WE BELIEVE. Our eyes of faith, together with tradition and the magisterium, allow us to see that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and those who believe are truly blessed because they didn’t require physical and empirical evidence to prove it, unlike St. Thomas. Besides, our faith has enough mysteries that simply can’t be explained. That is why faith is an integral part for man to be able to just trust and believe in God.

 

Jesus not only rose from the dead like he said He would or ascended into heaven just to leave us orphans or play hide-and-go-seek. He didn’t leave us just to confuse our focus on Him because He is in the Eucharist and He makes himself present to us in a most unique and special way. Jesus is indeed Immanuel – God with us!

 

 

Conclusion

 

To believe is to see! It can’t be the other way around. Christianity DOES NOT TEACH ‘to see is to believe. If it did, there will be no need for faith. To have faith is to see and to have faith is a matter of grace because one can’t have faith without the power of the Holy Spirit!

 

To simply believe that there is a God is a matter of grace and may be a good place to start with our journey of faith. But it is not enough for spiritual growth. We need to increase in our faith through daily conversion into the image of Jesus and this comes with the reception of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

 

To believe in God is already a matter of grace. To have faith in God, to believe in God and in the one He sent is already a cause for so much rejoicing in our lives because we can count ourselves as justified and saved: “God our Savior, desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy 2:3-4)

 

Saint Peter could not have said it any better in our Second Reading:

 

“In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, as you attain the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:6-9)

 

The Church specifically designated the Second Sunday of Easter to celebrate God’s mercy because everything in this world is about God’s mercy. In the same way, all the masses being offered and celebrated every hour of the day, all over the world is about God’s mercy. Jesus has put so much emphasis on his mercy, as that one attribute of his salvation that He even appeared to St. Faustina Kowalska and asked that the devotion to His divine mercy be perpetuated at the hour of great mercy, 3:00 PM every day. Jesus, King of mercy, we trust in you!

 

 

A blessed Divine Mercy Sunday to all.

 

 – Gospel Reflection by Kuya Rommel Cecilio of SLRP Bible Apostolate Ministry