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I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand - John 10:28

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Believe and you'll be saved

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we all know that when Jesus lived on earth, there were so many people who rejected Him. They didn't wholeheartedly accept His teachings although Jesus had done so many miraculous things right before their eyes! Jesus even showed His great compassion and love to them. Nevertheless, they were spiritually blind, they saw all the great things Jesus had done but couldn't understand them. They incessantly looked for ways to find fault in Him. 

Sadly though, they were the Jews, who were actually God's chosen people! Jesus came to His chosen people but they were against Him instead of welcoming Him with open arms. They didn't believe in His teachings and worse than that, they didn't believe Him! They were expecting signs from Him to prove that He is the promised Messiah (John 10:24).

But Jesus clearly pointed out to them that only His sheep recognized His voice (John 10: 26). His sheep hear His voice and therefore, believe in Him without any doubt. Furthermore, in this passage Jesus convinced His sheep that they will always be safe in His hands, He will give eternal life to those who believe in Him (John 10:28). What a fixed assurance we have in Jesus! 

From today's reflection we are reminded of two important things, they are: first, as believers in Jesus we have to put our trust in Jesus, believe in Him and His words undoubtedly. Don't be like the Jews who rejected Jesus and His teachings although Jesus had been with them for quite a long time but they still didn't believe in Him.

Second, we may rejoice in the Lord because we know for sure that we are forever safe in God's protective hands because Jesus is the good Shepherd and we are His sheep. 

Simply put, let us believe in Jesus wholeheartedly and He will forever be with us, protect us against any harm or evil because we are His beloved sheep. Amen 

Reflection on John 10 : 22-42 by Linda

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Audiat | Listen

"And he said, 'Let anyone with ears to hear listen!'" — Mark 4:9 

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Reflecting on the beautiful parable of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a timely reminder for myself about how am I tending the soil of my heart. Is it a good soil that is fully prepared to receive the Word of God, and bear a fruitful harvest or is it a fallow rocky ground that's tainted by shallow philosophies or even false teachings that doesn't place Jesus at the Centre but focuses only on the gifts of the Giver? Are my ears tuned to the still-small voice of the Holy Spirit Who whispers, "I love you more than you'll ever know, my child.", or is it tuned to the noise of the world which threatens to drown out the loving voice of my Abba Father?

The Giver of all good gifts, our Father in Heaven, has one desire is for each of us to grow deeper and deeper in relationship with Him and seek Him first in all things so that we may reflect in increasing measure of His Son's Character and be His hands and feet in a broken and hurting world.

I will close with the Spirit-inspired words of this beautiful Love Letter, which was first published by Barry Adams in 1999 and can be downloaded from the link below (in 125 languages). https://www.fathersloveletter.com/languages.html

There is a link to an audio recording of the Father's Love Letter, which is available for viewing on YouTube https://youtu.be/ZsBhvSMQUk4

On the website below, you can read about how God used a simple prayer of a young man who had prayed over Barry Adams in 1997. It had ultimately led him to compile a series of paraphrased scriptures into a PowerPoint presentation as a message of the Father's love. Since the launch of the video in 1999 as a free Flash video on www.FathersLoveLetter.com , millions worldwide have been touched by the message of our Father's love, and has been translated into more than 125 languages and this video continues to find its way into many places around the world.

The Story Behind the Father's Love Letter…

https://www.fathersloveletter.com/the-story.html

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Reflection on Mark 4:1-9 by Chris Tan

In domum tuam (Ps 5:8)

 

We sometimes experience that God is far away. We pray but there is no answer. We feel lonely and abandoned by God. It can happen because of two reasons. Either we committed sins and consequently, we cannot hear the divine voice in our hearts, or God wants to check our fidelity and piety.

Obviously, the proud person is not able to listen to the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, if we make mistakes and commit sins in our deeds, thoughts, and talks, we are not able to tune our souls with the sound from heaven.  

However, it is also possible that we live a holy life, but God’s voice can’t be heard. It was true in the life of many saints, like Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Even though she was a person who prayed a lot and helped thousands of people, she went through the night of the senses. She experienced desert in her spiritual life. Nevertheless, the Lord protected her and led her in all her ministries.

We are to learn from the example of such people who were close to God. We are also invited to pay attention to the word of God. Although we sometimes feel abandoned and cannot recognize the message of God, we should not give up. On the contrary, we are to trust in God more and more.

We always can find shelter in the Lord. As God’s beloved children, we are obliged to love him with our whole heart.

O Lord, help us be patient, especially during our prayers. Send your Holy Spirit so we could listen to you carefully. We are waiting for you. Please, enlighten our minds and souls. Cleanse us from our weaknesses and sins. We want to hear your voice. Make us yours and teach us wisdom. Do not let us get depressed but strengthen us in our endeavors and plans. Amen.

By Fr. Jozef Trzebuniak, SVD.