A shepherd guides and protects his flock. He cares about the well-being of each one of his sheep. The Good Shepherd notices when one wanders off and is in danger of becoming lost.

God’s divine mercy has triumphed in saving humanity from eternal death. God went into the depths of human misery, all the way to dying on the cross, in order to save us from the same fate.

It is important to believe with all our hearts that Jesus has won the victory and that He has opened the gates of heaven so that God’s faithful may enter and enjoy God’s rest.

Palm Sunday is a fascinating day. We reenact Jesus' triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, wave our palm branches, and sing Hosanna. It’s a joyful event. However, the joy of the triumphal entrance soon becomes ugly. We hear of the plot to entrap and arrest Jesus, His betrayal by one of His closest friends, and His subsequent trial and execution.

After celebrating the first and third scrutinies, the Church lovingly entrusts to the RCIA elect the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. The Creed recalls the wonderful deeds of God for the salvation of the human race and suffuses the vision of the elect with the sure light of faith. The Lord’s Prayer fills them with a deeper realization of the new spirit of adoption by which they will call God their Father, especially in the midst of the Eucharistic Assembly. Let us pray that each elect will become enlightened and refreshed by the Gospel. May they who are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ practice his dying and rising in their daily lives.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He has conquered sin and death. He has overcome the grave. Death no longer has the last word. Life everlasting is offered to those who believe and give their lives to Christ.

Jesus wanted to cleanse the Temple and bring it back to what it was meant for – a house of prayer. It was meant to be a place where the people could encounter the living God and strengthen their relationship with Him.

In our gospel from St. Mark, we are atop a mountain and hear about Jesus’s encounter with the Old Testament Prophet, Elijah, and the Law Giver, Moses. In the Gospel we hear Jesus called God’s “beloved Son”—as Isaac is described as Abraham’s beloved son.

The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty days before they reached the promised land. But it was also through those experiences that the people of God learned fidelity, trust, redemption, and a stronger relationship with God.

The leper obviously recognizes that Jesus can heal him. There is no doubt in the leper’s mind. The leper doesn’t say, “Perhaps you can make me clean.” No, he is very definite, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” The leper has full confidence that Jesus can do this. In the Old Testament, the Israelites believed that only God had the ability to make a leper clean.

Our whole life may seem to be these ailments or problems, and we may feel like there is nothing else in the world that matters. This is the kind of world that Jesus entered. God became flesh and entered right into the darkness and suffering. God was not above everything watching what was going on with us.

Simeon’s response when he met the infant Jesus was to pray; he blessed God. Anna’s response on meeting the child Jesus was to speak about Jesus to others, especially to those who were waiting for God to visit them in a special way.

Jesus is still purifying His bride today. He wants to rid us of anything that may cause damage to our souls. If we don’t harden our hearts; if we are attentive to His voice; we will cooperate with His grace in our purification.

In the second reading the Church offers us a passage from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul was challenged in leading the Corinthian Christians to a fully devout Christian life. The city of Corinth was what Nineveh was to the ancient Jews.

Pastoral Planning at Sacred Heart answers the 2021 call from Archbishop Etienne to review and renew all that we do. He, and many Popes and theologians before him, explain that we are to be a mission church, charged, first and foremost, with bringing new souls to the Father.

In our Gospel reading, we heard another example of some people who listened attentively. John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God. Two disciples of John heard what he said and followed Jesus. They would have understood what John meant by calling Jesus the Lamb of God. This would have referred to the Passover lamb that the Jews sacrificed during the Exodus from Egypt.

In our Gospel reading, the magi visited Israel in order to do homage to the newborn king. It may seem like a simple story, but it has all the classic aspects of a conflict between good and evil.

God decided that He wanted to enter into our world in human flesh by being born of the Virgin Mary. God chose Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. God chose Joseph to be the foster father that would help raise Jesus.

Today, we look with tender love on this boy. This baby, Jesus, enthralls us like all little children do. We quietly stare with wonder at this miracle - the miracle of God in human form.