Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 4, 2020
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
“The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
During this global pandemic, my mind goes directly to medical workers, first responders, and essential workers. These people are exposed daily to this potentially deadly coronavirus, willing to lay down their lives for the rest of us. With extreme gratitude, we pray for all who are making this great sacrifice.
What of the rest of us? Most of us are still at home. Some of us are isolated solo. Many continue to have human contact with only the members of our household—day in and day out for weeks. I can say from experience that being with the same people constantly is getting harder and harder.
I’m one of those who are quarantined in my house. My husband is at high risk of not surviving this disease. We stay home. We allow no one in our house. Our son who lives three hours away, can’t come to visit. We order groceries online and get them delivered into the car trunk. No contact. And we will need to stay this course until we can get a vaccine that is effective against Covid-19.
However, Jesus’s words give me great comfort. “I know my own and my own know me.”
Jesus knows us. He knows the struggles of living each day in our domestic churches. At home. Contained. Confined.
Perhaps we could ask Jesus, “What can I do today to shepherd someone?” For those of us at home, we could lay down annoyances and squabbles which divide us. We could lay down pettiness and pray to be generous and forgiving of each other.
And we could shepherd someone not in our household–not in our fold–by the simple act of virtual contact via a call, a text, a handwritten card.
Like Jesus, we can shepherd with care.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you have given Jesus authority over all your creatures, over each one of us. He exercises his authority by having become one with us in our flesh and blood, in our struggles and hopes. Help us to be so closely united with Jesus that our truest selves will be molded in Jesus’ likeness. Amen.
Saint of the Day
For 150 years during the 16th and 17th centuries, England was at war with Catholicism and the pope. Hundreds of men and women, Catholic and Protestant, were killed during this dispute. Today, the Catholic Church remembers about 300 martyrs who were killed for their faith in England and Wales between 1534 and 1681.
A brief history: Mary I, queen of England and Ireland from 1553-1558, restored Catholicism and papal authority to England. She was known as “Bloody Mary” for having some 300 Protestants burned at the stake for heresy against the Catholic faith.
Mary’s sister and successor, Elizabeth I, reversed this Catholic restoration and denied papal authority in England. In 1570, the pope excommunicated Elizabeth and called Catholics in England to rebel. Fearing invasion by a Catholic nation assisted by English Catholics, Elizabeth repressed Catholicism harshly. To be Catholic was to be a traitor, and it was forbidden by law to attend Catholic Mass.
Catholics in England and Wales were arrested and imprisoned, and many were executed by being hanged, drawn, and quartered. Some 300 Catholic men and women are honored today in separate lists for having died for their faith. They include bishops, priests, religious, and lay men and women.
A list of the Protestant martyrs who were killed during the reinstatement of Catholicism can be found here. Some relics from Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, and a complete list of their names can be found here.
Martyrs of the English Reformation, you faced persecution and were killed for your faith—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of The Martyrdom of the Priors of the English Charterhouse of London Nottingham and Axholme is in the public domain. Last accessed March 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
