Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, Father of all, you sent your Son Jesus Christ among us to reveal your sacrificial love and care for all, without any distinction for race or culture. Give us the strength and courage to follow his example, even if it means suffering, that Jesus may truly be the Lord and Shepherd of all, now and for ever. Amen.
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Reading: John 10:11-18 (NLT)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
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Reflection & Prayer:
Heavenly Father: you have sent us your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Good Shepherd.
+ Thank you for his sacrificial love for us.
+ Thank you for his sacrificial care for us.
Lord Jesus, you willingly sacrificed your life in our defense.
+ Give us the discernment to follow no other Shepherd.
+ Give us the courage to follow your example, even if it means suffering.
Holy Spirit: make us one with other believers who follow Jesus.
+ Free us from our preconceptions and prejudices.
+ Send us out in unity of purpose and the bond of peace.
Father: send us out into the world to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
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“Lead Me Lord” – The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
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Concluding Prayer – Psalm 42:1-2 (NLT)
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
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+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
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