Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the fourth week of Easter, May 15, 2025

Delivered by Meryl Sehginna Tingadon from the Parish of Saint Francis Xavier in the Diocese of Keningau Sabah, Malaysia. Acts of the Apostles 13: 13-25; Rs psalm 89: 2-3.21-22.25.27; John 13: 16-20.THE GOOD SHEPHERD ENLIGHTENSUNDERSTANDING The title for our meditation today is:The Good Shepherd Enlightens Understanding. Our Good Shepherd Jesus Christilluminates the world and our hearts with His word. If the Word only reachesthe human ears, the work of evangelization is still like a half ripe fruit.From hearing, we need to proceed to the level of understanding. God continuesto help us understand Him, that is, His words begin from our hearing then cometo the point of our understanding of them. From the Sacrament of Baptism we havebeen endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and through the Sacrament ofConfirmation we have received the fullness of the Spirit. One of the gifts ofthe Spirit that we have received is  thegift of understanding. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus our Good Shepherdteaches us that by understanding His teaching we become the blessed ones. He isso pleased with people who not only listen, but also understand. Becausethrough understanding one’s character grows and from there come his or her actsand the life itself shines out. It does not mean that there is notenough understanding in every human being, or in a group of people and culture.What is often a problem is that human understanding is limited and tends tovary in perceiving different things. Especially in the teachings of certainbeliefs, the danger of lack of understanding and different interpretationsoften results in conflicts and clashes between us. This really became the experience ofSaint Paul. He had experienced how Jesus made himself a new person. His thoughtand understanding changed from the old type of belief. Then it was his turn toenlighten the minds and understanding of those who knew nothing about JesusChrist. Often our work of explaining to people who know nothing in order toobtain a proper understanding of something or a new thing becomes an easy thingto do. But it will be very hard to do the same to people who already have theirown thoughts and understanding. For us, our understanding of the LordJesus Christ and His teachings indeed already has certain measures of qualityfrom one person to another. However, the work of enlightening and deepening ourunderstanding of Him and His teachings is something else. Then how do we do it?Maybe this suggestion is very simple, but who knows it can be very useful.Students in school have to read one textbook ten times to face the test, ratherthan reading ten books once then do the test. So it would be the same thing, wehave to meet and learn from Jesus over and over, again and again. It isineffective if only occasionally or rarely. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... Our good Lord, we thank you abundantly for your Son Jesus Christ,our good shepherd. He enlightens and refreshes our understanding to knowHimself and You as the Lord who sent Him. May we always eager to understand Youthrough every moment of our lives. Glory to the Father and to the Son and tothe Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...