Fr. Rick’s Gospel Reflection for 4th Sunday in Easter

May 11, 2025, Revelation 7:9, 14b-17, John 10:27-30

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051125.cfm

Washing our Robes

Think about how often we take a bath or a shower. After working in the heat of the day or enjoying a sport, like golf, we can’t wait to shower. Notice how good we feel after that shower or bath. We would not want to be too near anyone before we wash, but don’t mind it after.

What a good wash does for my body, a good Confession does for my soul. I often wonder why we let the absolution of our sins go for weeks, months, and even years, and yet wash our bodies every day. Confession is a powerful Sacrament that cleanses our souls. I will ask someone who has been away from Confession for years, “Was that how long it has been since you bathed?” They chuckle but get the point.

Think about it, John the Apostle tells us about a large multitude that stands before the great throne of God in heaven.  These are the ones who have “washed their robes” in the blood of the Lamb, a symbol of Jesus’s sacrificial death and the forgiveness of sins. We might overlook the phrase, “in the blood of the Lamb.”

The connection between the blood of the Lamb, Jesus’s suffering, and the washing of robes is that we are blessed to share in Jesus’s sufferings in the little crosses we lovingly carry every day. These ‘little crosses’ are the daily challenges and sufferings we face, which when accepted graciously, wash our souls in the blood of the Lamb for the good of those whom we love and pray for.

The washing is the grace of conversion, loving Jesus and others more than ourselves. Many saints testify that a sacrifice, no matter how small, is more valuable to God than a thousand prayers.

St. Francis de Sales has a simple but beautiful passage regarding the daily crosses in life.  He writes that we can win the heart of Jesus by accepting the small daily sufferings. He lists some of them:

In his book The Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales wrote that small daily sufferings win the heart of our Savior, Jesus.

“The headache, the toothache, the heavy cold; the tiresome peculiarities of a husband or wife, the broken glass, the loss of a ring, a handkerchief, a glove; the sneer of a neighbor; the effort of going to bed early in order to rise early for prayer or communion, the little shyness some people feel in openly performing religious duties… Be sure that all these sufferings, small as they are, if accepted lovingly, are most pleasing to God’s goodness”. Your small sacrifices, when accepted lovingly, are significant in the eyes of God.”

When a cross comes our way, let us welcome it for a good Jesus can use to help us repent of our sins, intercede for the good of another, and prepare us to stand before the throne of God, cleansed through the blood of the Lamb. As we walk with Jesus up the road to Calvary, praise Him that we only carry a splinter.

By the way, The Sacrament of Reconciliation becomes a joy as a drop of Jesus’ blood from His Cross washes our souls clean in the words, “I absolve you from all your sins, in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It’s better than any shower after a hard day’s work.

Love Your Neighbor!

Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
www.bscchurch.com