All human relationships from personal to business have one principle that they follow. What is this principle? It is a “give and take” kind of relationship. Does Jesus have the right to demand from us? Of course, He does. He emptied himself to become like us in all things, except sin to show His unconditional love for us. He suffered and had to experience excruciating pain and was crucified and died for our salvation.

We humans have a lot of fears. We fear water, that is, "hydrophobia." We fear of heights, that is, "aerophobia.” We fear of death, that is, "thanaphobia." We fear enclosed spaces, that is, "claustrophobia."

In our Gospel today, Jesus assures the twelve disciples and all of us: "Fear no one. Nothing is concealed, that that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known...And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna." (Mt 10: 28)

One of the things that I have realized in the Ordinary Season is that we are being asked and invited to focus our attention on Jesus. What is He doing? What are His feelings? What are His attitudes about people? And what are His aspirations for the people?

Jesus is true and faithful to the mission that the Father has given to Him. Prior to this pericope, Jesus, according to Matthew, toured around towns and villages; in other words, he was an itinerant preacher. He proclaimed the good news of God's reign - the conspicuous realty that the reign of God is amongst the people, He cured diseases and sickness and expelled demons.

Food is an essential element in life in order to survive and to be energized. Jesus understood this when He compares Himself as the "living bread from heaven". He says: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves because they didn't understand what He was trying to tell them.

St. Augustine of Hippo had to grapple with the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. How can the three Divine persons be in one God? As he tried to look for answers to this query, he encountered a child on a seashore digging a small hole. What are you doing he asked the child. The child answered him: "I will transfer the whole ocean into this small hole." St. Augustine said in reply: "That's impossible or preposterous."

I am reminded of a famous adage or quote: "Promises are made to be broken." I suppose this is true for us humans. We have made a lot of promises to people, but how many times have we broken them? This is not so with Jesus. He always fulfills His word and promise. He said this in His Last Supper discourse to His disciples: "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete - to be with you always: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept..." (Jn 14:16) "When the Paraclete comes, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father - whom I myself will send from the Father - he will bear witness on my behalf. (Jn 15:36) If I fail to go, the Paraclete will never come to you." (Jn 16:7)

Fr. Flor McCarthy, SDB, the author of the New Sunday & Holy Day Liturgies, has a beautiful anecdote to share with us. When Jesus returned to heaven after His death and resurrection, the Archangel Gabriel was surprised to see Him back soon. "Back so soon?" Gabriel said to Jesus. "Well, I would have stayed longer but they crucified me," Jesus replied. "Oh so, they crucified You," said Gabriel. "That means You failed." "Not necessarily," said Jesus.

In order for us to understand well and deeply this particular Gospel account, it is necessary and expedient to know the context where this particular passage is located in the whole Gospel. Where was Jesus? What was he doing? To whom is this particular passage is addressed? What were the circumstances or situations the disciples faced?

In last Sunday's of readings, we reflected one of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus being the Good Shepherd. We Catholics have many titles to address Jesus and these are embedded in our devotions to honor Him like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Diving Mercy, the Black Nazarene (famous in the Philippines), The Holy Child, the Redeemer and Christ the King.

Every Fourth Sunday of Easter is called the "Good Shepherd Sunday" because the readings are centered on the attitudes and attributes of a Good Shepherd. Jesus is presented as the "Good Shepherd" par excellence. In fact, this is one of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus. The early Christians depict this well. I remember, when went down to the catacombs in Rome, several years ago, a saw a statue of a Roman boy carrying a sheep on his shoulder which aptly describes Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

One of the most dramatic appearance stories of Jesus in the Gospels is the appearance of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. The two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus, sad, disgruntled and downcast. Why? Because their expectation of Jesus from Nazareth whom they considered as a prophet with mighty word and deed before God and people was not met. And they were hoping that he would redeem Israel and how the chief priests and scribes handed him to be crucified.

If you want information, I will always say: "Google it". You can practically get all information in the Google platform. I considered it to be the modern day Encyclopedia. According to Google, the "Divine Mercy Sunday originates from the private revelations of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who recorded in her diary that Jesus a wanted feast day dedicated to his profound mercy on the Sunday after Easter.” St. Pope John Paul II formally established it on April 30, 2000, thus it is celebrated annually throughout the Catholic Church on the Second Sunday of Easter.

Among the women disciples of Jesus that I admire most is Mary Magdalene. Why? Because she was a very courageous woman. She was not afraid of darkness. She went alone to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning. Indeed, she profoundly missed the loving presence of Jesus. Her action expressed her deep love of Him. But when she saw the stone removed in the tomb, she immediately dashed to report the incident to Peter and John by saying: "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." (Jn 20:2)