Holy Saturday 16th April 2022 – Easter Vigil Readings

John the Baptist is the focus of the Gospel reading on the Second Sunday of Advent each year. His words challenge and inspire. We worship God who uses many messengers to call us from darkness to light.

The fourth Sunday of Easter is often called Good Shepherd Sunday, because the readings are about the care we receive from Christ, our true shepherd. We rejoice that this pastoral care continues in the loviong tenderness extended by many Christian women and men today. Today is also the day of prayer for vocations.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is often called Good Shepherd Sunday, because the readings are about the care we receive from Christ, our true shepherd, a care Christians are invited to copy. Today is also the day of prayer for vocations.

Loving the enemy and praying for those who make life difficult are two marks of a Christian, as Jesus teaches us today. We gather, aware of how difficult love can be, yet united by the saving mercy of God, on which we rely.

There are echoes of the Christmas season in today’s Gospel, where Jesus lets his glory be seen at the wedding feast of Cana, just as he did at the Epiphany and on the day of his baptism. As on those days, we ‘proclaim the wonders of the Lord anong all the peoples’.