Sunday, June 9 : Isaac of Stella

When the time of mercy had come (Ps 102[101],14) the Good Shepherd came down from his Father’s side… as had been promised from all eternity. He came in search of the one sheep that had been lost. Promised to her from all eternity, he was sent to her in time; for her sake he was born and handed over, eternally predestined for her. She is unique, drawn from both Jews and Gentiles…, present among all peoples; she is one in her mystery, many in persons, many through the flesh according to nature, one through the Spirit according to grace – in short, one single sheep yet a crowd without number… As for those whom this shepherd acknowledges as his own: “No one can snatch them out of his hands” (Jn 10,28). For true strength cannot be forced, wisdom cannot be deceived, charity cannot be destroyed, That is why he speaks with assurance, saying…: “I have lost none, Father, of all those you have given me” (Jn 18,9)… He was sent as truth for the misled, way for the straying, life for the dead, wisdom for the foolish, medicine for the sick, ransom for captives and food for the starving. For all those, we might say, he was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15,24) that they might be lost no more. He was sent like the spirit into a rigid body so that, at his coming, its members might become warm again and quicken with a new, supernatural and divine life: this is the first resurrection (Rv 20,5). Thus he himself can say: “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it will live” (Jn 5,25). And so he can say of his sheep: “They will hear my voice and follow me” (Jn 10,4-5).

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team