+(Intro) We will hear in our first reading from Acts, certain believers saying to Peter: “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” It is easy for any of us to be exclusive, restrictive about whom we will talk or associate with. Bl Gabriella gave her life to heal the divisions within the Church so let us ask our loving God to forgive divisions we may have caused in our own lives.
(After the gospel) When Jesus says: “amen, amen, I say to you” we know he is making a strong emphasis, saying something that has lasting importance. It is only through that gate that we can enter the sheepfold and only true shepherds enter through this gate. And then after another, “amen, amen I say to you” Jesus tells us he is the gate for the sheep. It is when we live our daily lives in and through him that we are saved, come in and go out through him that we find pasture. Christ has come and is coming each day that we may have life and have it abundantly.
Bl Maria Gabriella learned to do this day after day. Her abbess after several talks with her, tells us: “I intuited the depth of her soul and took note of an uncommon if not extraordinary memory, an expansive intelligence, and a restful sense of balance. She was humble, a child in spirit saturated with the pure waters she drank from.”