4th Sunday of Easter – Year C
Sunday of the Good Shepherd
First Reading
Acts of the Apostles 13:14,43-52
Paul and Barnabas preach the good news among the Gentiles and are expelled by the Jews.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 100:1-2,3,5
A song in praise of God who shepherds us.
Second Reading
Revelation 7:9,14b-17
John describes his vision of the praises that the holy ones sing to the Lamb.
Gospel Reading
John 10:27-30
Jesus describes his care for his sheep.
Background on the Gospel Reading
The fourth Sunday of Easter is also called Good Shepherd Sunday. In each of the three lectionary cycles, the Gospel is taken from the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. This chapter of John’s Gospel follows Jesus’ healing of the man born blind and the rejection of this miracle by Jewish leaders who question Jesus’ authority to heal. Jesus responds to this challenge to his authority by calling himself the Good Shepherd. He is criticizing the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders. Already, the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders are so angered that they attempt to stone and arrest Jesus (see John 10:31 and 10:39). This controversy with the religious leaders continues until Jesus’ death.
Set in a moment of tension and conflict in John’s Gospel, today’s Gospel reading is Jesus’ answer to the question, “Are you the Messiah?” Jesus responds by saying, in essence, “If you have to ask, then you are not one of my sheep.” Then Jesus asserts his unity with the Father. At the conclusion of these words, John reports that the Jews intend to stone Jesus for blasphemy, but he escapes arrest.
We may be less familiar with the metaphors of sheep and shepherd than those to whom Jesus spoke. The image of Jesus as Good Shepherd and the community of followers as his sheep has endured over the centuries as a primary image in our faith tradition. Its power to describe the relationship between Jesus and his followers transcends direct experience with sheep. The image speaks to us about the protection, security, and care that shepherds represent for their sheep.
Today’s Gospel speaks powerfully about the familiarity and intimacy between Jesus and his disciples, expressed as recognizing and knowing another’s voice. Today’s Gospel also speaks to the relationship between Jesus and the Father. In the Gospel of John, Jesus identifies so closely with the Father that he tells us that they are one—not just close, but actually one. To know Jesus is to know the Father. Jesus doesn’t just bring us closer to the Father, Jesus puts us directly into contact with God the Father, removing all distance between us. Our relationship with Jesus is an invitation to share in the life of God.
It’s nice to be carried, but by whom?
Fernando Armellini
The land of Israel is in large part mountainous and used for grazing sheep. Keepers of flocks were Abel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David. It should not, therefore, cause consternation that there are recourses to images of pastoral life in the Bible. God is called “shepherd of Israel”: he leads his people like sheep, treats them with love and care, guides them toward abundant pastures and fresh springs of water (Ps 23:1; 80:2). Even the Messiah is announced by the prophets as a shepherd to shepherd Israel: “The day is coming when I will raise up a king who is David’s righteous successor. He will rule wisely and govern with justice and righteousness.” (Jer 23:1-6; Ezk 34).
Jesus will refer to these images when one day, descending from the boat, he sees a great crowd rushing on foot to listen to him a word of hope. Mark says: “he had compassion on them for they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mk 6:33-34).
In John’s Gospel, Jesus presents himself as the expected shepherd (Jn 10:11.14), as the one who will lead the people along the path of righteousness and faithfulness to the Lord.
The fourth Sunday of Easter is called the Sunday of the Good Shepherd because in it, every year, the liturgy presents a passage from John chapter 10 in which Jesus presents himself as the true shepherd. The four verses that we read in the Gospel today are drawn from the final part of the speech of Jesus and they want to help us deepen the meaning of this biblical image.
We begin with a clarification: when we talk about Jesus the Good Shepherd the first image that comes to mind is that of the Master who holds a lamb in his arms or on the shoulders. It is true: Jesus is the good shepherd also in the way that he goes in search of the lost sheep, but this is the reproduction of the parable found in the Gospel of Luke (15:4-8). The good shepherd spoken of in the Gospel of John has nothing to do with this sweet and tender image. Jesus does not present himself as one who affectionately caresses the wounded lamb, but as the hard, strong man, decided to fight against the bandits and ferocious animals, as did David chasing the lion and the bear that tore away a sheep from the flock; he knocked them down and plucked the victim from their mouth (1 S 17:34-35). Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is not afraid to fight untill he gives his life for the sheep that he loves (Jn 10:11).
The first statement that he does is very strong: my sheep—he says—“they shall never perish; no one will ever steal them from me” (v. 28). Their salvation is not guaranteed by their docility, their loyalty, but by his initiative, his courage, and his gratuitous and unconditional love. This is the big announcement! This is the beautiful news that comes from Easter and the Christian believer must communicate to every person. Even to those who have it all wrong in life, he must ensure: your miseries, your shortcomings, your choices of death will not be able to defeat the love of Christ.
The second image that of the sheep, is to be clarified because it can provoke some discomfort. The flock following the “Good Shepherd is composed of whom?” Some will perhaps spontaneously answer: lay people who meekly accept and practice all the norms established by the clergy. Pastors are therefore the church hierarchy, while sheep would be the ordinary faithful.
We make it clear: the only shepherd is Christ, and he is because—as we pointed out in the Second Reading—he is the Lamb who has sacrificed his own life. His sheep are those who have the courage to follow him in this gift of life. The shepherd is then a Lamb that shares in all the fate of the flock.
There is another misconception that should be dissolved, to identify themselves with the flock of Christ. There are gray areas in the Church who exclude themselves from the Kingdom of God because they thrive in sin, while there are huge margins, beyond the confines of the Church, which fall within the Kingdom of God because the Spirit is at work there. The action of the Spirit manifests itself in the impulse of the gift of life to the brother or sister: “The one who lives in love lives in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Whoever, while not knowing Christ, sacrifices himself for the poor, practices justice, brotherhood, sharing of goods, hospitality, loyalty, sincerity, the rejection of violence, forgiveness of enemies, the commitment to peace can be a disciple of the Good Shepherd. This should make so many Christians, who are wallowing in auto complacency that might eventually prove tragic illusions, attentive. The Shepherd may one day, unexpectedly say to some: “I do not know where you come from” (Lk 13:25).
The display of security, preconceived distrust against members of other religions and prejudices toward non-believers are still so deeply rooted and pernicious as the false irenicism.
How can people become members of the flock that follows Jesus? What happens to the sheep who are faithful to him? Today’s Gospel says that it is not we who take the initiative to follow him. He is the one who calls: “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (v. 27).
The disciples of Jesus live in this world, living among people. They hear so many calls and receive even misleading messages. There are many who pose as shepherds, that promise life, well-being, happiness and invite people to follow them. It is easy to be deceived by charlatans. How to recognize among many voices, that of the true Shepherd? It is necessary to accustom the ear. He who hears a person only for five minutes and then for a year does not hear him anymore, will find it difficult to distinguish the other’s voice in the crowd. He who hears the Gospel only once a year does not learn to recognize the voice of the Lord who speaks.
It is not easy to trust Jesus because he does not promise success, triumphs, victories, as do all the other shepherds. He asks for the gift of self, demands the renunciation of seeking one’s own advantage, demands the sacrifice of life. And yet—he assures—this is the only path that leads to eternal life (vv. 28-29). There are no shortcuts; who indicates other paths is cheating and leads to death.
The passage ends with the words of Jesus: “I and the Father are one” (v. 30). This, a bit abstract sentence, indicates the path to follow to achieve unity with God. It is necessary to become “one” with Christ. This means that one has to achieve unity of thoughts, intentions, and actions with him.
This statement makes us reflect on the ministry of those who are called to “graze” the flock of Christ. Sometimes in the Christian community, there is a certain tension between those who, with not very exact terms, are called: clergy and laity. Some say that the laity must be united with their “shepherds”; others say that these shepherds must be united with the people of God. Perhaps it is more correct to think that all the people of God, laity and clergy, together should follow the only Shepherd who is Jesus and become, with him, “one” with the Father.
Fernando Armellini
Italian missionary and biblical scholar
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
Listen to My Voice — John 10:22-30
Kathleen Rushton
In John 10 we find the Good Shepherd which is perhaps the most loved image of Jesus and one depicted in art since the earliest times. There are four parts to the story: the sheepfold (Jn 10:1–6); Jesus, the gate (Jn 10:7–10); Jesus, the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11–21); and the division among the Jews (Jn 10:22–42). I turn now to John 10:22–30, when Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27).
Shepherds and Sheep
Sheep were domesticated in Palestine over 8,000 years ago, so the breeding and care of sheep was well known. A shepherd would lead a small flock out to graze, remain with them and return them to a sheepfold or communal enclosure guarded by a gatekeeper. By day and by night, sheep were protected from wolves and wild animals, thieves and other dangers. Shepherds knew their sheep and the sheep knew their shepherds. Each morning, a shepherd stood at the gate calling his flock out of the sheepfold. His sheep would hear and know his voice and follow him.
Biblical Images
With sheep and shepherds so much a part of everyday life, it is not surprising that shepherding imagery permeates the biblical traditions. In Psalm 23, God is the shepherd who leads the people to rest “in green pastures . . . beside still waters” and restores one’s whole being (nephesh in Hebrew). We use the image in prayer claiming: “We are God’s people, and the sheep of God’s pasture.”
Different Voices
In the parable of the Good Shepherd, God’s voice calls us by name: “the sheep hear [the shepherd’s] voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (Jn 10:3). And there are other voices which are not to be followed: those of thieves and brigands who mean harm to the sheep.
Pope Francis reflected on the two voices. We hear the voice of God who speaks kindly to our conscience. And we hear the tempting voice that will leads us to evil. How can we distinguish the voice of the Good Shepherd from that of the thief? How can we tell the inspiration of God from the suggestions of the evil one?
1. Different Languages
Francis says we can learn to discern these two voices because they knock on the doors of hearts in very different ways. They speak different languages. Just as we learn to recognise one language from another, so we can distinguish the voice of God from the voice of the evil one.
God’s voice respects freedom and never forces. God proposes and does not does not impose Godself. The evil voice seduces, attacks, forces. It arouses illusions, emotions and feelings that are appealing but passing. It begins by flattering us into believing we are all-powerful. Then it leaves us empty inside, telling us: “You are worth nothing.”
The voice of God, however, patiently corrects us in ways that encourage, console and nourish our hope. Francis emphasises: “The voice of God is a voice that has a horizon, whereas the voice of evil leads you to a wall, it backs you into a corner.”
2. Present or Future and Past
Another difference concerns time. The evil voice diverts us from the present and pushes us to focus on fears of the future or sadness about the past. The present is disregarded — instead we have dangled before us bitterness and bad memories of hurt and suffering. The voice of God, though, speaks to the present: “Now you can do good, now you can exercise the creativity of love, now you can renounce the regrets and remorse that hold your heart captive.” The voice of God inspires, empowers, leads us forward, always speaking in the present: the now.
3. Different Questions
The two voices pose different questions. The voice coming from God asks: “What is good for me?” The evil voice asks: “What do I feel like doing?” This “What I feel like” of the evil voice focuses on the ego — our drives and desires for instant gratification. It is rather like the tantrum of child: everything here and now.
The voice of God does not promise joy at a low cost. God’s voice invites us to go beyond our ego to find the true good, true peace. Evil never gives peace. It causes frenzy and later leaves bitterness.
4. Different Environments
The two voices speak in different “environments”. The evil one is surrounded by darkness, falsehood and gossip. God’s voice radiates sunlight, truth and transparency. Evil, if we listen to it, will say: “Close yourself off from others. No one understands or listens to you, so don’t trust anyone!” Goodness, on the contrary, invites us to open up, to be clear and trusting in God and in others.
Francis concludes: “Dear brothers and sisters, in this time so many thoughts and worries lead us to turn inwards into ourselves. Let us pay attention to the voices that reach our hearts. Let us ask ourselves where they come from. Let us ask for the grace to recognise and follow the voice of the Good Shepherd, who brings us out of the enclosures of selfishness and leads us to the pastures of true freedom.”
Practice of Discernment
At the core of our ability to tell one voice from another is discernment. That is taking time in prayer to become aware that “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” Many people find the practice of the Examen of Consciousness, begun by Ignatius of Loyola, a way of discerning the voice of God within them. (It is different from an examination of conscience). This practice requires us to take a short time of prayer each day, about five minutes, to look back over our day to discover how God has been present within the events, circumstances and feelings of that day. We ask ourselves: When have I heard and responded to the voice of God in my relationship with God? With others? And with creation? (www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen)
The good Shepherd and the slaughtered Lamb: models of Mission
Romeo Ballan, mccj
The fourth Sunday of Easter is traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday, due to the passage of the Gospel, always taken from chapter ten of John and in which Jesus speaks of himself as the true shepherd of the people. For the evangelist Luke, Jesus is the good shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, takes it on his shoulders and rejoices with his friends (Lk 15:4-7); he is a shepherd with a merciful heart. This image full of tenderness is completed by that of John which presents a shepherd who is caring and forceful in defending the sheep from bandits and wild animals, determined to fight till death for the flock.
Since the III Century, the Good Shepherd is the first symbol that was used by the Christians in the catacombs to represent Jesus Christ, many centuries before the crucifix. The reason for such ancient symbol lies in the biblical richness of the image of the shepherd (see Exodus, Ezekiel, Psalms…) with which Jesus identified himself and which John (chapter 10) has reread in a messianic context. The expressions that show life and relationship between himself and the sheep are, indeed, abundant: to go in and out, to know, to call and to listen, to open, to lead, to walk and to follow, to loose and steal, to give life… Till the full identification of Jesus with the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (v. 11.14). The Greek text uses a synonym: the beautiful shepherd (v. 11.14), namely the one who is good and perfect, the one who unites in himself aesthetic and ethic perfection. He is the shepherd par excellence!
Jesus stubbornly assures us that his initiative to save the sheep will be successful: “They will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me… and no one can steal them from the Father” (v. 28-29). This certainty is not based on the goodness and fidelity of the sheep but on the gratuitous love of Christ, who is stronger than any human frailty. He does not abandon any of his sheep, even though these have gone astray or do not know him: all must enter through the door, which is Christ himself (v. 7), because he is the only door, the only saviour. He offers his life for all: he has other sheep to draw to himself, till there will be just one flock and one shepherd (v. 16). The mission of the Church moves along these parameters of universality: life offered to all, life in abundance, prospective of a single flock… Even though the flock is large, no one is in addition, no one is lost in anonymity, and rather the relationships are personal: the shepherd knows his own sheep, he calls them one by one, by name (v. 3) and these listen to his voice and follow him (v. 27).
For John the good news of Easter is twofold: Christ is the Good Shepherd by the Pierced Heart, from whom springs life for “a huge and varied crowd” impossible to count (II Reading); and he is also the slaughtered Lamb, in whose blood all find purification and consolation in the great persecution (v. 14). In his vision, John, the oracle of Patmos (Rev. 1,9), arrives at identifying the Lamb with the Shepherd, who leads to “the springs of living waters” (v. 17). Life without hunger, thirst or tears (v. 16-17) one day will be a reality; but at present it remains a promise for the future, a sure word that will be brought to completion. Lamb and Shepherd are two mutually related symbols which complete each other. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because he is the Lamb that was slain for the life of the people; he is the good Shepherd because he is first of all the meek Lamb and the willing servant. This identification has immeasurable weight even in our present time: we will be as good as shepherds in as much as we are first of all meek lambs and servants who are willing to give life to the flock.
A Christian has a huge task to carry through: to announce the Gospel of Jesus in the world in spite of oppositions and hostilities of all kinds, but with the same awareness that has always sustained Paul in his mission (I Reading): to feel called to be light to the peoples to the ends of the earth (v. 47). In the wake of Paul, one can understand the appeal of the current World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Vocation to a particular consecration (priesthood, consecrated life, missionary life, laypersons’ services…) is solidly strengthened by the personal experience of feeling loved and called by Someone. For any type of vocation it is vital to believe as true those words of Jesus: “I know them and they follow me” (v. 27). To know that we are in God’s heart makes one feel alive and great, offers us certainty, makes one feel as son and brother, makes of one an apostle. It opens one’s heart to the whole world.
