The Fourth Sunday of Easter is commonly referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday.” No matter which liturgical cycle we are in, the Gospel will always be about Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and the accompanying readings relate to this as well. So great is our Good Shepherd that he knows each of us by name and gives us eternal life.
The First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 13:14, 43-52), presents an example of how Saint Paul exercised his ministry throughout Asia Minor and Greece. In whatever city he entered, he would first go to the synagogue and preach to the Jewish population. They would normally listen to Paul for a couple of weeks, but then they would become jealous and reject him. Paul would then reach out to the pagans (also known as Gentiles), the non-Jews. He would often preach to them in the marketplace where crowds would gather during the day. This allowed him to address large numbers of people at one time, but also to encounter people from the entire region who had come in to the city marketplace to sell their produce. The Gentiles were eager to listen to the message proclaimed by Paul and embrace the Good News of salvation. This infuriated the Jews from the synagogue even more who would then try to turn people against Paul and the other apostles. Paul and his companions would then be expelled from that city, yet they had planted the seeds of the Gospel there and left a small Christian community.
Paul would continue to nourish those communities by writing letters of instruction and encouragement to them. These are the letters of Saint Paul that we find in the New Testament. The early Christian communities would share his letters with one another. All of this filled the disciples with joy for they realized that this was part of God’s plan and was evidence of the Holy Spirit acting in their midst.
The Responsorial Psalm today (Psalm 100) celebrates the fact that Jesus is our Good Shepherd and we are the sheep of his flock. This is the theme reflected in the Gospel today (John 10:27-30). We should keep in mind that sheep are not the most intelligent of animals. Left to themselves, they often graze on hillsides that are too steep and they fall over on their backs. Once they have fallen over, the sheep cannot right themselves. If they were to be left there, they would die of thirst and starvation, or be killed and eaten by a predator. Because of this, the shepherd has to keep a constant eye on the sheep lest they place themselves in danger. Listening to today’s Gospel, we must not resent Jesus for referring to us as sheep! Let’s face it, when left to our own devices, we, too, can wander off and risk becoming lost. We need Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in our lives.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus states that no one can take a sheep (us!) from his hand or from the Father’s hand because he and the Father are one. By the grace of God, we have Jesus the Good Shepherd grasping our hand, bringing us back to him time and time again - forgiving us, making us new, and re-gifting us with salvation. Wander as we do, and as lost as we might become, Jesus promises that he will leave the ninetynine and come and find us.
Keep in mind, however, that God will never force himself upon us any more than the evil one can force himself upon us. It is always up to us to choose good over evil, light over darkness, and life over death. We may not be smart sheep, but we can be wise disciples. Wise enough to know that embracing Jesus and his ways and his truth bring us to the joys of eternal life that we strive for.