4th Sunday of Easter

Gospel Reading: John 10:11-18

11 Jesus said “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd is one who lays
   down his life for his sheep.

12 The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong
   to him, abandons the sheep and runs away as soon as he sees a wolf
   coming, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep;

13 this is because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep.

14 I  am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep.

16 And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well. They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd.

17 The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as it is in my power to lay it down, so it is in my power to take it up again; and this is the command I have been given by my Father.'

Gospel Meditation

It is an ancient custom in our Catholic Church that this Fourth Sunday of Easter time is given to a reflection on chapter 10 of St John's gospel, with its theme of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.

In each of the three years, on this Sunday we spend time on just one section of the chapter, reflecting on it.

In more recent years, it has also become customary that on this Sunday we remember specially our church's need for more people who will give themselves to the task of shepherding God's people.

They do so by joining the ministry of the entire church. On this Sunday then, we pray for more and better voc­ations to the priesthood.

This year's passage goes from verse 11 to verse 18.

• Verses 11-13: the passage starts off by establishing a striking contrast between two people: the good shepherd, and the hireling.

Good shepherds are noted because they are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep. Everyone in the world will feel touched by this fact of history which we can all see and appreci­ate - even though in our culture we may have in fact no shep­herds to point to. The sheep belong to them, and they really care for them. Whatever happens to the sheep also touches them.

There were and still are others, however, who look after their sheep not as their own but simply as 'hirelings'. They are in charge of the sheep but they don't have a feel for them; they have never given anything of themselves to them.

As soon as they see a wolf coming, they run away. They know the sheep do not belong to them, are not really theirs, and so they abandon them. The wolf attacks and scatters the sheep, sending them off in different directions.

Now they will look for other green spots wherever they can find them. The places they look to will include some which are not true pastures at all; they may provide new opportunities, but will not be truly nourishing.

The so-called hirelings included many in the audience at the time. We think of people like the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests and the elders. They took on the role of rulers of the peo­ple because they needed to have authority over them. They wanted the popularity and the wellbeing it brought them.

We can think of similar examples in our time. We remember people who say they will look after the sheep
- only because no one else is doing it;
- because it panders to their sense of their well-being;
- because no one else is really interested.

We will certainly find that somewhere in our lives we have a combination of the two themes. We are all part of the good shep­herd and part of the hireling. Lord, teach us how to keep the two parts in our own hearts - and to accept that we have both within each of us.

• In verses 13 and 14 the theme is developed further. The good shepherd knows well that the Father knows and loves all his sheep. This is a tricky question. It gives the impression that it is not merely a question of a shepherd liking his sheep. This would be to misunderstand the passage. The shepherd loves the sheep, but he is also very aware that his love for them did not originate with himself. He has received it from the heavenly Father in whose hands he lies.

This is the deep reason why we lay down our lives to protect all our sheep. We know we will be persecuted by others for standing by our promises to accept this as part of our eternal destiny. This is what God wants for us. We acknowledge this and try our best to live up to it.

• Verses 15-16: There are other sheep who we know do not be­long to us here and now but we are still attached to them. They are not part of our own community, but we know that the Father knows and loves them all.The Father recognises too that they will have to become one. Soon they will all be together, living with peace under one Shepherd. As Christians we know too that we will be one of those who are called to be among them as their shepherds.
• Verses 17-18: What the Father loves about the Good Shepherd is stated more clearly. He loves him because he lays down his life and will soon take it up again. This is a particular aspect of the passage which we can give some stress to. No one takes our life from us. We lay it down of our own free will. As it is in our power to lay it down and take it up again, this is what we do with the various temptations God sends us in our lives. We know how to accept them and do something important about them.

This is not something we have thought out for ourselves. It is a great and glorious commandment which we have received from our Father who continues to dwell in heaven.

Prayer

'With this people, it costs nothing to be a good shepherd.'
Archbishop Romero

Father, we thank you for calling us to be shepherds of your flock.
Like all good shepherds we are willing to lay down our lives for the sheep.
We are not like hirelings, who look after your sheep because of the importance they have received from them.
Since the sheep do not belong to them, they abandon them and run away
as soon as they see a wolf coming.
Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.
This is because they are only hired men and have no concern for the sheep.

'A man ought not to consider his chance of living or dying. He ought
only to consider on any given occasion whether he is doing right or
wrong.'
Socrates

Lord, we thank you for loving your sheep with your personal love and then handing them over to us.
Because we know you, we can lay down our lives for your sheep, knowing that we will beg for new life for them.

'We think we are fleeing from God, but in fact we are running into his
arms.'
Meister Eckhart

Lord, there are many sheep you have who are not of our fold, but you want us to lead them as well.
We thank you for having given them to us so that very soon there will be just one shepherd.

'Prayer is not given to us to change the world. It is meant to change us
so that we can change the world.'
Sr Joan Chittister

Lord, we thank you for loving us because we have power to lay down our lives in order to take them up again.
No one takes our lives from us.
We lay them down of our own free will and it is in our power to take them up again.
This is the great and glorious command we have received from our Father who is in heaven.
Lord, we thank you for those sons of ours who will give themselves to the service of your people as their good shepherds.