John 10: 1-10
Jesus said:
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Good Shepherd
John 10 is known as the Good Shepherd chapter of John’s Gospel. Part of this chapter is always used for the Gospel reading on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, so this Sunday is known as Good Sheperd Sunday.
This chapter of John tells us that the Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He knows his sheep, and they know him – just as the Father knows him, and he knows the Father. He calls his sheep by name, and they recognize his voice. They follow him, and he leads them. He lays down his life for them. He has received this command from his Father. He has the power to lay down his life and take it up again. No one takes his life from him. This is why the Father loves him. False shepherds are thieves and come to steal the sheep. The sheepfold has a single gate, and the Lord Jesus himself is the gate.
There are three other “sheep” statements of the Lord Jesus in this chapter that are of great importance: “I came so that they [my sheep] might have life and have it more abundantly.” “I give [my sheep] eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” And “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
—Fr. Bob Hagan, SJ, is a member of a community of senior Jesuits at Saint Ignatius Hall in Black Jack, Missouri. He offers spiritual direction; gives sacramental care to the lay Catholics at the adjacent retirement community; posts reflections on his Facebook site at Bob Hagan SJ; and drives fellow Jesuits who no longer drive wherever they want to go.
Prayer
O God, your never cease to call even those far away, for it is your will that all be drawn into one fold.
Attune our ears to the voice of the Good Shepherd, who leads us always to you, that we may find under your tender protection life in all its fullness.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.
—ICEL Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter (A)