Fourth Sunday of Easter (B)

 

Good Shepherd Sunday/World Day of Prayer for Vocations

April 25, 2021                                                                  

Readings:

First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 4: 8-12

Psalm 118: “The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.”

Second Reading: 1 John 3: 1-2

Gospel reading according to John 10: 11-18

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Homily: 

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Let us pray for more vocations so that many will serve in the sheepfold of our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ!

In the gospel for today, it tackles about the good shepherd.  A good leader is like a good shepherd.  As a leader, he guides and leads his/her subordinates to the direction of their objectives, aims and goals.  He knows each one of his members.  He knows how to encourage to work, act and participate with its members to achieve their plan.  And when a problem arises, he consults each member collectively, they solve their problem together.  He/she does not claim on its own the achievements of their projects but rather he shares their successes.  The father of a good family is also like a good shepherd who provides the needs of his wife and children.  He protects them from harm and danger.  He sees to it that there is food on their table, savings in case of emergency (sickness), he is the pillar of the house who stands strong in different problems that come to his family.  And there are many other good leaders we can mention.  These two examples suffice.   In the gospel, “Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd.  A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.  This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep’.” (John 10: 11-13).  No one claims or says that he or she is the Good Shepherd except Jesus.  As a good shepherd, Jesus brings the sheep to the green pasture after calling one by one the name of his sheep.  He walks ahead of his sheep and looks for safety and greener pasture where his sheep can eat, play and roam around within the vicinity/limits of the pastural land they are in.  He looks and guards for the safety of his sheep against wild beasts and animals (especially wolves).  And he is ready to defend his sheep when they are attacked by wild animals, and even to lay down his life for his sheep.  Jesus gave another kind of shepherd, a hired man but not truly a shepherd, he works for money and without care for the sheep because he does not own them.  He just brings the sheep in the pasture land and let them eat alone, roam around and play, and when wolves or other wild animals come, he is the first one to run for his life and leaves the sheep at the mercy of these wild beasts.  He does not protect or defend or offer his life for the sheep against the wild animals.  The reason is, he just works for money received from the owner of the sheep.    

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, for he knows his sheep and his sheep know him.  They listen to his voice because it is familiar to them.  If a stranger is calling on them, they disperse and run away.  They do not listen to the voice of the stranger.  Jesus also knows each one of them.  He calls their names and they respond.  “’I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep’.”  (John 10: 14-15).  Like the sheep who know their shepherd, God the Father knows very well Jesus Christ, his Son.  And Jesus knows his Father whom he loves and obeyed to the will of his Father, that is, to lay down his life for the sheep.

Jesus also is aware that there are other sheep who are not yet in his flock.  He wanted to find them and bring them also to his sheepfold.  “’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’.” (John 10: 16).  Maybe we can consider these other sheep as those who do not know Jesus and God the Father.  Maybe they belong to other religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Islam and other pagan religions.  Maybe they were raised as atheists who do not know God but they do good to others.  Jesus will guide them and after they hear his voice, like the voice of the shepherd, they will follow him and join in his flock.  So that there is only one shepherd and one flock.    

Jesus as a good shepherd is ready to lay down his life for the identified and unidentified sheep.  And because of this offering of his life to save others, God the Father loves him much.  “’This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.  I have the power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.  This command I have received from my Father’.” (John 10: 17-18). There is no other reason for the love of God to his Son rather his love for all his creatures that is why He is even ready to sacrifice his only begotten Son and the Son is very willing to suffer for the sake of all creatures.  Jesus can lay his life as a ransom for many and he can also take it up for he has the power to offer or to regain his life; no one can take his life away from him or return it back to him, except himself, for this is what the Father wants for him.