IV Sunday of Easter:[A]:Acts 2:14,36-41,1Ptr 2:20-25, Jn 10:1-10

IV Sunday of Easter:[A]:Acts 2:14,36-41,1Ptr 2:20-25, Jn 10:1-10

Introduction:  The 4th Sunday of Easter has come to be known as Good Shepherd Sunday because during all three years of the liturgical cycle, the gospel is taken from this tenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. This image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is central to our understanding of Jesus’ great love for each one of us. By his great sacrifice in his death on the cross and the glory of his resurrection from the dead, Jesus shows us that he really is the Good Shepherd.

Exegesis: One of the ways that we have to get closer to Christ is the consideration of the figure of the Good Shepherd.  Specifically speaking, the sentence I am the good shepherd comes in verse 14.  In today’s gospel verses one to ten deals with the idea that “Amen, Amen, I am the gate for the sheep”. Both the idea of good shepherd and the gate of the sheep goes hand in hand.

At night when all the sheep entered in the secluded area for the sheep, the shepherd will sleep at the only entrance of the seclusion.  Entering and going out of seclusion will catch the attention or make shepherd awake. So whoever enters through climbing over the fence not through the only gate are thieves and robbers.  Here the comparison is with the robbers.  But in verse 14 where Jesus compares with like “I am the good shepherd”, Jesus compares the owner of the sheep and the hired man. “A shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”V.11.  In both cases Jesus, the shepherd and Jesus, the gate, protects our life as owner of the sheep. Like a shepherd, Jesus is concerned with the welfare and the care of His sheep.

Anecdote:  "Two men were called on, in a large classroom, to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. One was a published orator trained in speech technique and drama. He repeated the psalm in a powerful way. When he finished, the audience cheered and even asked for an encore that they might hear his wonderful voice again. "Then the other man, who was much older, repeated the same words--'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...' But when he finished, no sound came from the large class. Instead, people sat in a deep mood of devotion and prayer.

"Then the first man, the orator, stood to his feet. 'I have a confession to make,' he said. 'The difference between what you have just heard from my old friend, and what you heard from me is this: I know the Psalm, my friend knows the Shepherd.'"

Joke:  A flock of sheep are grazing in a field, happily going "baa baa" to

each other and discussing life as usual when suddenly they hear a "moo

mooooooooooooooooooo!"

They look around and see only sheep. They carry on grazing as before.  "Moooooo  mooooooooooo  mmmoo!"

One sheep can hear it all too clearly next to him.

He shuffles away a little from his friend, a worried look on his face and then asks "George, why are you mooing.  You're a sheep.  Sheep go baa! baa!"

His friend replys gladly, "I know, I thought I would learn a foreign

language!"

Practical: In his speech he mentions some of the characteristics of a Good Shepherd: He has a good knowledge of his own: “I know my own and my own know me” He knows who to listen and how to talk to them: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name” He walks ahead of them, he leads them: “He goes before them, and the sheep follow him” Finally, he is willing to give his life for them: “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” So also sheep hear his voice as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. We should have a personal relationship with Jesus just as we could recognize his real voice through others. Easter is a season to renew our faith and especially to increase our dealings with Jesus Christ who is risen. I want you to ask yourself this question, "Do I really know the Shepherd?"

Introduction: Fourth Sunday of Easter

Message: God has made Jesus both Lord and Messiah. Through his wounds, we have been healed and have returned to our shepherd.  Let us listen for his voice and follow him.

Saints and Events in this week: Today has been designated as “World Day of prayer and Vocations”; 12-Twelfth-Monday-Saints Nereus and Achilleus, martyrs; Saint Pancras, martyr; 13-Thirteenth-Tuesday-Our Lady of Fathima; 14-Fourteenth-Wednesday-Saint Matthias, Apostle; 15-Fifteenth-Thursday-Saint Isidore;