Year B

- Fourth Sunday of Easter

The Lord is my Shepherd

John 10: 11 - 18

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me,
15 as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; this charge I have received from my Father."

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Fourth Sunday of Easter - The Lord is my Shepherd

Jesus is the Good Shepherd announced in the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament, He is the long awaited Messiah, the liberator, the one who comes to forgive, to heal, to bless, to teach, to warn and to sanctify those who listen to Him. He is the promissed one.

Ezek 34:16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

A shepherd is the most important person in the lives of the sheep. By nature, sheep are dumb, they lose their way very easily, they have no sense of orientation, they seem to always look down and don't care much about their welfare. If they are not shown where to pasture, they may die for lack of food; if they fall into a ditch, they are not resourceful enough to free themselves, if they get hurt, they don't heal quickly and need a lot of care, without a shepherd they are doomed.

God uses this imagery to show us how careless we are, how materialistic we are, that we prefer to look down on the things of the world instead of looking up into the spritual world offered by our Good Shepherd. Without the Holy Spirit we behave like dumb sheep, and we tend to forget that we are made in the image of God.

Jesus himself assumes the name of the Lamb and goes even further by giving his life for us in sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins; in the words of John the Baptist He is the lamb who takes away the sins of the world, his condition is humble in respect to His Father, but He is the leader of the flock of God, He is the ruler and the one who washes our sins with his Precious Blood. By his wounds we have been healed.

With his rod he will reprimand, with his staf he will pull back those who go astray, in his mercy he will forgive those who do wrong, in his tenderness he will heal those who are hurt, with his word, his flesh and blood he will feed those who are hungry, because he cares for us.

His kingdom is not of this world, it is the kingdom within our hearts, where we have the option to love the One who cares for us by keeping his commandments or despised him and crucify him again with our ingratitud and our sinfulness.

Jesus did not come to condem the world, but to save it. He does not reject the sinner, he looks at him as a shepherd looks at a strayed sheep, he looks for it and when he finds it he will comfort it and bring it back to Him.

In the end he will raise us up on the last day, he will separate the sheep from the goats and will reward the faithful with everlasting life.

The joy of God is fullfiled when a sinner repents, his joy becomes his glory when we are always close to him and thank him and praise him.

God loved the world so much that He became a man, he died for us and he taught us how to live for him. He wants the best for everyone of us, he is patient and kind, he will wait, he knows what we are made of. But we receive so much from Him, that we begin to learn more and more what he desires from everyone of us.

What He wants is what He gives: "LOVE".

The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want. The Lord loves me with exageration, he even suffered and died for me. For my part I will try my best to be always faithful to him, I will love Him, I will love others, I will remember always that I am nothing without Him.

The Lord is my Shepherd.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary


In a very beautiful way, he was telling the pope that he was a parish priest — a shepherd of souls. When St. Pius X heard those words, he knelt before that priest and asked for his blessing. Of the many titles of our Lord, perhaps the most consoling and reassuring is that of the Good Shepherd. He Himself claims that title (Jn 10:11). It effectively conveys His divine solicitude and concern for us. It should also foster in us a spirit of trust and confidence. Further, the image of the Good Shepherd provides a way for us to understand the pastors (shepherds) of the Church: priests who have the care of souls. Christ gives a succinct definition of the Good Shepherd, and therefore of every priest: the Good Shepherd “lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11). Notice, he lays down his life. Not just his possessions, time, energy or talent — but his very life. Priestly service of Christ’s flock cannot be a part-time job or a piecemeal giving. As the representative of the Good Shepherd, a priest must possess the willingness, and even the instinct, to sacrifice for his people. He must say with St. Paul: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Cor 12:15). At the heart of a priest’s sacrificial life, of course, is the Sacrifice of the Mass. He learns what it means to be a shepherd first from the Good Shepherd Who laid down His life for the sheep, from the Shepherd Who became the Lamb of sacrifice. And in offering the Mass a priest does more than just learn from the Good Shepherd. In the Mass the priest participates in — he becomes one with — the Shepherd’s sacrifice of Himself. Only in union with Christ’s sacrifice can the priest’s sacrifice be understood or possible. This sacrificial spirit has meaning also for the priest’s union with his flock. He does not sacrifice as one who is apart, or aloof, or ignorant of their needs and sufferings. Certainly, as the shepherd the priest has the responsibility to lead, guide and correct the sheep. Nevertheless, he does not stand far off. Rather, he strives to have that same personal knowledge that characterizes Christ’s care for the flock: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me” (Jn 10:14). By this intimate union with his people, the priest can better sacrifice for them. Our Lord contrasts this sacrificial instinct of the shepherd with the cowardice of the hireling. “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” (Jn 10:12). The priest is not a hired hand. He is not a mere functionary or administrator. And if we regard him as such, or allow him to see himself that way, then we should not be surprised when he abandons the sheep or — worse — fleeces them. One of Christian art’s earliest depictions of our Lord is as a shepherd boy carrying a sheep on His shoulders. The image summarizes well the shepherd’s sacrifice. He takes the sheep’s burden as his own and spends himself in bringing the sheep to safety and green pasture. Catholics should expect and pray for the same from their priests — that those shepherds of souls make the burdens of the flock their own and spend themselves in bringing the flock to salvation. Fr. Scalia is parochial vicar of St. Rita parish in Alexandria, Virginia. (This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)