May 11, 2025; 4th Sunday of Easter (Year C)

Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rev. 7:9, 14-17; Jn. 10:27-30

The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for His Sheep

Today is Vocations Sunday. The Church invites us to pray that young men and women may answer the call of the Good Shepherd and give themselves to God in service as ordained ministers of the word and the sacraments and as religious men and women in consecrated life. We encourage lay participation and collaboration with the clergy to build the kingdom of God in love and service. May we listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, “Who came not to be served but to serve and gave his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).

Today, we pay tribute to mothers for their contribution to our lives. We thank them for giving birth to us, nurturing us, providing for us both naturally and spiritually, and contributing to making us who we are today. We are grateful not only to our biological mothers but also to those who played the role of mothers, and women like them; the world would be a tough and fearful place for us without their support and love.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that he is the Good Shepherd. The shepherd has the heart of a mother. He knows her children by name and only thinks of their good and welfare. “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” (Jn. 10:14-15). By calling himself a good Shepherd, Jesus contrasts himself with other shepherds who are not good. “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?” You have fed off their milk, worn their wool, and slaughtered the fatlings, but you have not pastured the sheep. I will claim my sheep from them and stop their shepherding my sheep so that they may no longer pasture themselves. I will look after and tend my sheep.” (Eze. 34:2-10). The leaders of Israel did not look after the children of Israel with the heart of God, the good shepherd. Hence, God snatched the sheep from their care and appointed his dear son to look after his people. As a good shepherd, Jesus loves the sheep of his flock. He prepared a meal for them. He told them, “Come, have breakfast” (Jn. 21:9, 12). He gave them the bread of life, his body, and blood and promised “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (Jn. 6:54). He protected them from danger; “He rebuked the wind and the waves, and they subsided and there was a calm” (Lk. 8:24). Christ is always with the sheep of his flock till the end of time.

There is also a contrast between the good shepherd and the present-day prophets, priests, and preachers. Many prophets and preachers of today are like shepherds of Ezekiel’s time. They only care about themselves and what they can get from their sheep. They preach the prosperity gospel and look for ways to enrich themselves. They extort money from their people in the name of tithes. They build mansions for themselves and buy a fleet of cars, airplanes, and jets in the name of preaching the gospel, while most of their congregants are impoverished. To them also, the good shepherd directs his words of admonition. They must abandon their ways and take care of those entrusted to their care after the heart of the good shepherd.

Christ is our shepherd, and we are the sheep of his flock. We must listen to the voice of the good shepherd. Many discordant voices are competing for our attention today. Sometimes, these voices are so strong that they drown the good shepherd’s voice and mislead us. Jesus gave the power of good leadership to the church and her teaching. We should not choose which teaching to adopt and which to abandon because we do not like it. Following the master may not always be easy. It may lead us to wash our robes white with the blood of the lamb, or we may suffer trying to proclaim him to the ends of the world. We know and believe that the good shepherd will be with us always, till the end of time. He laid down his life for us; nothing will ever separate us from his hands.    

Augustine Etemma Inwang MSP