Sunday, May 11, 2003
4th Sunday of Easter

1st Reading: Acts 4:8-12

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke up, "Leaders of the people! Elders! It is a fact that we are being examined today for a good deed done to a cripple. How was he healed? You and all the people of Israel must know that this man stands before you cured through the Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarean. You had him crucified, but God raised him from the dead. Jesus is the stone rejected by you the builders which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other Name given to humankind all over the world by which we may be saved."

2nd Reading: 1 Jn 3:1-2

See what singular love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God's children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when he appears in his glory, we know that we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is.

Gospel: Jn 10:11-18

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Not so the hired hand or any other person who is not the shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong. They abandon the sheep as soon as they see the wolf coming; then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep. This is because the hired hand works for pay and cares nothing for the sheep.

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father. Because of this I give my life for my sheep.
"I have other sheep that are not of this fold. These I have to lead as well, and they shall listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock since there is one Shepherd.

"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 freely. It is mine to lay down and to take up again: this mission I received from my Father."

Commentary

The Good Shepherd knows us intimately, a knowledge that his Father shares with him. Knowing the depths of our mind, heart, and soul, the Good Shepherd lays down his life for us. What secret has the Father revealed to his Son about us? What is it that Jesus is willing to die for us? What is it that the Father loves Jesus because of his sacrifice? Whatever it is, we know that the Father is mindful of us, all of us: one flock, one Shepherd. Whatever it is, we know that we are precious in sight: we are worth dying for, and it is God's only Son who dies for us! Whatever it is, the Son is not an unwilling victim: no one takes his life from him; he lays it on his own.

Read also: • Gospel Reflections by Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R.
          • Biblical Commentaries from Diario Biblico

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