The Good Shepherd

Scripture Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Easter (April 26, 2015)

Scripture Readings:
Acts 4:8-12, 50
Psalm 118
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18

If we were playing the familiar TV quiz show, Family Feud, and the question was: "What is the most well known verse of the Bible?" the number one answer would be Psalm 23: "the Lord is my shepherd." It is well known for the tenderness and the consolation that it offers. This fourth Sunday of Easter is sometimes known as "Good Shepherd Sunday" because of the text we hear from John's Gospel where Jesus proclaims: "I AM the good shepherd."

I would like to propose that each of the readings of this day speak of relationship. In the first reading, it is God who works in and through us in Jesus Christ. In the second reading, God's love embraces us as children of God. Finally, the Gospel uses the metaphor of the devotion of the shepherd to the sheep.

Peter makes reference to the healing of the crippled one at the Temple gate. He goes on to address leaders of the people and elders, and asserts that the healing of the cripple was done in the name of Jesus Christ. Just so, any good that we do, in word or in deed, is accomplished by Christ working through us. In our culture, and even among ministering people, personal ambition and pride can blind us to the action of Christ. Thus, Peter's words stir us to remember the source of all good, and to rely on our relationship with Christ.

The second reading is addressed: "Beloved." It is the love of God poured out upon us that allows us to be called children of God. What is it that we inherit as God's children? What qualities and characteristics live in us as children of God? Let us be careful not to think falsely of ourselves as infants of God, but as responsible adult children. In John's Gospel, the first and most important commandment is to love our neighbor as God loves us.

Then, the Gospel points out the relationship of the good shepherd and sheep as a metaphor for the loving relationship between God and us. Like the good shepherd, ours is a God who knows us and protects us. This shepherd is one who gathers all together into one, giving his very life for his own. Barbara Reid, OP, says: "we replicate this kind of shepherding by putting love at the center." What does love require?

Being known by another is a great gift. Years ago, when I was the Director of Religious Education in a large parish, we had a retreat day for all of the second graders who were preparing for their first Sacrament of Reconciliation. We used the image/theme of the Good Shepherd. There were nearly one hundred children, so we divided them into groups and had them cycle through a number of experiences through the day.

One of the experiences was to make a sheep! You can picture it: a toilet-paper roll body, with glued-on cotton balls, with pipe cleaner legs, and a head we provided. When they completed their sheep, they were all placed on several tables in our large meeting room.

At the end of the day, as the children were dismissed, I directed them to pick up their sheep to take home. I had FORGOTTEN to ask them to put their names on their sheep. To my surprise and amazement, every child knew the particular sheep they had made!!! Really, it was startling!

What a lesson for all of the adults who were present there that day. "I know my sheep and mine know me." Just so, we are known by God, who like a shepherd watches over and protects us.

In this Easter season, let us reflect anew about our relationship with God and with our risen Christ.

This reflection was originally published at www.ctu.edu. © Copyright 2015 Catholic Theological Union. All Rights Reserved.

Image: Herding in the city by Shawn Harquail. Found on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.