18 April 2027 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
Every year, halfway between Easter and Pentecost, the Church sets before us the face of the risen Christ as the Good Shepherd. The first reading shows us one of his under-shepherds at work. Peter and John have been arrested for healing a man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple and for preaching the resurrection. The next morning they stand before the rulers, the elders and the scribes, the high priestly family among them. And Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” speaks. Only a few weeks earlier, in the courtyard of the high priest, this same man had been frightened by a servant girl into denying that he knew Jesus. Now he says to the most powerful men in Jerusalem: if you are asking how this man was healed, “let it be known to all of you… that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.” Then he quotes the psalm we sing today: “This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’” And he ends with one of the boldest sentences in the New Testament: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” The Church has never softened this. Jesus Christ is the one Saviour of all (Catechism 432; 846). At the same time she teaches that those who, through no fault of their own, do not know him, but seek God with a sincere heart and try to do his will, can be saved by his grace, which reaches them in ways known to God (Catechism 847; Lumen Gentium 16). Peter's words are spoken to the particular leaders before him at that moment, not to the Jewish people as a whole (Catechism 597); he himself is a son of Israel announcing Israel's Messiah.
The Gospel is the heart of the day. “I am the good shepherd.” The Greek word for “good” here, kalos, also means noble and beautiful: Jesus is the true shepherd, the shepherd as a shepherd should be. Israel knew the image well. God was the shepherd of his people (Psalm 23; Psalm 80:1), and through Ezekiel he had condemned the shepherds who fed themselves instead of the flock and promised: “I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out” (Ezekiel 34:11). When Jesus says “I am the good shepherd,” he claims to be that promised shepherd, God himself come to seek his sheep. He sets himself against the hired hand, who works for wages, “sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away.” The difference is not skill but love: the hired hand “does not care for the sheep.” The Good Shepherd knows his own, and they know him, “just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” This is not a list of names on a register; it is the intimacy of the Trinity offered to each of us. Five times in these few verses Jesus speaks of laying down his life. He does it freely: “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 up again.” In the Easter season we hear both halves of that sentence: the Cross and the Resurrection are one act of the Shepherd's love (Catechism 609). And his love is wider than any fold: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also… So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Today we pray for all who do not yet know him, and for the unity of all Christians in his one flock.
The second reading tells us what the Shepherd's sacrifice has made of us: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” Not only called, but made so, in Baptism. And there is more to come: “what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” That vision of God face to face is the goal of every Christian life (Catechism 1023). This is why the Church prays today for vocations. The Good Shepherd continues to lead his flock through shepherds he calls: priests who stand in his person at the altar and in the confessional, deacons, men and women in consecrated life, missionaries, and also fathers and mothers who are the first shepherds of the domestic church. God promised through Jeremiah: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart” (Jeremiah 3:15). Kerala has received this gift abundantly, and many of her sons and daughters serve the Church across India and the world. Today let each family ask whether God may be calling one of its own, and let each of us pray for our priests by name. May the Mother of the Good Shepherd, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave her whole life to God's call, intercede for all who are called.
Theme: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
The one saving name, the children of God, the Shepherd who lays down his life and takes it up again, and shepherds after his own heart.
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:22–23
“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
Apply: Speak the name of Jesus to one person this week, simply and with joy, as the reason for your hope.
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Hosea 11:1
“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1
Apply: Begin each day this week by saying: Father, I am your child; let me live as your child today.
“For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.” Ezekiel 34:11
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
Apply: Lay down a little of your life for someone in your care this week: your time, your comfort, your own way.
“I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Jeremiah 3:15
“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”” Matthew 9:37–38
Apply: Pray as a family every day this week for vocations, and encourage one young person who may be called.
Jesus, the rejected stone and the one saving name, is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life and took it up again.
He makes us children of God, leads us to see him as he is, and still calls shepherds after his own heart.
Take-home resolution: Pray daily this week for vocations from your parish and thank your priest in person.
Dear brothers and sisters, today is Good Shepherd Sunday. In the middle of the Easter season the Church shows us the risen Jesus as the shepherd who knows us by name and leads us home. And today we pray in a special way for vocations.
In the first reading Peter stands before the most powerful council in Jerusalem. Only weeks before, he had denied Jesus to a servant girl. Now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he says: there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). The Good Shepherd has made a frightened sheep into a fearless shepherd.
In the Gospel Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11). He compares himself with the hired hand who runs away when the wolf comes. Why does the hired hand run? Because he does not care for the sheep. The good shepherd stays, because he loves. And Jesus did not only risk his life; he gave it on the cross, freely, and took it up again on Easter morning.
He also says: I know my own and my own know me (John 10:14). You are not a number to him. He knows your name, your story, your wounds. And he has other sheep too, not yet in the fold. He wants one flock and one shepherd. So we pray today for those far from him and for the unity of all Christians.
St John tells us what that love has made of us: see what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are (1 John 3:1). One day we will see him as he is. That is where the Shepherd is leading us.
And the Shepherd still calls shepherds. Let us pray for our priests, who give their lives for us. Let us thank them. And let every family ask: could Jesus be calling one of ours? Do not be afraid if he is. There is no greater joy than to follow the Good Shepherd wherever he leads. Alleluia. Amen.
Children, Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd knows all his sheep by name. Jesus knows your name too! He loves you so much that he gave his life for you, and he rose again to be with you always.
Jesus also needs helpers to be shepherds for his people: priests and sisters. Maybe one day he will call you! Let us pray: Jesus, Good Shepherd, help me to listen to your voice.
Almighty ever-living God, lead us to a share in the joys of heaven, so that the humble flock may reach where the brave Shepherd has gone before. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. Let us also pray: Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd, you laid down your life for us and took it up again. Call many of our young people to follow you as priests and consecrated persons, keep our pastors faithful and joyful, and gather all your sheep into one flock under you, the one Shepherd. Amen. Alleluia.