24 November 2026 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:16
Peter applies to the baptised the titles God gave Israel at Sinai: “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people,” called “out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Once we were “not a people”; now we are God's people.
Jesus is the gate and the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He has “other sheep that do not belong to this fold”; his desire is “one flock, one shepherd.” As the year ends the Church prays for her unity and for all who do not yet know the Shepherd's voice.
Theme: “One flock, one Shepherd.”
A chosen people and the Good Shepherd who gathers all.
“But you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” Exodus 19:6
“I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” John 10:9
Apply: Offer your day as a priestly sacrifice.
“He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms.” Isaiah 40:11
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:10–11
Apply: Name one “thief” that steals your peace and refuse it.
“My servant David shall be king over them; and they shall all have one shepherd.” Ezekiel 37:24
“So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:16
Apply: Pray for Christian unity today.
We are God's own people, gathered by the Shepherd.
Let us listen to his voice and pray for one flock.
Take-home resolution: Pray Jesus' prayer for unity (John 17:21) daily this week.
Dear friends, Peter gives to the baptised the titles God gave Israel at Sinai: you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9). Once you were not a people; now you are God's people.
Jesus is the gate for the sheep: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold; I must bring them also, so there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10:10, 16).
Royal priesthood means that our whole life is an offering to God: work, family, sufferings. Today, at the Holy Qurbana or in prayer at home, offer your whole day as a gift, and invite back into the flock one sheep who has drifted away. Amen.
Children, Jesus is the good shepherd who wants to gather all his sheep together. Today invite a friend who is alone to join your game!
Good Shepherd, you laid down your life for your sheep. Gather all your scattered children into one flock, and make us a holy people who proclaim your marvellous light. Amen.
Today’s readings show who belongs to God’s people and how. Peter tells the baptised that they are living stones built into a spiritual house, “a royal priesthood”. In John, Jesus is the gate of the sheepfold and the good shepherd who lays down his life and gathers “one flock”. The Church is both a house of living stones and a flock gathered by one Shepherd.
Setting.
The letter is addressed “to the exiles of the Dispersion” in five regions of Asia Minor (1:1): Christians, mostly of Gentile background, who felt like strangers in their own towns. Much of its language is baptismal. Having been “born anew” (1:23), they are now told what they have become.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation” (2:2)
An image for the newly baptised. The milk is the word of God and the grace of Christ; the verb “long for” describes a hungry baby’s cry.
“like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (2:5)
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (2:9)
The titles of Israel at Sinai are now given to the Church, not to replace Israel but to share in her calling. The purpose is mission: to proclaim God’s mighty acts.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism applies this passage to baptism: the baptised “have become ‘living stones’ to be ‘built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood’” (CCC 1268). The whole community of believers is priestly, sharing in Christ’s priesthood by baptism, while the ministerial priesthood serves this common priesthood (CCC 1546–1547; Lumen Gentium 10).
Setting.
Jesus speaks after healing the man born blind, whom some leaders had driven out (John 9). His words recall Ezekiel 34, where God condemns the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves and not the flock, and promises, “I myself will search for my sheep” (34:11).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (10:10)
The purpose of Jesus’ coming in one line. “Life” in John is the life of God himself, given now and lasting for ever.
“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (10:11)
Said several times in this chapter in different forms (10:11, 15, 17–18). Ordinary shepherds risked their lives; this Shepherd gives his.
“I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (10:16)
The other sheep are the Gentiles who will come to faith. Unity is the Shepherd’s work and his desire.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism says that the Church is a sheepfold whose one and necessary door is Christ, and a flock of which God himself foretold that he would be the shepherd (CCC 754). St Augustine, preaching on this chapter, notes that Christ is both the door and the shepherd: he enters by himself (in substance). The words “one flock, one shepherd” stand behind the Church’s prayer and work for the unity of all Christians (Unitatis Redintegratio 1–2).
What does “a royal priesthood” mean if we also have ordained priests?
All the baptised share in Christ’s priesthood by offering their lives, prayers and work to God. Ordained priests receive a different sacramental ministry to serve this priestly people in Christ’s name, above all in the Holy Qurbana. The two are related but differ in essence, not only in degree (Lumen Gentium 10).