4th Sunday of Easter

April 26, 2026

Jesus came to give us life more abundantly.

John 10:1-10

Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers." Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

PREPARATIONS FOR THE SESSION

Adapted from Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2025

Presence of God: Jesus, As I come to you today, fill my heart, my whole being, with the wonder of your sacred presence. Help me to become more aware of your presence in my life, and more receptive to that presence. I desire to love you as you love me. May nothing ever separate me from you. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Freedom: Jesus, Grant me the grace to have freedom of spirit. Keep me from being bound by desires and actions that are not good for me or others. Cleanse my heart and soul that I may live joyously in your love. (1-2 minutes of silence)

Consciousness: Where am I with God? With others in my life? What am I grateful for? Is there something I am sorry for, words or actions that have hurt others, and which I now regret? I take a moment to ask forgiveness of God and of those whom I have hurt. God, I give you thanks for your constant love and care for me. Keep me always aware of your presence in my life. (2-3 minutes of silence)

OPENING PRAYER

From Thomas Merton in Entering the Silence

Good Shepherd, You have a wild and crazy sheep in love with thorns and brambles, But please don’t get tired of looking for me! I know You won’t. For You have found me. All I have to do is stay found…..

COMPANIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

Pre-note: Many listeners have been put off by this imagery, thinking that the passage is telling us how stupid and needy we are. And sometimes we have been treated as such. However, the focus is really on Jesus here, on his caring and loving nature. All of us at one time or another have felt protective of someone else, and most of us, at one time or another have been gently and lovingly cared for. So once we get past our indignation at being treated like sheep, then we can focus on an image of Jesus (and God) that goes beyond fear, obedience, docility, reward, punishment and all those words that keep us from embracing true realization of God as our loving Abba. Only then an we see Jesus as someone constantly looking out for us. Only then we can take great joy and comfort in this passage. This relationship is really what the shepherd imagery is all about. We now jump from post resurrection narratives back to John 10--to a speech Jesus made to the Pharisees earlier in his ministry right after he cured the man born blind. This “jumping around” is common in the lectionary where readings are not necessarily sequential, but are often organized thematically. But why insert this speech here? John Harrington, S.J, said: through his resurrection the slain Lamb has become for straying sheep “the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” This startling transformation is a neat summary of what Christians believe about the paschal mystery. I also think it is to remind us that Jesus’s whole life had a mission, a purpose.

From First Impressions 2023, a service of the Southern Dominican Province: Have you checked the titles on the non-fiction best sellers’ list these days? If you’re looking for a book here are the titles of four of the top 10 on the list. “Outlive” (about recent scientific research on aging and longevity); “The Body Keeps the Score” (how trauma affects the body and mind); “The Light We Carry” (Michelle Obama’s personal stories about dealing with difficult situations); “Spare” (the Duke of Sussex details his struggles, including the loss of his mother.) Notice anything? Four of the ten best sellers have something to do with spirituality—the interior life. I have a friend who signed up to receive daily brief meditations by e-mail. She says, “It’s the first thing I read at work. I take a breath, read, reflect for a moment, and then get to the hundred e-mails waiting for my immediate response. It’s crazy! My day has begun! But that moment’s reflection helps me keep my head about me, gives me a central focus on how I relate to my coworkers and my work.” It is crazy isn’t it? How busy life is, and how much comes at us each day. There is so much to distract us and keep us from paying attention to what’s really going on in our lives. So says an article on spirituality written a while back in, of all places, “The Wall Street Journal.” (I guess that’s the Bible of sorts for some people.) The article was entitled, “The Sounds of Silence.” And it was about just what the title suggests. It lamented the loss of our interior lives, the absence of some silence, because we are so distracted all the time by noise— especially produced by electronic diversions. You know: I Phones, MP3 players, cell phones, video games, etc. There’s no escaping! Plus, we always seem to be surrounded by sound tracks and video displays which invade our space in malls, elevators, restaurants and other public places. Imagine: a writer in the Wall Street Journal suggesting we need more silence and solitude! He says we don’t have to become monks or nuns; but we do need conditions that help us sort things out, because otherwise, we are distracted and the more distracted we are, the more distracted we’ll become. The bottom line: we have to distinguish what’s “idle chatter” coming at us from the outside, misguiding us (throwing us off center), from what our true inner voice is saying to us. A voice which is trying to keep us focused and on center. There weren’t cell phones and emails in Jesus’ day. But they were a lot like us, also drawn by competing voices. Every generation needs a voice we can trust, to inspire us and help us set the pattern of our lives. Using the image of a caring and guiding shepherd Jesus presents himself to us as that trustworthy voice. He calls his disciples and us today, to be attentive to his voice and separate it from all the other voices that tug on us and draw us here and there. His voice, he says, will keep us together and also guide us on our journey. Using the image of the gospel today—his voice will guard our “coming in and going out.” That describes our lives doesn’t it? We are on a journey. There are very few periods when things are smooth and unchanging for long. We journey through childhood into adulthood; through changes in jobs and careers. We enter into and, sometimes out of, relationships. We pass through periods of health and then illness and, we hope, health again. And of course, there is the inevitable journey we  take from youth to adulthood, to old-age and then death. All along we make choices: some are well made, others we wish we could take back and do all over again. There are a lot of voices out there that only distract and scatter us. They really don’t care how, or where we end up, or whether were going around in circles. Perhaps we’ve paid too much attention to them. They don’t have our best interests at heart, as long as: we buy what they’re selling; choose what everyone else chooses; live with the same values as those around us, (the least common denominator); and don’t stand out from the crowd. But the Shepherd, Jesus tells us, wants to gather us. He wants to give us rest from futility and wasted energies. His voice can help us keep our wits about us in our often-misguided world. There’s a lot to maneuver through in life. Lots of big and small decisions to make along the way, some of which can alter our lives and have long-term effects. The question is: what and who will help us make these decisions? Where do we turn for clarity and consistency? Jesus is inviting us again to be more attentive to him because he has invested his life in us. He wants to help us along life’s journey: our journey towards God; our journey to become more trusting; our journey to become  more patient with ourselves and others; our journey to become less controlling; our journey to put the past behind us and start afresh; our journey to become more forgiving. There were many hints in John of what this purpose was, and who Jesus was, but there is a hope here that after realizing the importance of the resurrection as an event, we must also realize that it is part of the entire mission of Jesus, and therefore, the mission of all his disciples down through the ages: to care for one another as a shepherd does the sheep, and to bring life in abundance, wherever and whenever we can, to those around us.

LIVING THE GOOD NEWS

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion? Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions which follow.

Reflection Questions

Have you ever defined yourself in terms of whom/what you were not? (I am NOT a stupid sheep, thank you very much!)
What was the purpose of doing so?

How do you usually respond to the biblical imagery of sheep and shepherds?
Is it helpful?
Or does it put you off?

In Jesus’ time, sheep on the range (as opposed to in the villages) were often penned in after dark, with walls of wood, vines and branches and a small opening for them to get in or out. The shepherd stretched himself across that opening as a “gate” so that sheep could not get out or human and animal marauders get in. Does this idea affect your image of Jesus as the gate of his sheep?
Have you ever thought of Jesus protecting you in times of uncertainty, danger or trouble?

Again, in Jesus’ time, many flocks were penned together, especially in the villages. It was uncanny how the sheep recognized their own shepherd by his voice and followed only him. What in our culture keeps us from hearing the voice of the good shepherd?
How do we distinguish His voice from all of the other voices that clamor for our attention (our prevailing culture, advertisers, messages from our childhood, for example)?

Have you ever been nurtured in your faith life by someone who had your best interests at heart?

How someone speaks to us can be life-giving or harsh and destructive… What has generally been the quality of things spoken to me—harsh and unforgiving, or inviting and nurturing, calling me to growth and to life?
What is the quality of my messages to others?

From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits: What lifts your spirit, satisfies your soul, gives you lasting peace and fills you with life?
What drains you, steals your energy, leaves you lifeless and empty?
Native Americans have been known to tell their children that deeply imbedded in our hearts are two wolves each wanting to kill the other… the child is meant to ask:” And who wins? The parent wisely answers: “The one you feed the most.”.
What wolf am I feeding?

In what ways am I only half-alive (boredom, pain, loneliness, sadness)?
When have I felt gloriously alive?
What does it mean to me to be alive in Christ?

Walter Burghardt, SJ. said: “Eternal life does not begin at death, it begins when we believe.” Or as John 17 puts it: Eternal life consists in this; that they know you, the only true Go, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.”
Do I realize I am living in eternal life right now?

Am I called to shepherd any others in my life?
What are the demands of such a calling?
How did I feel about this task?

CLOSING PRAYER

Don’t forget to provide some prayer time at the beginning and at the end of the session (or both), allowing time to offer prayers for anyone you wish to pray for.

Lord, today I especially pray for all those whom I have shepherded in this life so far. Help me to nurture them gently, help me to protect them where I can, and end their sorrow and hurts when they have strayed. Help me to be understanding of other’s mistakes, knowing I have made many myself. Give me the wisdom to understand that, unlike you, Lord, I do not always know what is best for everyone. Give me the power to protect those in my care insofar as I am able. Help me to let them run free when I need to give them freedom and the power to make their own decisions, and even their own mistakes.

WEEKLY MEMORIZATION

Taken from the gospel for today’s session.

I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship: One translation of Psalm 23 is: The Lord is my Shepherd, he keeps me from wanting what I can’t have.” “And what you thought you came for is only a shell, a husk of meaning from which the purpose breaks only when it is fulfilled, if at all. Either you had no purpose or the purpose is beyond the end you figured and is altered in fulfillment.” (T.S. Eliot: “Little Gidding’) I make a list of all the things I want at this moment. Then I think of something that I really wanted that I didn’t get; and something that I didn’t even want that somehow came my way. How have these things impacted my life for good or for ill? Have I been able to see the hand of God working things out for the best? I go back to the list of things I want and offer each one to the wisdom of the Shepherd’s providence.

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action: Read Psalm 23, then transpose the words so that you are speaking directly to God. ( i.e. Lord, you are my good shepherd, I shall not want. Rich and green are the pastures where you give me repose, etc). Savor each phrase as you speak from your heart to the God who loves you and wants what is best for you, the Lord who wants you to be happy in your relationship with your God. Then Imagine God Speaking the words of this psalm to you directly: “I am your good shepherd, you shall want nothing.” At the end, take time simply to be silent and rest in the immensity of God’s loving embrace.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions: What does it mean to you to “have life”? How about “life in abundance”? Does this mean that you should always expect to be rich, healthy, important, successful? Does it mean that you should always love what you do, be excited about your life, be happy all the time? Reflect on these passages that have cropped up throughout the whole gospel of John, which is focused on this gift of life: “In him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (1:4). “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (3:1). “I am the resurrection and the Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live” (11:25). “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (17:3). “But these are written so that you may believe… and that through believing you may have life in his name” (20:31). What lifts your spirit, satisfies your soul and gives you lasting peace and fills you with life? Insert your definition/expectation of the promise to have life in abundance….remembering to give thanks for all the benefits of abundant life you have received.

POETIC REFLECTIONS

Read this poem by Ed Ingebretzen, S.J. This is another way of looking as Jesus as our good shepherd.

A Story That Will Save Us
Tell us a story that will save us
(and that will have been enough)
all the great songs have been prayed
save only one
Tell us a story that will save us
Go down Lord,
& bring us home
May our promises free us
not chain us
May what we desire fill us
not entrap us
May those persons we love finish us
not bind us
Go down Lord,
& bring us home
You are our history, Lord
We neither begin nor end
outside you
May you be for us not weapon,
not answer, but cause of peace
May our questions show us not division
but the smallness of human answers.
Go down, Lord
& bring us home
May our words create
Not destroy
May our hands nurture
Not break
May our dreams lead and encourage us
Not trap us in despair
Go down, Lord
& bring us home
We are anxious about many things
We are lost in many ways
Go down, Lord
& bring us home

A humorous take on Psalm 23 for students:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not flunk;
He keepeth me from lying down when I should be studying.
He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break;
He restoreth my faith in study guides.
He leads me to better study habits
For my grade’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades,
I will not have a nervous breakdown;
For Thou art with me.
My prayers and my friends, they comfort me.
Thou givest me answers in moments of blankness;
Thou anointest my head with understanding.
My test paper runneth over with questions I recognize.
Surely passing grades and flying colors shall follow me
All the days of my examinations,
And I shall not have to dwell in this university forever.
Amen!