Fourth Sunday of Easter — April 26, 2026

To understand the “Good Shepherd” gospel we need a Palestinian lens. Forget images from Country Calendar! Instead, visualise 30-40 sheep in the care of a humble shepherd. At night he takes his sheep to a sheepfold – typically a low stone wall enclosure in a field – and sleeps near them. In the morning he calls them out “one by one” and, because they know his name, they spontaneously follow.

 Jesus represents the gate of the sheepfold. The sheep come into the fold and go out safely to pasture through Him. Jesus is also the trusted shepherd who goes freely in and out of the fold. Like David the shepherd king of old, Jesus protects the sheep and is willing to lay down His life for them. In contrast, the Pharisees are “thieves and brigands”, having only the selfish interests of hirelings.

 In any parable there is always this double layer of meaning. Who, then, are the sheep? First, they are the children of Israel, but the love of “the shepherd and guardian of our souls” extends beyond them to all the Gentiles. In the First Reading we see Peter building up the flock by the gateway of baptism. The Catechism calls these early converts “the seed and the beginning of the kingdom” [CCC964]

  So, what do we take for ourselves from these Scriptures? I think the answer lies in the perennial beauty and comfort of the psalm. It reminds us that God is not a remote figure. He is our personal shepherd, always close, always watchful, intuitive to our needs, compassionate in our trials. “There really is nothing I shall want.” Your homework this week is to learn this perfect poem of devotion off by heart.                                                                

— GM

Philippe de Champaigne, Christ the Good Shepherd, public domain (17th-century French Baroque painting).