Homily for Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year A – 26 April 2026

This fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday because the Gospel reading is always from the “I am the Good Shepherd” sermon of Jesus from John's Gospel, Chapter 10. It is a Sunday when we think of the shepherding love of God. Today Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them and I give them eternal life.”

For most of us here today, because we have always lived in a city, the image of a shepherd with sheep is rather foreign and perhaps not so easy to relate to. In our more modern understanding, shepherds drive the sheep onwards from the back, and use sheep dogs to chase the sheep and control their direction. But consider that in the time of Jesus, the image of a shepherd leading a flock of sheep from the front would have been a very common sight, and Jesus’s use of this image would have resonated with the people who listened to him. They would have known so well the intimate relationship between a shepherd and his sheep.

If you had to refer to a friend or a neighbour as a sheep, they probably wouldn't be happy with you. Yet, the most common way used to describe the relationship between God and his people in the Scriptures is the shepherd-sheep image. The responsorial psalm, Psalm 23, which we all know so well, is a classic example, deriving its power from this intimacy and trust between shepherd and sheep. There is something so comforting in knowing that the Lord is our Shepherd, who guides us, nurtures, protects, feeds, and leads us.

For our first reading we continue to read from the Acts of the Apostles. We hear of the shepherding, pastoral work of Peter, who was inspired by his experience of the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd, to spread the Gospel. The whole of the Acts of the Apostles is a picture of the early Church driven by the experience of the resurrection of Jesus. Nothing other than the resurrection can account for the extraordinary transformation of the formerly frightened and timid disciples into fearless preachers and shepherds, and the resultant growth of the early Church.

Peter's bold preaching gripped the hearts of his listeners. The text says that they were cut to the heart and asked, “What must we do?” What would it take for us to be cut to the heart? When last were we challenged by the question of what we must do? What direction must we go in? Where are we going?

The opposite to this kind of response is mediocrity and lukewarmness. How easy it is for us to just go with the flow and be half-hearted! The response of those who listened to Peter challenges us to sit up and take note, to ask and seek to answer the difficult questions. Remember, Pope Benedict said, “the world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness.” So, today as we hear the preaching of Peter and see the response of those who heard him, we are challenged to a wholehearted response.

In our second reading, once again we hear from St Peter, and in this text, Peter describes the shepherding of Jesus in terms of him sacrificing himself for us, serving us, and leading us. Peter calls on us to respond with our lives to the saving, shepherding action of Jesus. Peter says that Jesus is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.

Then Jesus uses this shepherd-sheep image in our Gospel reading to describe who he is for us and our relationship to him. As the Good Shepherd he calls us by name, searches us out, and when he finds us, puts us on his shoulders and carries us to safety. The essence of this passage is that Jesus knows us and cares for us as a shepherd knows and cares for the sheep of his flock. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows us individually, by face, by name.

Jesus also says that his sheep know him. Can we say we really know him? He is the Good Shepherd, but are we good sheep? Good sheep know their need for a shepherd. They seek to know the shepherd. They know what the shepherd has done for them, and they are filled with gratitude. This knowing is not a mere intellectual activity. The organ for knowing in the Bible is the heart! Jesus knows us with his heart, and he loves us. The call for us is to know him and his love for us, and love him in return.

Jesus says that his sheep know his voice and listen to his voice and follow him. This would have made so much sense to the people of first-century Palestine, who would have been familiar with how sheep responded to the voice of their particular shepherd even when there were competing shepherds' voices calling. Sheep would have been pooled in an enclosure in the evening, and in the morning the shepherds would have separated the sheep again just by calling their own.

Think of the competing voices in today's world. There is so much busyness and noise. There are so many voices making demands on us and enticing us. It is as if there are multiple GPSs, Google Maps, Garmin and Waze all operating at the same time in one car, giving different directions.

To belong to the spiritual flock of Jesus is to hear his voice. This means much more than simply reading or hearing about Jesus. Such information is always helpful, but the decisive moment comes when we go beyond external testimony and begin to discover Jesus at the centre of our lives, and we enter into a personal relationship with him in a profoundly trusting manner.

How do we recognise the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking to us, teaching us, and calling us? We hear the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in the reading of the Scriptures, in the teachings of the Church and its 4 leaders, in the Liturgy — especially the Mass — and in our inner voice, our conscience, and in moments of quiet reflection.

This Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Vocations Sunday because it is a day when the Church prays especially for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Priests are called to be shepherds in the Church, after the heart of the Good Shepherd. We priests are called pastors, and our work is pastoral work. The word pastor comes from the Latin pastor, which means shepherd.

Vocations to the priesthood don't often just appear out of nowhere. They come in the context of family, friends, and parish life. Jesus himself says in the Gospel that we must pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into the vineyard; but not only must we pray for vocations, we must work for vocations. What can we do in our families and parishes to promote vocations? Young people here today—have you ever dared to consider that the Good Shepherd is calling you? What would it take for you to hear his voice? What would it take for you to respond?

We, as sheep, are called to a wholehearted recognition of the call of the Shepherd and a total trust in his love and care for us. Our Christian lives are a journey of making a conscious effort to listen to the voice of our Shepherd and to harmonise our lives with his call. This Sunday we are invited to be good sheep—to enter into an intimate Easter relationship with the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for us