4th Sunday of Easter (GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY)

Gospel Bullet Points (John 10:27-30 or John 10:11-30)

• No amount of money nor material possessions can ever satisfy man. To pursue happiness in worldly pleasures is fruitless and vain. St. Augustine realized this late in his life when he said: “You have made us yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you!” The words of Augustine express a central insight into the nature of true happiness: only possession and being possessed by the Good Shepherd can satisfy our deep longings!
• In today’s gospel, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd who knows each of us to the core of our being. He knows every feeling and intention; he knows our failures and weaknesses, and he declares that he is ready to lay down his life for his sheep: he takes the flock in his hands; and gathers them together and leads them to pasture land! What a beautiful picture: there is no distance between the shepherd and the sheep; there is intimacy between them.
• Focus on the sheep:

What should be our response to the Good Shepherd?

From the Gospel:

1. The sheep hears the shepherd’s voice

2. The sheep knows the shepherd

3. The sheep follows the shepherd

4. The sheep receives eternal life (Jn 10:28)

• We pray to our Good Shepherd that we may never wander from the Good Shepherd. .