4th SUNDAY OF EASTER (C)

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

Jn 10:27-30

GOSPEL EXPLANATION

The OT speaks about God as a shepherd
• Ps 23:1. “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.”
• Ps 80:1. “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.”

In the NT
• Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. Mt 8:12 and Lk 15:4. “I am the Good Shepherd.”
• 1 Pt 2:25 calls Jesus a Shepherd. “He is the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.”

No one shall snatch them out of my hand.

No earthly force can equal the power of Jesus and thus, the believers are secure.

No one can snatch them from the hand of my Father.

Jesus can protect his sheep (believers) because he shares in the power of the Father. Why? He and the Father are one. That is, Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Jews understood this and that was why they attempted to stone him for blasphemy.

SHEPHERD

You have certainly heard of the story of David and Goliath. Goliath was the champion of the Philistines while David was the champion of the Israelites. They had to fight to the death. The losing side would serve the winning side. David used his sling shot to bring down Goliath.

What was David doing with the sling shot? David was a shepherd. The shepherd did not only pasture his sheep. He also protected them from wild animals. To protect his sheep, the shepherd used his staff and his sling shot.

This Sunday we shall hear about the shepherds in our midst and their tasks of defending their sheep.

The bishop is the shepherd of the Catholics in his diocese. Since he cannot take care of all the Catholics in his diocese, he is assisted by the priests of his diocese. To For example, Bishop Drona of the Diocese of San Pablo, Laguna is assisted by the clergy of his diocese. The diocese is divided into parishes. Bishop Drona distributed the priests of his diocese to these parishes. As a sign that he is the shepherd of the diocese of San Pablo and as a sign of his responsibility of protecting the Catholics of his diocese, he carries a staff during liturgical celebrations.

Parents are not called shepherds. But they carry out the function of shepherds of their children.

When I was in Ireland, the parents of three teen-age girls refused permission for their children to sleepover with other teen-agers. Their parents said: “It’s not that we don’t trust you. But we do not know those kids are who are also going to sleep-over with you.” Obviously the parents were protecting their children.

A mother whose son went to the city for university studies said that she always prayed to God to protect his son from harm. She would call him now and then to see how things are going. When she was in the city, she would make it a point to visit him.

The Bible calls God a Shepherd. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd.

When I take a plane, I would always make the sign of the cross on take-off. I commend myself to God’s protection.

I would see others make the sign of the cross upon leaving the house. I think they are also asking God’s protection.

For the same reason we say a prayer every time we take car to go on a journey.

While it is good to ask God’s for protection from physical harm, it is even better if we also ask him to protect us from moral harm. A saint made it a habit to pray this way at the beginning of the day: “Lord, lay your hand upon me so that from morning till evening I may be kept safe from harm of body and soul. Amen.”

One of the best-loved psalm of the Bible is Psalm 23. It is the psalm of the Good Shepherd. In time of difficulties this psalm encouraged people. It gave them the strength not to give up.

During World War II, an American pilot was shot down by a Japanese fighter plane over Papua New Guinea. He ejected from his plane and with the help of a parachute landed safely on a mountain covered by a dense jungle--no broken bones; only a gash on his head.

With the help of a map and compass, he sought for find his way back to the American lines. It was not easy. He had to be careful of poisonous snakes, croco-diles, wild boars, blood-sucking leaches and malaria carrying mosquitoes. After 10 days, his food was gone. Desperation set in. Then he remembered Psalm 23—The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Every day he recited that psalm. And every day it lifted the discouragement from his heart.

On the 31st say since he was shot out of the sky, he heard voices. He was saved. Villagers who were friendly to the Allies saw his plane shot down and they went in search of the pilot who bailed out of the plane. Now they have found him.

Like this pilot, let us entrust ourselves to God, our Good Shepherd.