GOSPEL POWER l MAY 8, 20222 

4th Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday) World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Gospel: Jn 10:27-30  

27Jesus said to the Jews, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and  they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29What my Father has given  me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s  hand. 30The Father and I are one.” 

“I give my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish. No  one can take them out of my hand.” There has never been a time in Christian history that believers  in Christ — the sheep of the Good Shepherd — are not persecuted.  The paradox is that the image of safety and security projected in  today’s Gospel is what strengthens Christians to face the cruelty of  the adversaries and boldly embrace martyrdom. For as St. Paul says,  “I am convinced that neither death, nor life… nor anything else in all  creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus  our Lord” (Rom 8:37-39). In fact, physical death opens the way to  eternal union with the Good Shepherd who was the first to lay down  his life for the sheep. Indeed, the sheep follow the Good Shepherd  wherever he goes — in his self-sacrifice and glorious destiny. 

Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, only in union with you can we boldly confront the threats to our Christian Faith. Amen.