Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus makes two comments that would be unexpected for His audience. The first unexpected comment is when Jesus remarks that, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Now, anyone who took a minute to think about this would realize that Jesus’ statement makes little sense. What shepherd would lay down their own life to save their sheep? They might risk their life if they thought they had a good chance of surviving and protecting their sheep, but this is a far cry from laying down their life. Jesus, however, is pointing out that He is the Good Shepherd Who lays down His life for His flock. He is good in a way that no other shepherd could be. And furthermore, He will regain His life after He lays it down. The second unexpected comment Jesus makes is when he mentions that, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold” (John 10:16). The fold to which He refers is clearly a reference to Israel, or at least the descendants of the southern tribes of Israel. The other sheep would include not only descendants of the northern tribes of Israel, but also the Gentiles, as today’s first reading from the Book of Acts clarifies. St. Peter has been among the Gentiles and has discovered through God’s revelation to him, that they too have been included in the kingdom of God.

What lesson is there in this for us today? One thing it should do is help us reflect on the wonderful mercy of God. God has included all of us in His kingdom, regardless of our ethnicity and culture. This should in turn help us be more inclusive and charitable with others, since God has been so generous with us.

But one thing I want to highlight comes from Jesus’ comment about the Good Shepherd. Jesus the Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him. If we are truly among His flock, if we are His sheep, then we need to follow Him. But unlike mere sheep who follow their shepherd, we are called to imitate our Shepherd. Let us then not only follow Jesus, but imitate Him in our own lives and in the situations in which we find ourselves.

As Jesus lays down His life for us, so let us lay our lives down for others. In some instances, probably very few for most of us, this might entail actually laying down our physical lives. But for most of us we will have to learn to lay our lives down more metaphorically, putting others before ourselves. Let’s think about one way that we can die to self more this day by putting someone else’s needs, or even wants, above our own.

- Jeff Morrow