Homily for 4th Sunday of Easter, April 26th, 2026

Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.  (John 10:6) 

In today’s gospel passage (John 10:1-10) we find this warning about guarding against the self-righteousness of the Pharisees seeping into our hearts. 

To really benefit spiritually and emotionally from the allegory of the sheepfold, gatekeeper, sheep and shepherd (John 10:1-10), we must start from an attitude of deep humility and enthusiastic openness to what Jesus wishes to convey to us. 

At the time Jesus walked physically the streets of Palestine, the communal sheepfold offered night shelter to all the sheep belonging to different shepherds from the same village and was guarded by the same gatekeeper.  

With this historical information in mind, let us see what the Risen Lord Jesus wants to convey to us. 

I think that Jesus is telling us that he is aware of our anxiety and the sense of having been abandoned by him in the “nights” of our life. He knows that in the cold and impersonal “sheepfold” of society, we might feel we have lost him.  This could be especially true after we are informed by the mass media about many troubles and upheavals in this world.  

But today, we are reassured by Jesus that he is never distant from us and that he, too, is awaiting anxiously for the light of a new day to come to lead us out of the sheepfold. 

Our anxiety is quickly allayed by his calling us by name and by us recognizing his familiar voice. 

Naturally, or rather, “supernaturally,” this is the work of the Holy Spirit, who creates a personal, unbreakable bond of each one of us with Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  

This fact should make us appreciate the crucial importance of the need to feed eagerly at the Table of God’s Word at Mass and elsewhere.  

In Matthew 13:19, Jesus warns us that Satan is constantly trying to steal the seed of God’s Word from our hearts; and in Matthew 13: 22, he tells us how thoughts of material possessions and worldly preoccupations can choke the seed of  God’s Word so that our recognition of the Good Shepherd’s voice is muffled by unholy thoughts and pressing secular pursuits. 

We must not forget that the Holy Spirit alone prepares our souls and hearts to welcome, with eagerness, all of Jesus’ words: even those of reproach, conveying stern orders and calls to face hardships without losing heart. 

Thus, a regular and assiduous feeding at the Table of God’s Word will gradually make it easier for us to sort Jesus’ voice out from the voices of “strangers,” “thieves” and “robbers.”  

These are those who are hellbent on misleading us and on creating confusion, darkness and restlessness in our hearts; they can also allure us away from the cross, to choose the wider gate and the smoother, broader road to perdition. (Cf. Matthew 7:13) 

The bond created by the Holy Spirit by feeding us at the Table of Jesus’ words of life, is designed to be the foundation of our trust in him alone, the only true Shepherd, who will lead us to the pastures of fullness of life on this earth and into the next. 

 “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10   

Jesus’ attention in calling us each by our name (John 10:3) reinforces this bond; enables us to treasure the great feeling of being special in his eyes; makes our prayers of request more precise because Jesus knows our talents and flaws, our strengths and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes. 

Whenever we are tested severely, we should reach into the recesses of our soul and repeat to ourselves this comforting truth: in Jesus’ eyes I am unique, distinctive, unduplicable. 

The result of this awareness is bound to brim over into a contribution to the good of the community, which is naturally more generous, more enduring, and more committed. 

It should also make us wonder thusly: “Despite being an invisible speck in the human mass of over eight billion people, my existence is an original event with a particular mission which no one else can carry out.  

Hence, what should my visceral reaction to what Jesus has just confessed about me? What is the correct response I should give as I go out into this corner of the world in which I live, trustingly following him?” 

One final thought: it is an appeal to the few young men in our midst. You might be among the most unique of the unique, distinctive, unduplicable sheep of his flock.  

The voice of the Lord is soft and gentle; easily ignored.  

If the Good Shepherd calls you to the ministerial priesthood, to continue his shepherding, be generous; say YES to him. You will have no regrets. Guaranteed.