Fourth Sunday of Easter

Reading 1
Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven,
raised his voice, and proclaimed:
“Let the whole house of Israel know for certain
that God has made both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
“What are we to do, my brothers?”
Peter said to them,
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is made to you and to your children
and to all those far off,
whomever the Lord our God will call.”
He testified with many other arguments, and was exhorting them,
“Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Those who accepted his message were baptized,
and about three thousand persons were added that day.

Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6
Responsorial Psalm  

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. or:
R. Alleluia. You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia. Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Alleluia. 

1 Pt 2:20b-25
Reading 2
Beloved:
If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good,
this is a grace before God.
For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.
When he was insulted, he returned no insult;
when he suffered, he did not threaten;
instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly.
He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross,
so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed.
For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.


Jn 10:1-10
Gospel
Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.


So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”


Jesus really didn’t ask too much from anybody when he walked amongst us. Think about it, He came to this Earth with the sole purpose to fulfill what was written down in the Scripture for thousands of years and offer us the opportunity for redemption and eternal life. This Eternal Life has been ours for the taking by simply following His call and recognizing His voice. When Christ asks us to follow Him we make that choice to receive that gift that has always been there; then we can pass through that Christ describes into beautiful pastures and ultimately paradise.

The imagery created in this Gospel Reading defines our relationship with Christ. Jesus describes how a sheep hears the shephard’s voice and immediately recognizes it. The voice is familiar and comforting. With that familiarity comes an obedience and understanding of the wants of the shepherd. The shepherd commands and the sheep listen in a loving way. There is an expectation that what the shepherd does will be in the best interest of the sheep and with that, they respond to the voice. This is how we should be in our relationship with Christ. How can we go wrong opening our hearts and minds to what Christ is trying to say to us? Everything is laid down before us, in some cases spelled out explicitly. We are just asked to listen to Him and follow His voice. How can we go wrong by following the traditions and teachings of the Church that emulate Christ?

We have turned to Christ and He in turn guides us through our lives. We have all entrusted to him our families, children, and our livelihoods. These can be seen as the ultimate acts of faith when we turn everything over to Christ. And He is turn watches over us vigilantly and puts us on sure footing.

We are also warned through Christ that there are others in the world who come forward claiming that they too have the answers to happiness. There are those who will ask others to have trust in what they have to say and do. They will try to influence and lead but only at the expense of those they claim to care about. Christ says it best in Mathew Chapter 6: “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” In other words, those who are swept up in worldly desire and allures cannot fully give themselves over to Christ, thus their hearts remain impure as are their motives. To truly serve Christ and follow Him, we are challenged to put behind us those worldly thoughts and desire that might corrupt us or corrupt the image of Christ. We are further challenged to improve ourselves every day; to build ourselves up as well as Christ’s Kingdom here on this earth. The two go hand in hand. You cannot improve on one without working on the other.

That is beautiful in itself. We all are such an intricate part of God’s plan that our well-being is as important as any other part of His creation. We have all been lifted up to that plateau and it is Christ’s hope beyond hope that we can stay there. And it cannot be forgotten that Christ will do anything to keep us there safe and secure.

The soothing sound of Christ’s voice can always be heard through the Eucharist, prayer, and our conscious. We just need to make use of these wonder gifts that have been laid before us.

The first reading today emulates just how forgiving and loving Christ is to all of His children. Peter stands up and testifies to those who stood by and watched Christ be crucified and were either complacent or out-rightly endorsed the action. He called them to repentance and baptism: a call to forgiveness. All is forgiven as long as it is asked for. Everyone is welcome into Christ’s kingdom if only they turn to him and renounce what they have done; cast their sins behind their backs as rise above the corruption and degradation around them.

Read how Peter refers to the Christians in Asia Minor as beloved. There is that special relationship developed through Jesus Christ that he has with them that can be felt even through words on paper. There is a genuine concern and care for their well being. It serves as a lesson for all of us to follow. We must have a concern about the well-being of all of those around us, each being a child of God. Who are we to ignore another Child of God or put our own well-being above their own. We must all be lifted up together in order to achieve the goals that Christ puts before us: that is our own salvation as well as every one else’s. Together, as an entire flock we go forward.