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Sunday, April 21, 2002

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Fourth Sunday of Easter


Acts 2:14, 36-41
1 Peter 2:20-25
Psalm 23
John 10:1-10

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walking through a mined-field

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." —Psalm 23:1

Few of us have ever pastured, fleeced, or slaughtered a sheep. So we don't have the experience to understand the image of the Good Shepherd. Nevertheless, many people are fascinated with this image. Perhaps they instinctively know the deep and compelling need of the human person to be shepherded.

One of the main works of a shepherd is to guide the sheep. If we are on the road to eternal life, we are on a rough and narrow road (Mt 7:14). We are traveling through alien territory occupied by a "corrupt generation" (Acts 2:40, RNAB), a veritable "culture of death." As we walk through this "valley of the shadow of death" (Ps 23:4, KJV), we unjustly suffer insults and persecution (see 1 Pt 2:21, 23). We are in danger of being stolen, slaughtered, and destroyed (Jn 10:10).

It is as if we are walking through a mined-field. Our next step can detonate an explosion in our families, marriages, work, health, etc. We can't see the mines below the surface. We desperately need guidance. We need a shepherd, and a good one. Jesus says: "I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11).

Prayer:  Jesus, Good Shepherd, may I hear Your voice and follow You (Jn 10:3).

Promise:  "By His wounds you were healed." —1 Pt 2:24

Praise:  Praise the Good Shepherd, the "Lamb That had been slain" (Rv 5:6), our risen Savior, Lord, and God!

Reference:  (Follow the Good Shepherd by reading His Word every day. We have several tape series that may help you. Overview of the Bible is six audio tapes starting with AV 10A-1 or three video tapes starting with V-10A. 15-Minute Bible Teaching — New Testament is forty audio tapes starting with #700. An Introduction to each Book of the Bible is thirty-two audio tapes starting with AV 21-1 or seventeen video tapes starting with V-21.)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Giles H. Pater, November 15, 2001


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, November 16, 2001