IV Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday) – April 25, 2021 The Good Shepherd: God who knows us and searches for us, because he loves us Acts 4: 8-12 / Psalm 118 / 1 John 3: 1-2 / John 10: 11-18
“Why is it that God knows everything about us and we know much less or almost nothing about him?” It was a question made by one of the youth group participants and although she was only 14 years old, her question demonstrated spiritual maturity. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, a lively discussion took place in the group about the relationship between God and us. That young woman’s question has remained with me over the years. It calls to mind the profound knowledge that God has of each one of us, his creatures, his children.
At first, the members of that youth group thought that such knowledge of us was like a divine power to make us more obedient and well-behaved, but we were able to foster the growth of relationships with God based more on his mercy. It is not just a thing of young people or teenagers, for I have met many adults who persist in thinking that God knows so much about us in order to make us behave like good kids or that God is like a judge who is quick to chastise us.
Today, the 4th Sunday of Easter, has been named “Good Shepherd” Sunday, especially due to the reading we proclaim from the tenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. It is a good occasion for us to deepen our understanding of God based on his loving-kindness and our trust in him and that our image of him must be in line with our experience of his mercy and forgiveness and based on his true essence, love.
The Good Shepherd is one of the most ancient images used to depict Christ and demonstrates the relationship between God and us and his desire to be close to us, to humanity. In today’s reading, Jesus makes it clear that his commitment to us knows no limits when he boldly states, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10: 11).
In addition to showing us the Lord’s power, the Good Shepherd teaches us the willingness of God to search for us when we are lost and give us his saving hand if we fall into temptation, self-destruction or when we lose hope. We are talking about love in person, mercy in person who always takes the initiative to go and find us, to save us from our sins.
If you want to know how God acts, especially towards us, and what he knows, especially our struggles, look no further than the Good Shepherd. In his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), Pope emeritus Benedict XVI makes that clear when he writes, “In Jesus Christ, it is God himself who goes in search of the ‘stray sheep’, a suffering and lost humanity.”¹
Christ knows us quite well and our human situation is his concern. With such a caring shepherd, it is high time to truly know the Lord and put our trust in him. He knows us completely, even everything about us, but, as is clearly stated, he wants us to know him: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10: 14-15). We are talking about a mutual knowledge. We are the ones being sought and rescued, but we are also the ones called to be in relationship with the shepherd.
His knowledge of us is the fruit of his humanity. The incarnation of the Lord Jesus means that he seeks constantly to know us more and to be known and trusted. The Good Shepherd longs to be a part of our lives and to be present in the midst of our difficulties. Building a relationship with the Lord is first of all his initiative; he finds because he searches, he searches because he loves.
Christ knows so much and more about us and indeed all humanity because he loves completely and eternally. If we wish to be known and understood and found, we must love and allow ourselves to be loved.
Peace in the Risen Lord! Fr. Charles Johnson, O.P.