4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER (YEAR A)

1st Reading                 Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Psalm                           23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 (R. 1)

R:// "The Lord is my Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want"

2nd Reading              1 Peter 2: 20b-25

Gospel                         John 10: 1-10

YOU ARE CALLED BY NAME

Friends, Peace and Goodness! Today is the 4th Sunday of Easter (Year A), and the last Sunday of the month of April. More interesting is the fact that the 4th Sunday of Easter has been earmarked as Good Shepherd Sunday. Talking about Shepherd, this Sunday is also called Vocations Sunday. We pray that the Lord of the vineyard will call men and women to work. May these people also respond generously to God's call.

Let us quickly begin with the Gospel passage from John 10:1-10. We should remind ourselves that on every 4th Sunday of Easter, the Gospel passage is taken from John 10. This portion speaks about Sheep and Shepherding. That aligns perfectly with today as Good Shepherd Sunday or Vocations Sunday. Shepherding is a very ancient economic activity in Israel. Being a Shepherd is a full-time job. It cannot be done alongside other jobs due to the complexity of care given to these animals. How complex is that care?

The work of a Shepherd runs throughout the day and into the night. During the day, the Shepherd protects the sheep and finds pasture for them to feed. At night, he leads them into the sheepfold to be protected. Sometimes, the immediate quest for protection during the night makes the shepherd look for a cave or a simple place to put the animals together. Such places do not have gates. Therefore, the Shepherd sleeps at the gate to guard the animals. He, therefore, becomes the gate to the sheepfold. This accounts for why Jesus would say "I am the gate" (Jn. 10: ). The gate is the point of access to the sheepfold. What happens there? Simply, it is entry and exit. The Shepherd places himself at the entrance to the sheepfold. Thus, he places himself between the sheep and external pressures from robbers and bandits, wolves, jackals, and hyenas. Protection comes from the Shepherd. In saying that "I am the gate", Jesus says "I am the one through whom safety and life are found". 

If we put that within the context of our world, then we should begin to realise that the sheepfold is the People of God. Some people are called to Shepherd the Sheep. They stand at the entrance as the gate to offer protection. One of the principal duties of a Shepherd is to protect by standing between the sheep and the outside world with its ideologies and machinations. 

The Second detail is that the Sheep can recognise the Shepherd by his VOICE. Sometimes, 2 shepherds keep their sheep in the same sheepfold at night. When the day breaks, how do they identify their sheep, especially when there are no distinctive marks to show the differences? It is simply by the VOICE of the shepherd. The Shepherd may stand at a distance and voice out in a familiar way to the Sheep, and those that belong to him will immediately come to his side. This means that there is familiarity on both sides. That is what forms the core of Jesus' statement, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (Jn. 10: 27). Taking the world as the Sheepfold with a diversity of sheep and with sheep that closely resemble each other, the only proper way to know what sheep belong to Jesus is the sheep that hears Jesus' voice and follows him. 

On a deeper level, the VOICE has much to offer. The Shepherd literally calls them by a sound. That voice is the established language between the Sheep and the Shepherd. The language of a person makes him or her. Speak or, at least, understand a person's language and you immediately enter the world of the person. If the Sheep are able to understand an established language, what it means is that they are living in the world of the Shepherd.

The third detail is that the Shepherd calls each sheep by name. Thus, "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" (Jn. 10:3). The issue is that the Sheep may look closely identical, especially to the intrained eye. However, for the Shepherd, there is no anonymous sheep. The Shepherd is not dealing with a crowd. He rather deals with individual sheep.

In the world of Jesus, especially in rural areas of ancient Israel, shepherding was not always industrial. What it means Shepherds would typically handle small to medium-sized flocks. They would spend long hours daily with the same animals. Consequently, the Shepherds are able to recognise individual sheep by their habits, actions, temperaments, and even physical quirks. What it suggests is that a Shepherd has charge of his flocks to the degree that he knows each one by condition because they are not many. Similarly, we are not more than what God can take care of. He knows each person. 

Remember that in Genesis 2:19-20, Adam NAMED each animal. That action is also an exercise of Adam's care and responsibility over the animals. What it also suggests to us is that if the Shepherd names each sheep, then he has each sheep under close care and responsibility. Therefore, each person considered as a Sheep is under the care and responsibility of God. 

Additionally, the Sheep are not only NAMED. The Shepherd "LEADS THEM OUT". This is the direction of the naming. The calling by name is not the end. It is beginning of movement. There is a very crucial point here to notice. The Greek word translated as "leading out" is "ἐξάγει (exagei)". The Sheep are not called just to feel secure. They are called in order to be brought out into pasture, life, mission, and work. Interestingly, the Greek word for Exodus is "ἔξοδος (exodos)". Both words share the same root idea which is movement out from a place of confinement into a new state of existence. In fact, in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), "ἐξάγω (exagō)" is frequently used for God's saving action as in the case of God "bringing Israel out" of Egypt. This is to say that God "leads them out" from slavery into freedom. In Exodus 6:6, the author records that "I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt". This is liberation and formation of new identity. If the Shepherd will not only call them by name, but also LEADS THEM OUT, then the Shepherd also has the task of delivering from bandage and gives new identity. 

Pax et Bonum