Readings and meditation on the Word of God on the fourth Sunday of Easter, May 11, 2025

Delivered by Christine Gunawan from the Parish of Saint Joseph Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Pontianak and Yurika Gunawan from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 13: 14.43-52; Rs psalm 100: 2.3.5; Revelation 7: 9.14b-17; John 10: 27-30.GOOD SHEPHERD AND GOOD SHEEP The title for our meditation on this 4thSunday of Easter is: Good Shepherd and Good Sheep. Today, according to the traditionof the holy Church, we celebrate the Good Shepherd Sunday. The Churchcelebrates this with the activities of promotion of vocations. We allunderstand that priests and ministers of the Church today are the fruits of aprocess of formation of those who are called. They are men and women who haveanswered God's call to become priests or religious persons. The word “shepherd” comes from theLatin word “pastor”. It refers to the person of Jesus Christ, the profile ofthe greatest and primary Shepherd. Jesus says about His identity as the GoodShepherd in the today’s Gospel reading. He says this primarily as a missionthat comes for the Father. He then makes all of us His sheep who find pasture inthe world. For us in the Catholic Church, the mission of Jesus Christ as ashepherd is a participatory work, which means that those who are chosen to takepart in the mission of Jesus. That is why in the Church itself Jesus Christ andthe Church authority entrust the mission to all the faithful and every one ofus. This participation is manifested inseveral levels. The Pope occupies the position of the apostle Peter, who is theVicar of Jesus Christ and the bishops who represent the positions and works ofthe apostles; this refers to the first level of shepherds. They take importantrole and responsibility of shepherding the entire Church. The Lord entrusts tothem the leadership of the Universal Church as well as the Local Church. The secondlevel that follows is the priests who participate in the priesthood of theirbishop. There are diocesan clergies who work in their respective dioceses andreligious priests who work through the mission of their respective order orcongregations. The next level that is broaderincludes religious men and women, who also have missions in building up theChurch, helping out the Church’s mission and becoming witnesses to the existenceof the Kingdom of God on earth. And the more broadly level is every one and allfollowers of Christ. Every baptized Christian has the responsibility to be inthe community with his or her fellow Chirstians and  to accompany and look after someone else.Every one is baptized to be the shepherd for others. He or she participates in thework of Jesus Christ. According to the inspiration oftoday's liturgical readings, the shepherd’s care to the sheep can be summarizedinto three points. First, the shepherd knows his sheep. Getting to know andunderstand others are the expression of love and care. Second, the best qualityof shepherd's care to the sheep is if he or she sacrifices himself or herselffor the salvation of others. Third, the shepherd focuses his or her attentionto give comfort and safety for the souls of those whom he or she loves. So, weas the followers of Christ are called and formed in the whole journey of faithin this world to be the shepherds. Christ will enable us to become shepherdsand His partners.Let's pray. In the name of theFather and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ... O God and our Lord, make ustrue and good sheep in your Church. Our Father who art in heaven ... In thename of the Father…