April 27, 2026
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Lectionary: 279
Reading
1
The Apostles and
the brothers who were in Judea
heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem
the circumcised believers confronted him, saying,
‘You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”
Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying,
“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa
when in a trance I had a vision,
something resembling a large sheet coming down,
lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me.
Looking intently into it,
I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth,
the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky.
I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’
But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir,
because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
But a second time a voice from heaven answered,
‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’
This happened three times,
and then everything was drawn up again into the sky.
Just then three men appeared at the house where we were,
who had been sent to me from Caesarea.
The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.
These six brothers also went with me,
and we entered the man’s house.
He related to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, saying,
‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,
who will speak words to you
by which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning,
and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said,
‘John baptized with water
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us
when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was I to be able to hinder God?”
When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (see 3a) Athirst
is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.
When shall I go and behold the face of God?
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!
R. Athirst is my soul for the living God.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my sheep, and mine know me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
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.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042726.cfm
Commentary on Acts
11:1-18
We have now entered a momentous part of Acts which describes
the inauguration of the mission to the Gentiles. It may not seem a big
deal to us, but it involved a radical change in thinking for the first
Christians who were all Jews, still felt like Jews and maintained many of the
religious customs of the Jews. It changed the whole complexion of the
Christian ‘movement’ inaugurated by Jesus.
It opens with the conversion and baptism of Cornelius, a
gentile centurion in the Roman army. But it also involves a conversion on
the part of Peter, who becomes aware that God’s calling in Jesus is extended to
people of all races and religions. All of this is contained in chapter
10, which we will not be reading (the story of Cornelius is read on the 6th
Sunday of Easter in Year B).
What we see in today’s reading is the reaction of the
Christian leaders in Jerusalem to the news of a Gentile’s baptism. It
involves a major breakthrough in the development of the Church’s awareness of
its identity.
The Apostles and their fellow Christians in Jerusalem had
heard that the pagans were accepting the word of God. We will see here
and elsewhere in Acts that in matters of importance, the Apostles did not act
alone. Guidance came from the Spirit. The Apostles interpreted and
exhorted, but the consent of the whole church was then sought (“the whole
community”, Acts 6:5; “apostles and the brothers and sisters”, Acts 11:1; “the
church”, Acts 11:22; “the church and the apostles and elders”, Acts 15:4 and
15:22).
The Christians in Jerusalem seem to have received this news
with mixed feelings because, when Peter went up to Jerusalem the “circumcised
believers”, that is, the Jewish Christians, criticised him for visiting the
homes of the “uncircumcised” and even eating with them. This recalls how Jesus
too was criticised for consorting with the ‘unclean’ and eating with them,
which led to his speaking the three beautiful parables in chapter 15 of Luke’s
Gospel about the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son.
The “uncircumcised” were those Gentiles who did not observe
the laws of clean and unclean food and hence were in violation of Jewish
regulations concerning food preparation. At this stage, it is clear that the
Jewish Christians still saw themselves, even in a religious sense, as
Jews. We know that they continued to go to the Temple to pray, and in
this reading they have not yet changed their attitude to non-Jews—still seeing
them as a source of contamination.
Peter then shares with them the dream he had. In this
dream there appeared every kind of living thing that could walk, crawl or
fly. He was told to kill and eat them, and he recoiled in horror.
As a devout Jew he had never touched food that was regarded as ‘unclean’.
He was made to realise in no uncertain terms that:
What God has made clean, you must not call profane.
And just in case Peter did not get this message, the vision
was repeated three times!
Just then, he also got an invitation to join three men in
going to a house in Caesarea. This house, as we were told in the previous
chapter, belonged to Cornelius, a centurion in the Roman army. It seems
that he was an out and out Gentile, with no connections whatever to
Judaism. Peter went, together with six “brothers”, under the guidance and
the approval of the Spirit.
When they got there, Cornelius said he had been told by an
angel to summon Peter to his house. Peter had a special message for him
to hear. Peter had barely begun to explain the message of Jesus when the
Holy Spirit came down on all of the household, just as the Apostles themselves
had experienced it at Pentecost. The “household” (Latin, familia)
included not only those related by blood (parents, children, other relatives),
but also slaves and all who were under Cornelius’ authority.
It was perfectly clear to Peter that there was no way he
could deny baptism and membership in the community to this Gentile, who up to
this he had regarded as unclean and a person not to be mixed with. He told
the Christians in Jerusalem:
If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when
we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?
Peter could not deny the Gentiles the invitation to be
baptised and to enjoy full fellowship in Christ with all believers. The
Jewish believers were compelled to recognise that God was going to save
Gentiles on equal terms with Jews. By divine action rather than by human
choice, the door was being opened to Gentiles.
Peter explains why he allowed a pagan to be baptised.
However, he does not answer the objection that he had lodged with the
uncircumcised. According to Luke, Peter was considered to have been the
first to receive pagans into the Church, in spite of the episode of the Ethiopian
eunuch (with the deacon Philip), about which we read on Thursday of last week,
and the date of the evangelisation of Antioch, to which Luke does not refer
till later (in fact, immediately after this incident). Against this background,
the council of Jerusalem (which we will hear about in the middle of next week)
appears as a kind of sequel to, or repetition of, the discussion in today’s
passage. It is clear that Peter’s leadership is being emphasised.
The people in Jerusalem accepted what Peter told them and gave
thanks to God that even the Gentiles could experience “the repentance
[Greek, metanoia—i.e. radical conversion] that leads to
life”. They were not just repenting the past, but undertaking a complete
turn-around in their lives involving a total commitment to the Way of Christ.
This story is just one example to be repeated again and
again in the life of the Church of how change does not come from the centre,
which in fact is often resistant to change, but from the outer limits.
The same is true of our Church today. There is always
tension between the central institution of the Church and the more charismatic
and prophetic elements which are often more in touch with the grass roots and
with the changes taking place in society. These effect a call for change in the
thinking and behaviour of the Church. In recent times, the Second Vatican
Council and more recently, the Synod on Synodality, are excellent examples of
this process. It is important to recognize that this tension is a good thing,
and it is necessary both for progress and continuity.
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Commentary on John
10:11-18
Jesus gives two images of himself connected with
sheep. Earlier in this chapter, he calls himself “the ‘Gate’ for the
sheep.” Only true shepherds pass through this Gate to reach the
sheep. In today’s passage, he speaks of the second image, identifying
himself solemnly as the true Shepherd of his people:
I am the good shepherd.
This is the third ‘I AM’ statement. Jesus’ assertion
that he is the Good Shepherd is tantamount to identifying himself as the
Messiah.
Of course, the image of God as shepherd of his people is
found many times in the Old Testament. For instance, in the much-loved
Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd…” or in Ezekiel 34 where God speaks of
himself as the shepherd of his people.
Jesus now takes that role on himself. He is the “good”
shepherd because he is willing to lay down his life for his sheep. In
this he is totally unlike a hired hand who, at the first sight of danger (such
as the appearance of a wolf or robbers) will abandon the sheep. He is
only being paid to do the job and has no personal commitment to the
sheep. It seems that some of the religious leaders are having a finger
pointed at them here. They are more interested in the literal observance
of the Law than in the spiritual well-being of the people.
Jesus, on the other hand, is a good shepherd:
I know my own, and my own know me…And I lay down my
life for the sheep.
His death on the cross is the clear proof of that.
This is what makes him stand out from other ‘shepherds’. And the
‘knowledge’ here is not mere acquaintance or recognition, but a deep mutual
understanding of each other. A knowledge that is the fruit of experience
and an intimate personal contact leading to love.
But not all sheep belong to Jesus’ flock and it is his deep
desire that they too should belong to his fold. This, first of all,
points to the Gentiles who were not yet among God’s people. For us today,
it points to all those who have not yet come to know the Way of Christ as
pointing to life.
Jesus’ goal is that there be “one flock and one
shepherd”. It should be the dream of all Christians too. The Father
loves Jesus because of his readiness to die for his sheep. But Jesus’
death is his own free choice, an act of pure love for his sheep. He has
the power to lay down his life and to take it up again. Our Shepherd will
die, but will rise again in glory to take his sheep with him to the life that
will never end.
But though Jesus the Good Shepherd will die for his sheep,
he does so in perfect freedom. This is what gives his sacrifice such
value. He willingly surrenders his life into the hands of his Father, and
in doing so, guarantees his presence with his sheep for all time and in every
place.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/e1042g2/
Monday, April 27, 2026
Easter Time
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, Father
of all,
you sent your Son Jesus Christ
among us to reveal to us that
you care about people and that your love extends to all, without any distinction of race or culture.
Give us a great respect for all people,
whatever way they come, and let your Church embrace all cultures,
that Jesus may truly be the Lord
and Shepherd of all, now and for ever.
Gospel Reading - John 10: 11-18
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd
lays down his life for his sheep. The
hired man, since he is not the shepherd and
the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming,
and runs away, and then the
wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; he runs away
because he is only a hired
man and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good
shepherd; I know
my own and my own
know me, just
as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I lay down my life for my sheep.
And there are other
sheep I have that are not of this fold, and I must lead these too. They too will listen
to my voice, and there will be only one flock, one shepherd.
The Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one
takes it from
me; I lay it down of my own free will, and as I have power
to lay it down, so I have power to take it up again; and this is the command
I have received from my
Father.
Reflection
The Gospel today presents
the parable of the Good Shepherd. It is the continuation of the Gospel
which we read
yesterday (Sunday). It is difficult to
understand the first part without the second. This is why we prefer to comment briefly on both (Jn 10: 1-18). The discourse on the Good Shepherd presents three comparisons
linked among themselves:
•
1st comparison: Jesus speaks of the shepherd
and of the thieves (Jn 10: 1-5)
•
2nd comparison: Jesus is the door of the sheep (Jn 10: 6-10)
•
3rd comparison: Jesus is the Good Shepherd (Jn 10: 11-18)
•
John 10, 1-5: 1st comparison: to enter by the door and not by somewhere else. Jesus begins the discourse
with the comparison of the door: “Anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through
the gate is a thief
and a bandit! He who enters through the gate is the
shepherd of the flock!” At that time, the shepherds took care of the flock
the whole day.
When night arrived,
they lead the sheep to a great community sheepfold, which was well protected against thieves and wolves. All the shepherds of the same
region took their flocks there. A gatekeeper took care of them the whole night.
The following day, early in the morning, the shepherd would go there, knocked
with his hands on the gate and the gatekeeper would open. The shepherd would go
in and call the sheep by name. The sheep recognized the voice of their shepherd
would get up and go out following
him to go to the pasture. The sheep of the
other shepherds heard the voice, but would not move, because for them it was an
unknown voice. From time to time, there was the danger of being attacked. The bandits would
enter by a side
path or jumped
over the wall of
the
sheepfold, made of one rock on top of the other, in order to rob the sheep.
They did not enter by the gate because the gatekeeper was there.
•
John 10: 6-10: 2nd comparison: Jesus is the door. The audience, the Pharisees (Jn 9: 40-41),
did not understand what it meant “to go in through
the door.” Jesus then
explained: “I am the gate of the sheepfold. All who have come before me are thieves
and bandits”. Of whom is Jesus speaking
in this phrase which is so hard? Probably, he was referring to the religious leaders who drew the people behind them, but they did not respond to their expectations. They were not interested
in the good of the people,
but only in their own interest and in filling their pockets. They
deceived the people and abandoned them to a worse situation. To enter
through the gate is to act as Jesus
acted. The fundamental criterion to discern who is shepherd and who is a
thief is the defense of the life of the sheep. Jesus asks the people not to
follow the persons who present
themselves as shepherds, but who have no interest
for the life of the people. “I have come in order that they have life and
life in abundance!” This is the criterion!
•
John 10: 11-15: 3rd comparison: Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus changes the comparison. First, he was the door of the flock.
Now he is the Shepherd of the sheep.
Everyone knew what a shepherd was and how he lived and worked. But Jesus
is not just any shepherd
but, he is the Good Shepherd! The image
of the Good Shepherd comes from the Old Testament. Saying that he is the Good Shepherd, Jesus presents himself as the one who comes to fulfil the
promises of the prophets and the expectations of the people; for example, the beautiful prophecy
of Ezekiel (Ex 34, 11-16).
There are two points on which Jesus insists:
(a)
in the defense of the life of the sheep:
the Good Shepherd
gives his life for the life of the sheep.
(b)
In the mutual
knowledge between the shepherd and the sheep:
The shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep
know the shepherd.
Jesus says
that the people have a particular perception and know who the Good Shepherd
is. This was what the Pharisees did not accept.
They despised or rejected
the sheep and said they were damned
and ignorant (Jn 7: 49; 9:
34). They thought they had the right and apt view to discern the things of God. In truth, they were blind.
The discourse on the Good Shepherd teaches two rules to cure this type of blindness, which
is quite frequent:
(i) to pay special attention to the reaction
of the sheep, because they know
the voice of the shepherd.
(ii) To be very attentive to the
attitude of the one who calls himself the shepherd to see if his interest is
the life of the sheep, or not, and if he is capable to give his life for the life of the sheep.
•
John 10: 16-18: The goal which Jesus wants to attain: one only flock and one only Shepherd. Jesus opens the horizon and says that he has other sheep that do not belong to this flock.
They have not as yet heard the voice of Jesus, but when they hear it, they will become
aware that he is the shepherd and will follow him. This is the Ecumenical
universal dimension.
Personal Questions
•
Shepherd – Pastoral. Does the Pastoral ministry in my
Parish imitate the mission of Jesus as shepherd? And in my pastoral ministry
which is my attitude? Am I a shepherd as Jesus?
•
Have you had the experience of having been deceived by
a false shepherd? How did you succeed in overcoming this?
Concluding Prayer
As a deer yearns
for running streams, so I yearn for you, my God.
I thirst for God, the living God; when shall I go to see the face of God? (Ps 42: 1-2)
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