April 26, 2026: Fourth Sunday of Easter
Gospel: John 10:1-10
Jesus said: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all of his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.” Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Reflection
“Although Jesus used this figure of speech, the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.” Many of us may be in the same boat as the Pharisees — we don’t get what Jesus is trying to tell us. After all, for most of us, our only up close up and personal encounters with sheep and shepherds are those we see in our nativity sets at Christmas.
Or maybe it’s the repetition of the words sheep, shepherd, flocks, gates, thieves and robbers, shepherd’s voice, sheep gate that makes our eyes glaze over, our attention wander. We, (at least some of us) don’t get what Jesus is trying to tell us.
Like an effective teacher, Jesus doesn’t give up. He keeps trying even though trying is hard work. (Just look at these synonyms for the word: straining, pressuring, striving, working at, toiling, challenging.) Like an effective teacher, Jesus tries another approach. He focuses on one figure of speech: “I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
Jesus — the gate: the one who urges us to go in and go out and find pasture.
Jesus — the gate: the entry point to a life of meaning, a purposeful life, a life facing the on-going challenge to “love others as you love yourself.”
Jesus — the gate: the shepherd who travels with us on the winding paths of lives marked by a host of contradictions and complexities accompanied by a host of meanings and simplicity.
Jesus — the gate: an intriguing figure of speech.
Action
The gate at St. Joseph Lake at Saint Mary of the Woods can best be described as “wonky.” Opening or closing it requires just the precise amount of lifting up and the gentlest of pushes to operate it well. Takes practice and patience to get it right. This gate at St. Joe’s Lake may very well be a perfect figure of speech to explain God’s action in my life. You also may have or know of a gate that is the perfect figure of speech to explain God’s action in your life.
