The Gospel of John 10:1-10, proclaimed on the 4th Sunday of Easter, invites us to contemplate one of the most beautiful and consoling images in all of Scripture: Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Although today’s passage does not explicitly contain the phrase “I am the Good Shepherd” (which appears in the Gospel Acclamation and in the continuation, John 10:11), it is wholly a catechesis on Jesus’ pastoring. The verse that summarizes today’s reflection is: “The sheep hear His voice.” (Jn 10:3).
To situate this passage well, Monsignor Cattenoz, bishop emeritus of Avignon, who lived as a shepherd of sheep in North Africa before even becoming a priest, used to tell that every shepherd has his own call to gather the flock. When two shepherds met on the way, their flocks would mix. But at daybreak, each one called his own sheep with his own cry — and the sheep recognized their shepherd’s voice and separated themselves. A sheep lost in another flock, on hearing the voice of its shepherd, would lift its head, look around, and run to meet him. This phenomenon, so common in the pastoral life of Jesus’ time, was fully known to his listeners. For us today it may sound strange — but the spiritual truth it carries is perennial: to recognize the voice of Jesus, we must hear it often, in prayer.
To help you pray with this Word, here are the five central points of our reflection on the podcast: watch here — with subtitles available in several languages.
- The Shepherd of the Sheep
The figure of the Shepherd runs through the entire Bible. In the Old Testament, four great references stand out. First, God himself: Psalm 22(23) — the responsorial psalm of this Sunday’s Mass — proclaims “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Second, David, who was taken from shepherding sheep to become the Shepherd of the people of Israel — who faced a lion and a bear to defend the flock and trusted fully in the Lord: “The Lord who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear will also deliver me from this Philistine” (1 Sam 17:37). Third, the chiefs and priests of Israel — the bad shepherds denounced by Ezekiel (cf. Ez 34) and Jeremiah (cf. Jer 23:1-2), against whom Jesus reacts on seeing the people “like sheep without a shepherd.” Finally, in the New Testament, Jesus himself, who appoints Peter as his vicar — “Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:16-17) — and through the Pope, bishops, and priests continues to shepherd his flock.
But the invitation goes further: each of us, insofar as God has entrusted people to us — as father, mother, coordinator, community leader, or formator — is also a Shepherd. The question the text leads us to ask is: Am I a good or bad Shepherd of the sheep the Lord has entrusted to me?
- “I Am the Gate” — and the Gatekeeper
In this passage of John 10, Jesus uses the solemn formula “Ego eimi” — the same “I AM” of Exodus 3:14-15, the divine name — to identify himself as the gate: “I am the gate of the sheep.” In ancient shepherding, the shepherd would sleep at the entrance of the fold, literally becoming both gate and gatekeeper. But what does it mean for Jesus to be “the gate”?
A gate has at least three functions: to protect (guarding the flock against wolves and thieves); to give access (allowing entry and exit — “I will come in and find pasture”); and to provide privacy and silence (blocking outside noise, creating a space of intimacy). Jesus fulfills all three: he protects, he opens the way to the Father, and he creates the space of personal encounter with God.
As gatekeeper, Jesus is also the holder of the keys — the same ones he entrusted to Peter: “You are Peter… I will give you the keys of the Kingdom…” (Mt 16:18-19). A beautiful spiritual tradition holds that Saint Joseph, the carpenter, may have taught the young Jesus the importance of a well-made gate for the sheepfold — and Jesus kept this in his heart to later turn it into a parable.
Jesus is also the “narrow gate” spoken of in Matthew: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate” (Mt 7:13). Through him — and only through him — we have access to the Father.
- The Thieves and the Robbers
Jesus is direct: “All who came before me are thieves and robbers” (Jn 10:8). He refers to the false teachers and religious leaders who led the people astray. And at the end of the passage he gives us the criterion to recognize them: “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy” (Jn 10:10).
This is a practical and precious criterion: whatever robs us of peace, drives us away from God, or destroys our inner life is the mark of a bad Shepherd. It is not about falling into paranoia, but about exercising discernment. Saint Paul exhorts us: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). We must always look to Jesus, the one Good Shepherd, and measure all others who claim to guide us by him.
The most current risk is to place our hope in shepherds who are not shepherds — figures who promise salvation but only know how to steal, kill, and destroy. The Good Shepherd is the one who gives his life for the sheep. His name is Jesus.
- The Voice of the Shepherd
Today’s Gospel states three times that the sheep know the voice of the shepherd (cf. Jn 10:3, 4, 5). Just as in a crowd you instantly recognize your mother’s voice — because there is intimacy with her — so too we recognize the voice of Jesus to the extent that we cultivate this intimacy with Him in prayer.
The Scriptures offer eloquent examples. Mary Magdalene, at the empty tomb, did not recognize him with her eyes — but when Jesus spoke her name, “Mary” (Jn 20:16), she identified him at once: it was the voice of her Shepherd. Paul, on the road to Damascus, also heard that voice — “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4) — and it marked him for life, guiding every step of his apostolic mission.
The voice of the Lord is at once powerful — “the voice that breaks the cedars” (Ps 29(28):5) — and gentle as the whisper Elijah heard at Horeb (cf. 1 Kgs 19:12-13). In prayer, we do not hear it with bodily ears, but we feel it in the heart. A hymn from the Liturgy of the Hours expresses this beautifully: “O Holy One, we ask that the bonds of the Spirit may bind us to you, and so, we may not hear the voices of the flesh that clamor within us.” (LH, Hymn of Lauds, Tuesday of Week II of the Psalter. Brazilian translation, p. 878).
Saint John of the Cross, in the Dark Night, cites Psalm 37(36):4: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” When the Lord is our delight, our desires are purified and come to coincide with his will. From the Writings of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, one understands that she only did what she wanted, because she only wanted to do the will of God.
- “I Came That They May Have Life and Have It in Abundance”
The climax of today’s text is verse 10: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). John 10:10 is easy to memorize: as the shepherd’s staff is the “1” and the plump sheep is the “0”, we never forget that John 10 is the Gospel of the Good Shepherd.
The life Jesus promises is not only eternal life in Heaven — although it is also and above all that. It is a life already now: full, ordered, meaningful. When we place the Lord at the center, everything else finds its right place. When we place the things of the world at the center — concupiscences, power, politics, what is passing — everything falls out of order.
Saint Paul assures us that “our momentary afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure” (2 Cor 4:17). And Saint Irenaeus of Lyon proclaims: “The glory of God is man fully alive” — and man fully alive is the one who has the divine life in himself and gives praise even in the midst of sufferings.
In harmony with the Bread of Life discourse (cf. Jn 6:22-62) and the parable of the vine (Jn 15), Jesus reaffirms here: whoever abides in him has eternal life. The promise is “a hundredfold now in this present age, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mk 10:30). The best is yet to come!
Steps of Lectio Divina
- Reading (Lectio): Read John 10:1-10 calmly and attentively. Notice the sequence: Jesus first describes the true shepherd (the one who enters through the gate, calls by name, goes before them); then he denounces the thieves and robbers, and, finally, reveals the purpose of his coming — to give us full life. Notice the contrasts: gate/wall; shepherd/thief; life/death.
- Meditation (Meditatio): Do I recognize the voice of the Lord as my Shepherd? How often do I listen to him in prayer? Are there “thieves” in my life — people, situations, or vices — that rob me of peace and drive me away from God? Am I being a good Shepherd to those the Lord has entrusted to me?
- Prayer (Oratio): Dialogue with Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Ask him for the grace of a concrete and true life of prayer, so that in moments of loss and darkness you may hear his voice and follow him. Ask him also to drive away the wolves and thieves that threaten your flock (continue as the Holy Spirit moves you).
- Contemplation (Contemplatio): Seek a Chapel of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (physical or virtual) and rest before the Shepherd who remains with us in the Eucharist. Imagine the hands of Jesus — the hands that broke bread, touched the sick, were nailed to the cross — open for you. Allow yourself to be touched and led by him.
- Action (Actio): The encounter with the Good Shepherd sets us in motion. What concrete gesture of care or protection will you exercise this week toward someone the Lord has placed under your responsibility? Who are your “sheep”, and how can you be for them a reflection of the Good Shepherd?
Watch the full episode and follow the detailed meditation on our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huyzz2aI6sA
(Select subtitles in your desired language).
Until next week!
Shalom!
