April 26, 2026

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter. We are now halfway through Eastertide. The nickname for this Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, because in all three years of the Lectionary Cycle, the Gospel is from Chapter 10 of the Gospel according to St John. In each of these sections of Chapter 10, Jesus talks about a shepherd and his sheep. 

When I was the Dean of the Cathedral in Lima for nine years, this Sunday was a big day, because it was our Feast of Title, since the Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. So we always made a big deal of it. 

We can’t make such a big deal of it here, since it’s not our Feast of Title. (Actually, the Feast of Title for Grace Church is the Transfiguration, August 6. And no, this is Grace Church, not the Church of the Transfiguration, but there is no church feast with the name of “Grace.” And so centuries ago, church authorities decreed that the Feast of Title for and church named “Grace,” would be the Feast of the Transfiguration.)

But even though today is not our Feast of Title, we can still give it more than usual importance. Because our Lectionary is distributed over three years, it is uncommon that the same theme runs through all three years of any particular Sunday as clearly it does on this Sunday. And that theme is Jesus as the Good Shepherd of his sheep. 

The particular emphasis on the theme for this year is actually a double emphasis. First, that sheep will follow their shepherd, because they know his voice, but they will not follow a stranger, because they don’t know his voice. Second, he is the door to the sheepfold.

Here Jesus is likening his followers to sheep. Just as sheep respond to their shepherd’s voice, we should respond to Jesus our shepherd, and not to a stranger. We are to follow Jesus, and not anyone sent by the devil.

And as the door to the sheepfold, he protects us. If we are part of his flock, he will not let any bad person or spirit harm us.

                                                                Fr. John +