I Am the Good Shepherd!

Monday, April 27, 2026

Acts 4:8-12; Jn 10: 11-18

Today’s Gospel highlights the Good Shepherd’s self-sacrificial love. 

The Good Shepherd defines his nature through love, which is ready to sacrifice itself for his sheep. This is why Jesus invites us to understand his death not as defeat but as protection of his sheep from death. Through the imagery of the Good Shepherd, Jesus foreshadows his crucifixion and establishes it not as a tragedy but as his intentional choice. 

Hence, in and through the image of the Good Shepherd, Jesus offers a redefinition. 

1. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, redefines power not as domination but as self-giving love. When he confronts the danger, he becomes the shield for his sheep. He dies so that his sheep can live. 

2.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, redefines leadership by showing that it is primarily sacrificial and not exploitative. Leadership is not about wielding power over others but stretching oneself into loving service. Who is the leader who can lay down his life for the sheep?

3. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, redefines mission and affirms that it can never be transactional. We are incomplete as missionaries when we cannot own the target people and be spent in mission for them. In this sense, Jesus’ words present a warning against being a ‘hired hand.’

Let us pray that we may be enriched by the love of the Good Shepherd to replicate it in our lives.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar