The Voice of the Shepherd
Homily for Sunday, April 26, 2026: Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday)
Twenty-five or -six years ago I was in a very different place than where I am today. Recently divorced, finding my way back into active practice of my Catholic faith, and not at all sure how any of that might work out.
So I turned to this new and wondrous world of what they called “the internet.” That was where I found on online community of other Catholics, all sharing their knowledge and expertise on the right ways – and more importantly, the wrong ways – of being Catholic. There was no aspect of life or liturgy that I couldn’t find clear and decisive guidance on.
So when the local priest I’d been talking to raised the issue of an annulment, I was very skeptical. The Online Catholic Community was pretty definite that annulments were just another example of the corruption of the modern Church. Too easy. Pay a fee so they’ll look the other way. It waters down our tradition of the sanctity of marriage.
But the old priest gave me the paperwork and told me to pray on it. So I did.
Eventually, in the course of my prayers, I was presented with a question: I heard the Lord ask me, “Do you believe that my Church can do my will?”
It was a moment of clarity for me because it cut right to the heart of the matter. If I didn’t believe it, why bother with the Church at all? But if I did, why not trust the process? In the Church’s offer of redemption and healing?
This weekend is generally referred to as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” and the readings reflect Jesus as the eponymous “Good Shepherd.” But in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus identifies himself as the gate for the sheepfold, through which the Good Shepherd enters to tend his sheep. The Good Shepherd, in this case, being the Church which acts under the authority of Christ.
In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how Saint Peter – first Pope of the Catholic Church – takes the people to task for their role in Christ’s crucifixion. We’re told that when they heard this, they were cut to the heart. It wasn’t comfortable, but they had to come to terms with their own culpability and repent of their sins.
It’s a good reminder to us that when we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd – whether it’s in prayer, in Scripture, or through the teaching of the Church – sometimes it will be hard for us to hear. Sometimes it will be something we don’t want to hear.
Because the one who only reinforces what we already believe might make us feel better in the moment, but it’s not very helpful to us spiritually. Anyone who never tells us what we’d rather not hear is probably the thief or robber (or a politician?), climbing in over the fence.
A Gospel that never challenges us will never lead us out of our comfort zones.
If we are all the sheep in Jesus’s parable, the goal is to be led out into those verdant pastures promised us in the Psalm. But we’ll never get there if we don’t leave the comfort and security of that sheepfold. And the shepherds of the Church – our preachers, teachers, and clergy – are there to lead us through that gate, which is Jesus.
Because in that first reading, Saint Peter doesn’t just condemn the people and leave it at that. He goes on to preach to them the Good News of repentance, of forgiveness given before we even ask for it; the Good News of God’s infinite mercy.
If ever we have difficulty in discerning the Good Shepherds from the Thieves and Robbers clamoring for our attention – through the internet and other media and generally in the culture around us – we can always look to that message: to the message of a Good Shepherd, leading us with goodness and kindness, love and mercy, and the offer of abundant life.