Sunday, April 25
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Roman Ordinary calendar
Acts of the Apostles 4,8-12.
Peter, filled with the holy Spirit, answered them, “Leaders of the people and elders:
If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved,
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is ‘the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.’
There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”
Psalms 118(117),1.8-9.21-23.26.28cd.29.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
Than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
Than to trust in princes.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his kindness endures forever.
First Letter of John 3,1-2.
Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 10,11-18.
Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”
Basil of Seleucia (?-c.468)
Bishop
Oratio 26 ; PG 44, 129
“I am the good shepherd; I know mine and mine know me”
Let us consider Christ, our shepherd (…). He rejoices in those sheep of his that are around him and goes in search of those that stray. Mountains and forests cause him no fear; he crosses ravines to reach the sheep that is lost. Even if he finds it in a piteous state, he is not angry but touched with pity; he takes it on his shoulders and, from his own weariness, heals the exhausted sheep (Lk 15:4 f.) (…)
With good reason Christ declares: “I am the Good Shepherd, I seek out the lost sheep, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal (Ez 34:16). I have seen the flock of mankind struck down by sickness; I have witnessed my lambs wander about where demons dwell; I have seen my flock ravaged by wolves. All this I have seen and have not witnessed it from on high. That is why I took hold of the withered hand, gripped by pain as if by a wolf; I have unbound those whom fever had bound; I taught him to see whose eyes had been shut from his mother’s womb; I brought Lazarus out from the tomb where he had lain for four days (Mk 3:5; 1:31; Jn 9; 11). For I am the Good Shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” (…)
The prophet knew this shepherd when, long before his Passion, he declared what would take place: “Like a sheep led to the slaughter or a sheep, dumb before the shearers, he opened not his mouth” (Is 53:7). Like a sheep, the shepherd has offered his neck for his flock (…). By his death, he heals from death; by his tomb he empties the tomb (…). The tombs are full and the prison shut so long as the shepherd, come down from the cross, has not come to bring his captive sheep the joyful news of their liberation. We see him in hell where he gives the order for their release (1 Pt 3:19); we see him call his sheep once more, giving them the call to life from the dwellings of the dead. “The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” This is how he intends to win the affection of his sheep, and those who know how to listen to his voice love Christ.
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
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