With Sharee Thomas 

Fourth Sunday of Easter, John 10:1-10

This Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Easter, is often described as Good Shepherd Sunday. The Gospel on this Sunday comes from John, chapter 10 – Jesus speaking on the image of himself as the Good Shepherd. This year the reading is the beginning of the chapter, verses 1-10.

For a reader to understand this story, they must be familiar with the context of the time. Shepherds would often put their lives in danger to tend to their flocks. Of a night time, several flocks of sheep would stay in a communal sheepfold, usually made of stone walls. There was only one entrance to the sheepfold and one of the shepherds would sleep across the entrance way, effectively becoming the gate for the sheepfold. This would allow the shepherd to keep the sheep in the sheepfold, but also to guard against thieves. Thieves could climb over the wall into the sheepfold but the sheep were trained to respond to their shepherd’s voice alone so thieves could only steal what sheep they could carry off. When Jesus described himself as the gate of the sheepfold, his audience would have immediately understood what He was saying. We must remember to listen for the voice of Jesus in our lives; that is the voice of the one who lay down His life for us. Our Good Shepherd.

Even though we have less experience with sheep and shepherds today in our society, we can still identify strongly with the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and as the gate for the sheep. Psalm 23 remains a popular and favourite psalm for prayer. In the image of the Good Shepherd, we know ourselves to be protected and cared for by a loving God.

This week as a family talk about the fact that shepherds and sheep have a close relationship. Sheep will only follow their own shepherd; they recognise his voice and will not follow a stranger. The shepherd’s job is to protect his sheep. In some ways, the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep is like that of a parent and child. In this weird time of staying isolated and away from each other and potentially our family, parents are just protecting your child, like a shepherd protects their flock.

Parish Contacts – email addresses for Weekly Bulletin

Fr Michael would like to encourage any parents in the community to reach out to his office via email (included below) if they would like to be included in the list of parishioners that receive an email of the Sunday bulletin every week. This is a great way to stay in touch with the parish community, especially in a time of disconnection. westoncreek@cg.org.au 

If you know of anyone who has no internet and would benefit from a hard copy, Fr Michael is placing limited numbers outside the doors of both Churches each weekend; or for those unable to venture out at all, arrangements can be made to have it delivered if they can contact the office.

Please remember to look after each other and stay safe. If you need ANY support in any way, shape or form, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact us here at school. 

Have a great week!