A Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 4:00 Vigil and 8:00 Masses
Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 23: 1-3a, 3b4, 5, 6; 1 Peter 2:20b-25; John 10:1-10
Audio Recording
Every year on the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church gives us the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. But this year, in the Gospel from John, Jesus offers us a slightly different and very striking image. He does not simply say, “I am the shepherd.” Instead, he says something even more surprising: “I am the gate for the sheep.” That image tells us something essential about who Christ is—and who we are as his people.
In the ancient world, a sheepfold was often nothing more than a low stone enclosure in the open countryside. At night, the shepherd gathered the sheep inside and then lay down across the opening. There was no wooden door. The shepherd himself became the gate. No wolf came in, and no sheep wandered out, without passing him.
So when Jesus says, “I am the gate,” he is saying something very direct and personal: If you want safety, freedom, and life, come through me. Then he adds this promise: “Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Christ is not a barrier. He is the doorway to life.
But notice something else. Jesus does not say he is a gate. He says he is the gate. That means he is not presenting himself as one option among many possible paths to fulfillment. He is telling us that the life we are searching for is found only through him alone.
In every age there are voices that claim to offer meaning, identity, security, or happiness apart from God. Yet Jesus speaks plainly: “A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” And he tells us something else about those who belong to him: his sheep hear his voice. They learn to recognize it. They trust it. And they follow it.
I know that in our modern society many of us don’t have much experience with sheep. But the people who first heard Jesus speak would have immediately understood why he used this image. In those days it was common for several flocks to be gathered together into one sheepfold at night. But in the morning, each shepherd would call, and only his own sheep would follow him, because they knew his voice. That is the image Jesus is giving us about the life of faith. The Christian life means learning to recognize the voice of the Shepherd and choosing to follow him.
And because Christ continues to shepherd his people through the ministry of the Church, today is also a fitting time to remember to pray for those he has called to serve as visible shepherds among us. Let us pray especially for our bishop and our priests, that they may be strengthened in wisdom, courage, and holiness as they care for the flock entrusted to them.
Let’s look now at how the voice of the first shepherd of the Church, Peter—through whom the Good Shepherd himself was speaking—impacted more than three thousand people on the day of Pentecost. In our first reading today, the people are deeply moved by Peter’s words. They ask a simple and urgent question: “What are we to do?” He answers clearly: “Repent and be baptized… and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In other words, enter through the gate.
Three thousand people responded that day! Three thousand people stepped into the sheepfold of Christ and discovered that salvation is not something we invent for ourselves but something we enter.
But notice what else happened that day. The people who heard Peter’s preaching were cut to the heart. They did not simply listen politely and go home unchanged. They were overwhelmed by the realization that Jesus Christ is Lord, and they asked, “What are we to do?”
And that raises a very personal question for us today. Does the Gospel still cut us to the heart? Are we overwhelmed by the message of Christ as those who first heard it at Pentecost were? Or has it become something we have heard so many times that it no longer changes us?
Our second reading deepens this even further. St. Peter reminds us that Jesus is not only our shepherd and our gate; he is also the one who gave his life to bring us home. “By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” That phrase is especially comforting: “the guardian of your souls.” Jesus is not watching us from a distance. He is guarding us. Protecting us. Standing between us and danger—like the shepherd lying across the entrance of the sheepfold.
Sometimes modern people resist being compared to sheep. We would rather be described as strong, independent, and self-directing. Yet Scripture is not insulting us. It is telling us something true about being human. We are creatures. We did not create ourselves, we do not define ourselves, and we do not save ourselves. Because we are creatures, our identity is not something we invent, but something we receive from the loving wisdom of God.
In our own time, many people are told that they must decide for themselves even the most basic truths about who they are, including whether they are male or female. But the Gospel reminds us that freedom does not come from redefining ourselves; it comes from trusting the One who made us. The shepherd knows his sheep. He calls them by name.
And when we allow Christ to guide us instead of trying to guide ourselves, we discover not restriction but peace, not confusion but clarity, not anxiety but the abundant life he promises.
In this life, we are all on a journey, and we need someone who knows the way home. That is why Jesus does not simply say he shows the way. He says he is the gate. Without him, we wander. With him, we arrive. And that makes today’s Gospel very personal for each of us.
The most important question in life is not whether we are sincere, or busy, or successful, or even religious in a general sense. The most important question is whether we are truly following Christ. Because only Christ can lead us to the life for which we were created. Only Christ can restore what sin has wounded. Only Christ can guard our souls.
For us today, this Gospel invites a simple but important response. First, we must learn to recognize the voice of the Shepherd. The Christian life is not guessing—it is recognizing a voice we were made to hear. That does not usually mean hearing a voice in our heads. Rather, the Shepherd speaks to us through Scripture, through the teachings of the Church, through prayer and the sacraments, through other Christians and those who love us, and even through the circumstances of our lives. The more we listen, the more clearly we recognize him.
Second, we must choose to enter through the gate again and again. Every act of forgiveness, every confession of sin, every worthy reception of the Eucharist, and every moment of trust in difficulty becomes another step through Christ into life. And finally, it means we can live without fear, because the shepherd is not far away. He is watching over us. He is guarding our souls.
Today Christ gives us a promise that should remain with us throughout this coming week: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Not merely to survive, but to live fully in the grace of God. And that life is found only inside the sheepfold of Christ—and only entered through the gate who is Christ himself.
God bless you.