RE News

Class Masses 

Please see the roster for Class Masses starting next week below. 

Scripture Reflection 

John 10:1-10

I am the gate of the sheepfold.

Gospel Reflection

The fourth Sunday of Easter is sometimes known as Good Shepherd Sunday. In the three different cycles of the liturgical year, the gospel on this Sunday comes from John, chapter 10 – an extended discourse by Jesus on the image of himself as the good shepherd. This year the reading is the beginning of the chapter and stops just immediately before the words, ‘I am the good shepherd’.

Our understanding of this whole image and the scene that is set in today’s passage is very dependent upon a contextual understanding of the times. Whilst shepherds were generally regarded as being little better than criminals, they often put their lives in danger to tend to their flocks. Of a night time, several flocks of sheep would be penned in a communal sheepfold, usually made of stone walls. There was only one entrance to the sheepfold and one of the shepherds would effectively become the gate by sleeping across the entranceway. This was to keep the sheep in but also to guard against thieves. Thieves might 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 or those that were not sufficiently trained to their shepherd’s commands. 

When Jesus described himself as the gate of the sheepfold, his audience would have immediately understood the analogy. For a shepherd to become the gate to the sheepfold of a night was to risk his life for not only his own sheep but all the sheep in the fold overnight. It took courage and demonstrated utter commitment.

By Rachele Tullio