Discussion Questions
First Reading
Acts 4:8-12
F1. Peter says that it was Christ who healed the crippled man: Christ “is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.” What gave Peter the courage to speak out like this, when before Jesus died he couldn’t even admit that he knew him? Do we receive that same gift when we speak out for truth or goodness?
F2. In this reading Peter responds to attempts by the “leaders of the people and elders” to discredit Jesus’ message. Do you see efforts to discredit Jesus’ message in the world today? Can you think of other besides racial bias that discredits “love your neighbor”? How can you help bring God’s saving grace to a world/neighborhood in desperate need of healing?
Second Reading
1 John 3:1-2
S1. What gifts have you received as a child of God? What gifts have you received today from God?
S2. God is always present, hovering like a mother hen. Why does God not just jump right in and save us from all the messes we get into?
Gospel
John 10:11-18
G1. Jesus said, “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.” Jesus is applying the unconditional love between himself and his Father to the relation between himself and his own. What does this tell you about how well you are known and how much you are loved? And: for whom would you lay down your life?
G2. According to Pope Francis, what two things does Jesus want us to learn from the Good Shepherd metaphor?
The second aspect is that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows—the first aspect: defend; the second: he knows his sheep and the sheep know him (v. 14). How beautiful and comforting it is to know that Jesus knows us one by one, that we are not unknown to him, that our name is known to him! We are not a “mass”, a “multitude” for him, no. We are unique individuals, each with his or her own story, he knows each of us with our own story, each one with his or her own value, both as creatures and as people redeemed by Christ. Each of us can say: Jesus, knows me! It is true, it is like this: He knows us like no other. Only he knows what is in our hearts, our intentions, our most hidden feelings. Jesus knows our strengths and our defects, and is always ready to care for us, to heal the wounds of our errors with the abundance of his mercy.
… Therefore, Jesus the Good Shepherd defends, knows, and above all loves his sheep. … Christ’s love is not selective; it embraces everyone. He himself reminds us of this in today’s Gospel when he says: “And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). These words testify to his universal concern: He is everyone’s shepherd. Jesus wants everyone to be able to receive the Father’s love and encounter God.
Pope Francis
Regina Caeli for 4th Sun of Easter
April 25, 2021
Anne Osdieck
**From Saint Louis University