Today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter or Good Shepherd Sunday. This image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most beautiful images we have in our Christian tradition. We have all seen pictures and statues of a young beardless man holding a sheep over his shoulders. This image was very relevant and common for the agrarian culture of the 1st century. In the gospel of St. John, we read that the Good Shepherd is one who knows his sheep; one who speaks to them; and they know his voice; one who walks before them, but especially one who lays down his life for his sheep. A good shepherd is always other oriented, willing to share his life that others might live. When we see Jesus dying on the cross, we see the good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep, dying, to bring them home. One of the most beautiful aspects of the good shepherd, is his love for the lost sheep. When we stray from Jesus, Jesus does not let us go, but like a broken-hearted mother or father, searching for a lost child, he searches for us; even though it may take years, he never gives up. When we realize how much he loves us, we are motivated to love him in return. Then we too become shepherds, because of his love for us, we too learn to help the weaker ones to keep going; the fallen ones to get back on their feet, the lost ones to find their way home. In this way, we participate in the great mission of the good shepherd. Many years ago in America, a lady called Harper Lee wrote a very beautiful book, that was very successful and was read in schools all over the country – “To Kill a Mockingbird’. It tells the story of a young Afro-American boy who is accused of a serious crime. He is poor, everyone is against him. It’s a lost case. He can pay no lawyer to defend him. Finally, a lawyer turns up, Atticus Finch, who is prepared to defend him. This is is the sory of a man who who has nothing to gain, doing his very best, against all odds, to help another, who can never repay him. We are not all lawers, but we can we can be called to defend someone, not in a courtroom, but in our conversations with our families, with our friends, in work in and our neigbourhhodd. When we hear someone is being offended, humiliated, spoken ill of, then we are called to take a stand and to put in a good word for someone who cannot defend themselves. This is what Jesus did, and this is he whole resson why he became man. This is why he is called the good shepherd. Jesus asks us to be like him, to put in a good word for those who need our help then we too can be called good shepherds. There is a wonderful consoling thought, when the time comes for us to go, who will come to bring us home? That same good shepherd who laid down his life for us on the cross, he will come, he will put us on his shoulders and carry us home to that place that he has prepared for us. Can we imagine a more beautiful thought?