The Gospel of the Good Shepherd is read every Fourth Sunday of Easter. The image of the selfless shepherd—one who risks everything for his flock—attains its full significance when viewed through the lens of the Lord’s Passion and Death, which we have recently celebrated.

The two disciples were traveling to Emmaus, a village near Jerusalem, on the evening of the Resurrection. Though they were well-versed in the story of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection, they did not yet believe.

St. John recounts the Lord’s first appearance to His disciples on the day of the Resurrection.

St. Matthew tells us that on the day of the Resurrection, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary arrived very early in the morning to visit the Lord’s tomb. There, they encountered an angel who had descended from heaven to roll away the enormous stone sealing the tomb. The angel sat upon the stone and announced the incredible news of the Lord’s Resurrection.

In the Passion and Death of the Lord on the Cross, we grasp the significance of the two realities most intrinsic to humanity and God: for humanity, that reality is sin; for God, it is His merciful love.

St. John begins his lengthy account of the Lord’s Last Supper with these words: “Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that His hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved His own in the world and He loved them to the end.” There, the Lord performed several acts that demonstrate the utter extent to which He loved His disciples.