The Voice of the Shepherd

John 10:22-30

This Sunday, we hear the familiar and comforting words of Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27). It's the Fourth Sunday of Easter, traditionally known as Good Shepherd Sunday—a day when the Church pauses to reflect on Christ’s care, protection, and guidance as the Good Shepherd. This year, it also happens to fall on Mother’s Day, and that intersection offers a beautiful opportunity to contemplate how we experience the voice of Christ in our lives—often through those who have nurtured us in love.

When Jesus says, “I know my sheep,” he’s not talking about a distant or superficial knowing. He means an intimate, loving recognition—like the way a mother knows her child’s cry in the night or can discern what’s really wrong even when no words are spoken. The Good Shepherd knows us like that. He sees us, understands our needs, walks with us in our fears, and offers us eternal security—not only in the life to come, but right now.

Mother’s Day can stir a range of emotions. For many, it's a day of gratitude for a mother’s love that mirrored the care of the Good Shepherd—protective, self-giving, and unwavering. For others, it's a more complicated day: a reminder of grief, absence, longing, or pain. But no matter our experience with earthly mothers, the Gospel assures us that we are not abandoned. We are known. We are loved. We are held in hands that will never let us go: “No one will snatch them out of my hand,” Jesus promises (v. 28).

In many ways, the work of shepherding—of nurturing, guiding, and protecting—has been lived out in the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, teachers, godparents, and mentors who have helped shape us. Whether biological or spiritual, the people who have cared for us in the name of love have shown us something of God’s heart. And perhaps part of our calling today is to give thanks—and to extend that same shepherding love to others.

Jesus’ promise in this passage is not just about safety; it’s about relationship. It’s about listening for the voice of the Shepherd in a noisy world. It’s about knowing that we are never alone. And maybe it’s also about recognizing that we are called to be echoes of that voice—to speak love, peace, and welcome to others in the way Jesus has spoken it to us.

So this Good Shepherd Sunday, and this Mother’s Day, we give thanks for those who have shepherded us with grace. And we listen again for the voice of the One who says, “I know you. I love you. You are mine.” May we follow that voice, and may we help others hear it, too.