Easter 4B/Good Shepherd Sunday

GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY
A PREPARED DEVOTIONAL USING A BEAD AND A PRAYER FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Opening Song For Meditation (Click Here To Listen) I am the good shepherd, alleluia; I know my sheep and my own know me, alleluia, alleluia. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me; he revives my soul. I am the good shepherd, alleluia; I know my sheep and my own know me, alleluia, alleluia. John 20, Psalm 23
		CROSS	Matthew 9.35-38 Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
		INVITATORY	O Sovereign and Almighty Lord, look down from heaven on your Church, on all your people, and on all your flock. Save us all, your unworthy servants, the sheep of your fold. Give us your peace, your help, and your love,  and send to us the gift of your Holy Spirit, that with a pure heart and a good conscience we may gather around your Word and sing your praises, without hypocrisy, and with no hostile purpose, but guileless and pure in one spirit, in the bond of peace and love, one body and one spirit, in one faith, even as we have been called in one hope of our calling, that we may all meet in the divine and boundless love, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom you are blessed.
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 1	Ezekiel 34 Thus, says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.  As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.  I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.  I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. They shall know that I, their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says God Most High. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 2	Psalm 80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth! Stir up your might, and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved. O God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. The boar from the forest ravages it,  and all that move in the field feeds on it. Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 3	Revelation 7 After this, I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		WEEK 4	John 10  “The truth of the matter is, whoever doesn’t enter the sheepfold through the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep, the one for whom the keeper opens the gate. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice; the shepherd calls them by name and leads them out. Having led them all out of the fold, the shepherd walks in front of them and they follow because they recognize the shepherd’s voice. They simply won’t follow strangers—they’ll flee from them because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.” Even though Jesus used this metaphor with them, they didn’t grasp what he was trying to tell them. He, therefore, said to them again: “The truth of the matter is, I am the sheep gate. All who came before me were thieves and marauders whom the sheep didn’t heed.  I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be safe—you’ll go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy. I came that you might have life and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd would die for the sheep. The hired hand, who is neither shepherd nor owner of the sheep, catches sight of the wolf coming and runs away, leaving the sheep to be scattered or snatched by the wolf. That’s because the hired hand works only for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, in the same way, Abba God knows me and I know God—and for these sheep, I will lay down my life. I have other sheep that don’t belong to this fold—I must lead them too, and they will hear my voice. And then there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why Abba God loves me—because I lay down my life, only to take it up again. No one takes my life from me; I lay it down freely. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again. This command I received from my Abba.”
		CRUCIFORM	O God Most High, you are the Good Shepherd, and you call your own by name. Let people everywhere hear your voice and follow you on the path of life, that so there may be one flock, and one Shepherd; to the honor and glory of your name. Amen.
		INVITATORY	O God, whose way is of compassion and mercy; good Shepherd of the sheep, you came to seek the lost and gather them to your fold. Have compassion on those who have wandered from you. Feed those who hunger, make the weary lie down in your pastures, bind up those who are broken in heart, and strengthen those who are weak, that we rely on your care, find comfort in your love, and abide in your guidance to our lives’ end; for your name’s sake. Amen.
		CROSS	Hebrews 13.20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.