Gospel (Jn 10,11-18) - At that time, Jesus said: «I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. The mercenary - who is not a shepherd and to whom the sheep do not belong - sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away, and the wolf kidnaps them and scatters them; because he is a mercenary and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. »And I have other sheep that do not come from this pen: I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and become one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I give my life, to then take it back again. Nobody takes it away from me: I give it from myself. I have the power to give it and the power to take it back again. This is the command I received from my Father."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

“I am the good shepherd” the Lord also repeated to us this evening in the announcement of the Gospel. The image of the shepherd was well known in the First Testament which several times presents God himself as the shepherd of his people, who even takes direct leadership of his flock when those responsible are "false" shepherds. The pages of Ezekiel which presents God as the "true" shepherd are extraordinary. Jesus here uses the name "good", that is, a shepherd who is "moved" by the crowds "tired and exhausted like sheep without a shepherd", as Mark writes (6.34). Jesus is the true and good shepherd. He is not a mercenary, to whom the sheep do not belong, so much so that when he sees the wolf coming "he flees, and the wolf kidnaps them and scatters them". Jesus gathers the sheep together: "You were like scattered sheep, but now you have been brought back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls" (1Pt, 2,25), writes the apostle Peter to the first Christian communities. This concern of Jesus for the sheep moves the Father who is in heaven: "for this reason - says Jesus - the Father loves me: because I lay down my life and then take it up again". It is the mystery of Easter that we celebrated: Jesus offered his life to save us. Death, for Jesus, was not a tragic destiny, but a free choice on his part, a consequence of an extraordinary, excessive love for us: "No one takes it away from me", he repeats and adds: "I give it from myself . I have the power to give it and the power to take it back again.”
It is the "power", the strength, of Easter that the Church makes us contemplate also on this Sunday: the passionate, exaggerated, excessive, unique love of Jesus. It is the good news that the world needs. In the world there is no shortage of wolves who kidnap and kill nor mercenaries who flee and let evil strike and destroy the weak. Even in our time - a time of wars and conflicts, of fear and bitter loneliness - many await the news of a good shepherd. “I am the good shepherd!”, Jesus repeats to us this evening and in all the Catholic churches. It's like a cry that crosses the skies and continents. There is a need for a good shepherd who can lead the crowds of this world out of the "dark valley" and into places of salvation and peace.
Easter time is the time of the good shepherd, the time in which life can be resurrected, a time in which it is possible to emerge from the tomb in which evil seems to lock up the crowds of this world. The Risen One is the good shepherd of all. For this reason Jesus continues to say to the disciples: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold: these too I must lead; they will listen to my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd." Jesus does not say that there will be "one sheepfold", but "one flock", as if to break down every fence, every fence, every closure. The "good", "generous" shepherd wants only one flock, that is, only one people, a large people without borders, without fences, without anyone being abandoned and forgotten.
And Jesus - as if wanting to shake the innate laziness of the disciples then and today - assures: these "other" sheep "will listen to my voice". It is the certainty of the effectiveness of the mission: speak to their hearts in my name, they will listen to you, as they have listened to me. The Lord, entrusting us with the Gospel, makes us "shepherds", that is, men and women of mercy, friendship, love and comfort. The Lord knows our limits, better than ourselves, which is why he asks us to listen to him, but at the same time he entrusts us with his dream for the world: that many others listen to his voice and become "one flock and one shepherd" . The good shepherd - Jesus assures us - is not a hero; he is someone he loves, who is moved by the weak, who listens to the cry of the poor. And this love takes us where we wouldn't even dream of arriving. And we can also make Jesus' conclusion our own: "This is the command I received from my Father". And so be it for us too.