Alleluia
for he is good, his loving kindness endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in the help of humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in the might of princes.
I thank you for having answered me, for having rescued me. The stone rejected by the builders has become the keystone. This was the Lord's doing and we marvel at it. Blessed is he who comes in the Lord's name! We bless you from the house of the Lord.
You are my God, and I give you thanks. You are my God, and I give you praise. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
2nd. READING (1Jn 3,1-2) See what singular love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when he appears in his glory, we know that we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is.
Gospel
Jesus said: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
Not so the hired hand or any other person who is not the shepherd and to whom the
sheep do not belong. They abandon the sheep as soon as they see the wolf coming;
then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep. This is because the hired hand works for
pay and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my
own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father. Because of this I give
my life for my sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. These I have to lead
as well, and they shall listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock since there is
one Shepherd. The Father loves me because I lay down my life in order to take it up
again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down freely. It is mine to lay down and to
take up again: this mission I received from my Father."
