About Today
Sunday 26 April 2026
4th Sunday of Easter
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
Other saints: Bl. Robert Anderton (1560 - 1586) and William Marsden (-1586)
Liverpool, Isle of Wight
Robert Anderton (c. 1560- 1586) was born in either Lancashire or the Isle of Wight or, according to some, the Isle of Man. He graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1578. Shortly after he went abroad and converted to Roman Catholicism. He entered the English College at Rheims in 1580 and there met William Marsden, a Lancashireman. The two were ordained priest together.
After ordination they set sail for England, but were caught in a storm. They prayed that they would be allowed to die on land rather than at sea. Driven ashore on the Isle of Wight by the storm, they were immediately arrested by the authorities. In court at Winchester, they pleaded that they had not violated the law by landing in England, since their landing had been involuntary. They defended their faith and the Pope and acknowledged that they had come to exercise their ministry and reconcile people to God and the Church. This led to their being taken to London, where they were asked to take the Oath of Supremacy, acknowledging Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. They acknowledged the queen as their lawful queen in all secular affairs but refused to swear the Oath. As this was a treasonable offence under the Second Act of Supremacy, they were condemned to death, were returned to the Isle of Wight near the place where they had landed, and were hung, drawn and quartered on 25 April 1586.
They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Portsmouth Ordo
Today's gospel reading: John 10:1-10 I am the door of the sheep
At that time: Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.’ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’
Reflection on the painting
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the door or the sheep”. He is the gate. We usually think of a gate as something fixed, solid, unmoving, giving access to what lies beyond. And in one sense, that is true of Christ. He is constant, eternal, unchanging, the entrance that does not shift or fade. But the Gospel gives us something richer. This gate is not cold or static, because the one who is the gate is also the shepherd. Jesus Christ stands firm, and yet he also moves, he moves with us, walks alongside us, and also goes ahead of us, calls us by name, and leads us forward.
And so our relationship with him is never static. It is dynamic, alive, always unfolding. The gate remains the same, but the journey through it is never the same twice. He leads us from field to field, from one pasture to another, always deeper, always richer, always with more grass and flowers. What it meant to follow him yesterday is not quite the same as what it means today. There is always more green ahead, more space to grow, more grace to receive.
In this gentle pastoral painting by Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven, the shepherd stands at the edge of a gathering storm, drawing his flock close beside a stone cross. The sheep press in around him, sensing danger, while dark clouds roll in and rain begins to fall. There is movement everywhere: the sky alive with tension, the landscape shifting, the light flickering between shadow and brightness. And yet, at the centre, there is direction: the shepherd and the cross.
And this is exactly what Christ does for us. He is the shepherd who leads us forward, especially when the skies darken. He does not leave us exposed; he gathers us, moves us, brings us from one place to another. Sometimes we may not even see where he is taking us... only that we are being drawn somewhere new. But like the sheep in this painting, we are not meant to stand still. We are meant to follow and constantly be on the move with Christ.
Flock of Sheep overtaken by a Storm,
Painting by Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven (1798-1881),
Painted circa 1870,
oil on canvas
© Lempertz Cologne, sold 16 November 2024
4th Sunday of Easter
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Psalm week: 4. Liturgical Colour: White.
Other saints: Bl. Robert Anderton (1560 - 1586) and William Marsden (-1586)
Liverpool, Isle of Wight
Robert Anderton (c. 1560- 1586) was born in either Lancashire or the Isle of Wight or, according to some, the Isle of Man. He graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1578. Shortly after he went abroad and converted to Roman Catholicism. He entered the English College at Rheims in 1580 and there met William Marsden, a Lancashireman. The two were ordained priest together.
After ordination they set sail for England, but were caught in a storm. They prayed that they would be allowed to die on land rather than at sea. Driven ashore on the Isle of Wight by the storm, they were immediately arrested by the authorities. In court at Winchester, they pleaded that they had not violated the law by landing in England, since their landing had been involuntary. They defended their faith and the Pope and acknowledged that they had come to exercise their ministry and reconcile people to God and the Church. This led to their being taken to London, where they were asked to take the Oath of Supremacy, acknowledging Elizabeth as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. They acknowledged the queen as their lawful queen in all secular affairs but refused to swear the Oath. As this was a treasonable offence under the Second Act of Supremacy, they were condemned to death, were returned to the Isle of Wight near the place where they had landed, and were hung, drawn and quartered on 25 April 1586.
They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929. Portsmouth Ordo
Today's gospel reading: John 10:1-10 I am the door of the sheep
At that time: Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.’ This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.’
Reflection on the painting
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the door or the sheep”. He is the gate. We usually think of a gate as something fixed, solid, unmoving, giving access to what lies beyond. And in one sense, that is true of Christ. He is constant, eternal, unchanging, the entrance that does not shift or fade. But the Gospel gives us something richer. This gate is not cold or static, because the one who is the gate is also the shepherd. Jesus Christ stands firm, and yet he also moves, he moves with us, walks alongside us, and also goes ahead of us, calls us by name, and leads us forward.
And so our relationship with him is never static. It is dynamic, alive, always unfolding. The gate remains the same, but the journey through it is never the same twice. He leads us from field to field, from one pasture to another, always deeper, always richer, always with more grass and flowers. What it meant to follow him yesterday is not quite the same as what it means today. There is always more green ahead, more space to grow, more grace to receive.
In this gentle pastoral painting by Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven, the shepherd stands at the edge of a gathering storm, drawing his flock close beside a stone cross. The sheep press in around him, sensing danger, while dark clouds roll in and rain begins to fall. There is movement everywhere: the sky alive with tension, the landscape shifting, the light flickering between shadow and brightness. And yet, at the centre, there is direction: the shepherd and the cross.
And this is exactly what Christ does for us. He is the shepherd who leads us forward, especially when the skies darken. He does not leave us exposed; he gathers us, moves us, brings us from one place to another. Sometimes we may not even see where he is taking us... only that we are being drawn somewhere new. But like the sheep in this painting, we are not meant to stand still. We are meant to follow and constantly be on the move with Christ.
Flock of Sheep overtaken by a Storm,
Painting by Eugène Joseph Verboeckhoven (1798-1881),
Painted circa 1870,
oil on canvas
© Lempertz Cologne, sold 16 November 2024