Feria Tertia infra Hebdomadam II post Octavam Paschæ
“Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps… who His own self bore our sins in His body on the tree… For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:21–25)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.” (John 10:11)
Christus Pastor et Hostia
The readings for this Tuesday after Low Sunday immerse us once more into the paschal mystery, seen now through the pastoral heart of Christ—the Good Shepherd who also is the spotless Lamb. St. Peter’s first epistle presents us with the crucified Christ, not only as Redeemer but as Model: “leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps.” And St. John’s Gospel gives us the Shepherd who does not flee in the face of danger, but lays down His life with divine intentionality.
These two portraits converge in one sacred mystery: Christus Pastor et Hostia—the Shepherd who becomes the Sacrificial Lamb.
“He bore our sins in His body upon the tree”
St. Peter speaks here with a deliberate echo of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant: “He was wounded for our transgressions…” (Isa. 53:5). St. Augustine writes:
“The tree upon which Christ bore our sins is the very throne of His mercy. He chose not a palace, but the wood of the Cross to rule from.” (Sermo 285)
This Cross, which the world sees as shame, Peter declares to be our healing. The Apostle’s words recall the ancient type of the bronze serpent lifted up in the desert (cf. Num. 21:9), and echo what would be developed more explicitly in his Pentecostal preaching: that through the voluntary passion of Christ, sin is vanquished not by wrath, but by meekness and obedience.
The Gentle Shepherd and the Scattered Sheep
St. Gregory the Great reflects:
“To rule over souls by preaching, and to watch over them by example—this is the true work of the shepherd.” (Homiliae in Evangelia, II, 14)
The Shepherd who lays down His life is not merely an ideal or metaphor. He is the one who enters into the thicket where the lost sheep wanders, and bears upon His shoulders the full weight of sin. Thus, He reclaims us not only by power, but by love—a love that suffers.
In the traditional Mass for this feria, the continuing joy of Easter is balanced with an interior call to conformity with the Crucified. The alleluias still ring, yet the Epistle reminds us: “Christ suffered for us… leaving you an example.” In this lies the paradox of the Christian life: Paschal joy is not a flight from the Cross, but a victory through it.
“There shall be one fold and one shepherd”
The unity of the flock—so long scattered—is the promise of the Risen Shepherd. St. Cyprian of Carthage powerfully attests:
“The Lord says, ‘There shall be one flock and one shepherd.’ Does He speak of heresy or schism? No. He speaks of the one Church, gathered under one bishopric, one Eucharist, one altar.” (De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, 1)
In this light, today’s Gospel is not merely pastoral poetry; it is ecclesiological truth. The true Shepherd dies that He might unite His sheep—not in vague goodwill, but in the visible unity of faith, sacrament, and governance.
And note: the unity includes “other sheep,” which He “must bring.” Here the early Fathers saw the foreshadowing of the inclusion of the Gentiles into the covenant. But we, in our own time, may also see a deeper plea: for the return of those who have wandered into doctrinal confusion or ecclesial estrangement. The Good Shepherd does not abandon the lost.
Conclusion: The Wounds That Heal
St. Peter ends his exhortation by declaring: “By His wounds, you have been healed.” The wounds of Christ are the font of the Church’s sacramental life. In them, the Shepherd’s love is made visible. St. Ambrose writes:
“The Good Shepherd comes to seek us, the lost sheep, and when He finds us, He lays us upon His shoulders, that is, He bears our sins in His body. He does not complain but rejoices, because He has found what was lost.” (Expositio in Lucam, 7.209)
On this Tuesday after the Octave of Easter, we are invited to a renewed contemplation of the Risen Christ—whose glory is not apart from His wounds, but shines through them. The shepherd’s crook is the Cross, and the pasture He leads us to is the life of grace, nourished by His own Body and Blood.
May we follow His steps in humility, in patience, and in sacrificial love, until the day He gathers all His sheep into that one fold where joy shall be unending.
Suggested Devotional Practice:
Today, meditate slowly on Psalm 22 (23) in Latin or your native tongue. As you pray, recall the wounds of the Shepherd and ask Him to heal the wounds of your own soul, especially those caused by sin or spiritual lukewarmness.