Catholic Mass Readings for Sunday, April 26th 2026
GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY AND FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
FIRST READING
“God has made him both Lord and Christ.”
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2.14a.36-41)
[On the day of Pentecost,] Peter, standing with the Eleven, lifted up his voice and said to the multitude, “Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.”
And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
So those who received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm23:1-3a,3b-4,5,6 (Response is taken from Psalm 23 verse 1)
And the response is:
Response/. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
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. Response/.
He guides me along the right path,
for the sake of his name.
Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death,
no evil would I fear, for you are with me.
Your crook and your staff will give me comfort. Response/.
You have prepared a table before me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing. Response/.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for length of days unending. Response/.
SECOND READING
“You have returned to the shepherd of your souls.”
A reading from the first Letter of Saint Peter (1 Peter 2:20b-25)
Beloved: If when you do right and suffer for it you take it patiently, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
The word of the Lord.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Taken from John 10: 14
Alleluia.
“I am the good shepherd, says the Lord; I know my own, and my own know me.”
Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“I am the door of the sheep.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 10:1 – 10)
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 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 heed them. I am the door; if any one 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord