Good Shepherd Sunday

The painting "The Good Shepherd" by Bernhard Plockhorst.

Good Shepherd Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Easter in the Catholic liturgical calendar; that is, the Sunday three weeks after Easter Sunday. The name derives from the gospel readings on this day, which are taken from the 10th chapter of John. In this reading Christ is described as the Good Shepherd who, by dying on the Cross, lays down his life for his sheep. In the Traditional (pre-1970) Latin Liturgy (see Tridentine Mass), this Mass is said on the Second Sunday after Easter, i.e., the Sunday after "Low Week" (the week after the Octave of Easter, beginning with Quasimodo or "Low" Sunday).

In recent times the feast day has also become known as Vocations Sunday, a day on which prayers should be said for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Other liturgical churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary, such as Lutherans, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Anglicans, and others also read the "Good Shepherd" passage from John chapter 10 on the Fourth Sunday of Easter and some also call this day "Good Shepherd Sunday."