4th Monday of Easter
27 April 2026
Who am I to hinder God
In today’s readings, something important is happening, not just in what is said, but in what is unfolding.
In the first reading, Peter has just done something that, for many in the early Church, seems unthinkable. He has gone into the house of Gentiles. He has eaten with them. And more than that, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on them. So when Peter returns, he is confronted: “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.”
That’s not a small complaint. That’s a challenge to identity. To tradition. To how God’s people understood themselves for generations.
So what does Peter do?
He doesn’t argue emotionally. He recounts the story. Step by step. “I was praying… I had a vision… I heard a voice… I went… I saw the Spirit fall upon them just as it had upon us…” And then he says the key line: “If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us… who was I to be able to hinder God?”
That’s the turning point.
Not: “I decided this was a good idea.” But: “God is doing something, and I cannot stand in the way.”
Now notice the reaction. “When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God.” Something opens. Their understanding expands. Not because they abandoned what God had done before, but because they recognized that what God had done before was always leading to something more.
Now hold that next to the Gospel.
“I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” This isn’t just a comforting image. It’s an action. The shepherd lays down his life. He does not protect himself first. He does not abandon the sheep when things become difficult. He gives himself.
And then Jesus says something that connects directly to the first reading: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
That’s exactly what is happening in Acts.
The “other sheep” are being brought in. Not by human planning, but by God’s action. The flock is expanding. The boundaries are widening.
If you step back, you can see the movement across Scripture. God forms a people. He guides them. He promises to shepherd them Himself. And now, in Christ, that promise is fulfilled, not by narrowing the flock, but by gathering more into it.
But here’s where it becomes concrete for us.
Because the challenge in the first reading is not just historical. It’s personal.
Peter had to let go of a certain expectation of how God works. Not the truth. Not the covenant. But his understanding of how far it would go. He had to recognize that God was acting beyond what he was comfortable with, and say yes to it.
And that’s not easy.
Because we all, in some way, build boundaries. We get used to thinking: this is how God works… these are the kinds of people He reaches… this is what it looks like. And then God acts. And it stretches us.
The question is the same: “Who am I to hinder God?”
Now connect that to the Gospel again.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life, not just for the sheep already inside, but for those who are not yet part of the fold. His mission is outward. Expanding. Gathering.
And if we are part of His flock, then our lives begin to take on that same shape. Not closed. Not guarded. But open. Willing to go where He leads. Willing to recognize His work, even when it surprises us.
And this is where maybe we can hear an echo from Sunday. Jesus is the Shepherd. He knows His sheep. They hear His voice. But today we see something else: His voice is calling more sheep than we expected.
And the question is whether we recognize it.
Because the danger is not that God stops working. The danger is that we become so settled in our expectations that we miss what He is doing. Or worse, we resist it.
So today, the invitation is simple: Watch what God is doing. Listen for His voice. And when He leads—especially when it stretches you—follow.
Because the goal has always been the same: One flock. One shepherd. A people gathered not by human boundaries, but by the voice of Christ.