4th Sunday of Easter

For so the Lord has commanded us: “…I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Paul and Barnabas committed themselves to carrying out the command of the Lord above by preaching his Word to the people of Antioch in Pisidia. Many got converted. They also experienced rejection, persecution, jealousy and finally they were expelled. How did they react? The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. They applied the Psalm of today to their ministry: “Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness.” To serve the Lord, one must practice patience, self-control, perseverance, and be filled with the Holy Spirit who empowers a disciple to face opposition, suffering and persecution while trusting in the Lord.
You trust in the Lord, because of what he said in the gospel of today: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand…”
Clarifications: My sheep hear my voice: A disciple/Christian/sheep hear the voice of the Good Shepherd by reading the BIBLE, by praying and by listening to preaching in the church the body of Christ. I know them: When Jesus says, I know them, it means he has trust and confidence in the sheep. That the sheep are reliable and trustworthy. 
They follow me: To follow Jesus means to believe in him, to accept what he stands for, his teachings and values. To know Jesus means you are ready to live like Jesus: to love, to pray, to be merciful and patient, to persevere, and to be holy and obedient like Jesus. It means to be ready to make a sacrifice like Jesus on the Cross in total submission to the will of God the Father. Living a Christ-like life means to be truly another Christ in words and deeds. 
I give them eternal Life: Jesus is eternal life itself. Through his suffering, death and resurrection he has won eternal life for us. He is the truth, the way and the life.