4th Sunday 25/04/2021 Eastertide year B, Jn 10, 11-18
There are many voices in our world today clamouring for attention. As we listen to daily news over the Radio, Television, Newspapers, and Social Media. The voice of wealth, the voice of pleasure, the voice of health...All of it is necessary for us. All of it has its right to be heard, and paid attention. However, we also know that none of it can save us. So what should we do? How do we listen to the true voice in such a noisy world? How do we recognise the voice of our Lord?
In today's Gospel, Jesus said that he is the true and the Good Shepherd. He gave standards of how to recognise a Good Shepherd. That is the one who knows his sheep, and they know him. He loves his sheep to the point of giving his life for them. He testifies that he knows his sheep. He knows when they are hungry and thirsty. He knows when they are weak and wounded. He listens to their voice. He calls them by name. He shows us the way that he gets to know his sheep is to love them.
In the first reading from Acts of the Apostles, Peter said that of all names given to men, only the name of the Shepherd can save us. For us to be saved, we must shut every other voice from our lives and pay attention only to the voice of the Lord.
We know that hearing something, in general, is just because sounds come to our ears. There may be not any commitment to pay attention to the sound. We may hear but may not even understand. On the other hand, listening shows a commitment to pay attention with an aim of understanding, in accordance with what we have listened to.
Jesus said, “They will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock and one shepherd”. There are so many voices, so many things calling us in different ways. Do we hear something? Do we try to listen to the authentic voice of the Good Shepherd? Or do we just want to hear what please us, what we want to hear? Do we want to follow the authentic voice? Or Do we want to decide our own way, control our destiny?
To fall away from His hands means to fall into the hands of an enemy. To listen to any other voice than His means to get the wrong information. Today, We call it “the fake news”
Pope Francis said “The Good Shepherd – Jesus- is attentive to each one of us; he seeks us and loves us, addresses his Word to us, knowing the depths of our heart, our desires, and our hopes as well as our failures and disappointments. He accepts us and loves us as we are, with our merits and our faults. He “gives eternal life” to each one of us: that is, he offers us the opportunity to live a full life, without end. Moreover, he leads us lovingly, helping us to cross risky paths and the sometimes dangerous roads that appear in life”
Today, we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Easter, the Good Shepherd. We pray for each one of us to listen to the authentic voice of our Lord by learning the Gospel, by spending time with him in adoration, by following, putting into practice what we have heard with our brothers and sisters. It is also the World day of prayer for vocation. We pray for more and more people, mostly the young people who answer God’s call to work in his field.
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