4th Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2022
Cathedral of Mary Our Queen
Welcome Voices
Nothing is more beautiful to my ears the sound of my mother’s voice. I am amazed and grateful to the Lord, that, at this stage of my life, my mother, at 102 years of age, is still alive. I call her every evening, usually around 6:15, and we talk for about ten minutes. Usually, she wants to know what I did that day – just like when I was a kid! So most evenings, I tell her what my day was like and how I spent it, and she tells me who called or visited her or anything else unusual that happened. Mom also gives me advice, urging me to get enough sleep or to be careful in traffic. You might say that ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same!’ On this Mother’s Day, let us give thanks for our mothers, both living and deceased, even as the sound of their voices echoes in our hearts!
Yes, the sound of a mother’s voice, a father’s voice, the voice of a friend – how those voices resonate in our minds and hearts – especially when we find ourselves in danger or turmoil. When a friend calls in the midst of a crisis to say, “I’m thinking about you and praying for you,” – we are reassured and comforted. Sometimes, just that word of encouragement helps us find a path to safety, helps us find our way as we stumble about in the dark.
I couldn’t help but think of those examples as I reflected on today’s Gospel where Jesus says to us, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” The voice of the Lord, the voice of the Good Shepherd – in our lives as Christians, this should be the most reassuring voice of all. As we walk through ‘the dark valleys’ of life, the Good Shepherd not only calls out to us, he comes in search of us. This is what we celebrate and give thanks for on this Good Shepherd Sunday.
Listening to the Voice of the Good Shepherd
How does the voice of the Good Shepherd reach us? And where does he lead us? Allow me to speak personally for just a moment. Over time, in my own life as a member of the Lord’s flock and as a priest, I have come to understand the utter necessity of prayer – not so much in the sense of talking to God but rather listening to him. As a young priest, busy about many things, I prayed daily but sometimes felt way deep down that I was the master of my own fate. Growing older, facing greater challenges, the Good Shepherd called out to me. Like St. Augustine, I might even say that he shouted at me and shone before me – as if to break through my inability to hear and my unwillingness to see. Busy as I might be, I needed to pray differently and better. To spend at least an hour a day in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to sit with the Scriptures – not only to study them academically – but to savor them and to allow the voice of Jesus to come through to me, in the particular circumstances of my life, day after day. To listen rather than to talk. Not to amuse God with my plans, but rather to allow Good Shepherd to rescue me from my folly.
My prayer is not ideal. Sometimes I am distracted or preoccupied. Yet, I have discovered that there is great value in persevering in prayer. Even when I am distracted or when my prayer is not consoling, the voice of the Good Shepherd somehow reaches not only my ears but my heart. When I go to confession and hear the words, “I absolve you from your sins” – I hear the voice of the Good Shepherd forgiving me and urging me, in turn, to be an authentic minister of mercy. When I hear the Good Shepherd say, “This is my Body given for you!” – then I am humbled to repeat those words at every Mass – bringing into being his Body and Blood from mere bread and wine.
Prayer, you know, is a lot like exercise. The first sessions on a treadmill or an elliptical are a misery. So are the next ones. Yet, if we persevere, exercise becomes an important part of our daily routine. So too, with prayer. First and second attempts may seem like a waste of time, but if we persevere, we will hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, and more than that, we will feel his hand in ours, leading us to green pastures. Not the green pastures, not the happy valley, of our own making – but the green pastures of his love and the Father’s love for us. Whether or not we are always prepared to admit it, deep down, amid all our striving and grasping for whatever comes next, we will not be happy or content until we join that vast multitude in heaven who stand rejoicing before the Lamb who was slain, the Lamb who is our shepherd.
The Good Shepherd Calls: Vocation
What’s even more amazing, is that he makes us his co-workers in leading others to those same green pastures of his love. In the Good Shepherd is the source and the very definition of every vocation – for example, the vocation of motherhood and priesthood. As we pray, the Shepherd speaks to us, telling us how he wants us to live and to love – what vocation we are to embrace and how we are to live it out when we have done so.
This morning, we think of the vocation to motherhood, as we hear or recall the echoes of Jesus’ gentle voice in our mothers’ voices and experience the gentle guidance of Jesus in their guidance. In a mother’s love, children experience the tender love of a merciful God, but not only tenderness but also a tremendous source of strength – for all of us know how strong and brave our gentle mothers can be. We also do well this morning to remember mothers in difficult situations – single mom who lack resources or who face difficult pregnancies. Now, more than ever, as a Church, we need to surround them with our love.
This morning too, the Church asks us to pray for priestly vocations – priests with the courage of the Good Shepherd to evangelize far and wide, just like Paul and Barnabas whom we met in the first reading. Priests with the gentle strength of the Good Shepherd to lead and guide us: being for us a voice of compassion, truth, and encouragement – calling us amid our preoccupations to the banquet of eternal life, the Mass, speaking a word of forgiveness, guiding us along the way of salvation. This has been my vocation for some forty-five years and I am humbled and grateful to be a priest, to serve the flock he tends. I would urge those whom God is calling to this vocation to accept it gratefully.
The Voice of the Virgin Mother of God
No one listened more intently to the Word of God than she who conceived the Word of God in her womb, our Blessed Mother Mary. When the angel told her that she would become the Mother of the Messiah, her answer was, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” Mary is now our Mother and she loves us with a love at once tender and strong. Mary, gentle Mother, pray for us. Help us to listen to the voice of your Son.
May God bless us and keep us always in your love!