Sunday’s Readings: Acts of the Apostles 13:14, 43-52; Psalms 100:1-2, 3, 5; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30
from your Pastors Desk
Jesus said:
“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.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”
Do we truly know the voice of Christ?
Do we truly respond to the voice of our shepherd with our own distinctive voice?
Do we, at times, attempt to imitate those around us, appropriating the response of another member of the flock of Christ.
Perhaps we need to balance the image of being sheep of one flock with the image from the second reading which tells us that people of “…every nation, race, people, and tongue.”; are all children of God.
What child has precisely the same interaction with parents as his or her siblings? Instead, they frequently do and say things to distinguish themselves in the eyes of their parents.
Whether we use the image of children or of sheep to understand our relationship with Christ, we believe that we are all known and called by name.
With this great gift comes a responsibility: to respond to the call with our own distinctive voice, to take time to discern exactly what our call is, to determine precisely what the will of the Father is for each of us.
Let us each ask ourselves: In what ways have I clearly heard the voice of the Good Shepherd?
And, how did I respond to what I heard?
Points worth pondering.
Fr. Ron
