Jesus compares himself today to the voice of the Shepherd. What is it about a voice that affects us in such a unique way? There is big difference between reading something and listening to it being read. We all have special voices; a lot of the voices of people we know on the TV are very pleasant. In the gospel today Jesus compares himself to a shepherd and his church to sheep, the sheep hear his voice when he calls out their names. The Bible tells us that God has a voice. The true God communicates with us personally and directly, our God has the effect on us like a voice has. God is someone who knows us personally and addresses us out of love. We have been built to hear the voice of God, we by nature are directed to God, and we were born to hear the word of God. When we hear the word of God (the bible), it stirs us something inside of us, like the sheep who recognise the voice of the shepherd. There are a million voices out there competing for our attention, pleasure, money, esteem of others, academic degrees. All of these things are good and fine but they are not the Voice. When we give ourselves to these voices in an absolute way, they rob us of life (“all others who have come are thieves and brigands”) They rob us of love, Jesus calls them thieves.
How is the voice of Christ heard today?
+ Through Scriptures; have you got a Bible in your house, do you ever read it?
+ The teaching of the Church. How do we look on the teaching of the church do we dismiss it as just one voice among many.
+ The live of the saints, do we read the lives of the saints?
+ The liturgy; a lot of people are giving up going to mass or following mass on the internet, is it any wonder they don’t hear the voice of God?
+ Conscience: We all have a conscience. We all feel a sense of guilt at times. There is such a thing as neurotic guilt which we have to avoid but not all guilt is neurotic, some guilt is the result of a good functioning conscience. When you’ve done something cruel or selfish, when you’ve turned away from God and don’t go to mass, when you’ve forgotten to pray, your conscience speaks top you.
Listen to these voices. “When he has brought out his flock he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow his voice because they know his voce” Jesus Christ has not only talked the talk but he has walked the walk, he has walked our dark paths, he was tempted, he has died on the cross for our sins. Jesus Chris does not make abstract demand from on high; this is a voice we can listen to.