To watch Fr. Joe’s homily from the Fourth Sunday of Easter: CLICK HERE!
In our First Reading today from the Acts of the Apostles we heard Paul and Barnabus, who spoke to the people urging them to REMAIN FAITHFUL to the GRACE of GOD. And even today this exhortation is appropriate and timely to remain faithful to the grace of God.
It is easy to point a finger – literally or figuratively – about how this person or that person or those people are not being faithful to the grace of God… And for sure, you and I, can give example after example of the lack of faithfulness to God by many people, and maybe even ourselves…
But maybe something that may underline this lack of faithfulness to the grace of God may be the lack of hearing the voice of The Shepherd: Jesus Christ our Lord, and Savior, and Brother…
The truth is, it is a challenge to hear the voice of The Shepherd. Other voices seem to be all around us, voices that are: louder, more attractive, more convenient, less challenging, easier, less responsibility…
Yet today, the Scriptures are reminding us not only to be faithful to the grace of God, but to be attentive, be open to the voice of God in our lives.
It goes without saying that God can speak to us at any moment, in any situation or place.
- Be it in our car…
- Be it a quite moment…
- Be it in some situation or conversation of life…
- Be it in those moments of prayer, of silence…
- Be it here at Mass…
How attentive, how receptive are we to the voice of God spoken not just to others but to each of us as person, family and Parish?
I would suggest what might be one of the biggest reasons we seemingly have a deaf ear to the voice of God in our lives is we may have to change, we may have to get involved… And you know what? We don’t want to…
The Scriptures this weekend are a reminder that as we grow in begin attentive to the voice of the Lord, who is our Shepherd, we will grow in awareness of a God who cares for us, who wants the best for us, who wishes to lead us to verdant pasture.
The Lord is our Shepherd who continues to call us to that which is greater than our expectations… May our prayers and singing that “The Lord is my Shepherd” become more and more evident in the lives we live today and tomorrow as person, family and Parish…