FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER C 2025
Today we celebrate the Fourth
Sunday of the Easter Season - Good Shepherd Sunday. We are invited to listen to the voice of the
Good Shepherd.
We celebrate and pray for our
new Holy Father – Pope Leo XIV. An
American from Chicago; an Augustinian priest in fact he became the superior
general of the Augustinians; a missionary to Peru where he became bishop; a
Vatican official in charge of the appointment of bishops for Pope Francis.
As Pope, we look forward to
Pope Leo being the Good Shepherd of our Church in the footsteps of Jesus
himself.
In the Pope’s first words to
us: “We have to seek together to be a
missionary Church. He called the Church
to build bridges and to dialogue with love.
To show charity to all.”
From the Gospel: Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them,
and they follow me. I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish.”
The Shepherd calls his own
sheep by name and leads them out. The
sheep follow him because they do not follow the voice of a stranger.
What are the voices in your
life in which you are safe and very much loved?
How well do we recognize the voice of Jesus in our life?
Today we celebrate Mother’s
Day, and we ask God’s many blessings to be with our mothers. As we think of the voices in our lives in
which we feel safe and very much loved.
We think of our mother’s love.
Who is the first person that spoke to you the words: “I love you.” For me, those words were first spoken to me
by my mom.
On the day of my ordination
to the priesthood, it was my mother’s faith and love for me that revealed the
face of God’s love in a privileged way.
May be ever thankful for the
people in our lives who help to recognize the voice of God in our lives.
Who in your family speaks
words of unconditional love to you? Who
in our faith community speaks words to you to assure you that you are safe and
very much loved? Who is the first person
who spoke to you the words: “I love you?”
Who is the last person to say those words to you? When was the last time you spoke the words “I
love you” to someone?
The challenge for all of us
is that we live in a time and in a society in which there are many voices that
demand our attention. We hear them all the time, from our first conscious
moment till the day we die. Voices hurt
us, heal us, form our self-concept, encourage or diminish us. What voices do our youth listen to in the
video games and the music and the culture that fantasizes and celebrates
violence in all forms of our media?
There are voices from Wall
Street that demand our attention as we seek financial security for our lives. There are voices of Broadway that seek to
entertain us in so many ways. Sometimes positively,
other times not so much. There are voices
from our smart phone that continuously demand our attention.
What would it take for the
voice of the Good Shepherd to be the dominant voice that we hear in our hearts?
Perhaps Jesus could hire a better
advertising firm? An improved
website? More money? Surely, it is much deeper than that. There is a critical need for moral leadership
in our society and in our church. We need to be able to hear the stirrings of
God’s love that is within – our inner voice.
For the voice of the Good
Shepherd to be our dominant voice, we need to tap into the inner resources of
the mystery of God’s love that is within each one of us. There is a longing in the hearts of each of
us to hear and to know the voice of the Good Shepherd.
A major question for you and
for me is are we able to quiet ourselves down each day in prayer to listen to
the voice of the Good Shepherd that is within us?
Today is the World Day of
Prayer for Vocations. Vocation comes
from the Latin word vocare “to call.”
Our vocation is our response to the call of God in our lives. By Baptism, God calls us to be disciples, to
be witnesses of His presence in our world.
All of us have a vocational story to share. Your vocational story is to be found in the
way you share the giftedness you have been given in relationships, in the work,
and in the ways you live your life. Your
vocational story is your continuous response to God’s call. To be aware of your vocation is to be aware
of the voice of God in your life on this day.
In
the context of celebrating all the ways we hear and respond to the voice of the
Good Shepherd in our lives, may we encourage, may we pray that some of the
young men from our faith community will consider the call of God to the
ordained priesthood. For me, the
vocation of my ministry as a priest has been a source of grace, considerable
joy, and a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. It has given me the opportunity to get to
know you and for us together to celebrate the mystery of God’s love in our
midst. Without any doubt, the Church
needs people to respond to the call to the ordained ministry as a deacon and as
a priest.
As
we know in the life of our parish community, we also need men and women to
respond to the call of lay ecclesial ministry.
We are blessed by the generosity of our lay ecclesial ministers.
Each
of us is called to lead others to the gracious mercy of God. Like the Good Shepherd, we do not do this by
herding or forcing people along. We seek
to live lives of such self-evident joy that others can trust that we are
leading them in the path of life eternal.
Jesus,
our Good Shepherd, give us the grace to gently lead others to become more aware
of our love and of God’s love.
As we continue the Eucharist,
where the Good Shepherd feeds us with His Body and Blood, let us pray for the
grace to know Him more deeply, to trust Him more fully, and to love others more
generously.
Have a Blessed Day.
