Key Here Is to Hear and Listen to the Voice of God
HOMILY
FR O’GRADY
4th Sunday Easter
April 17, 2016
On the first day of kindergarten the parents are usually more nervous and anxious than the child. Or dropping your son and daughter off at college for first time and then having to leave. There’s the usual hopes and fears and yet in both cases you know that you are not far away either physically or via cellphone and texts.
My mother told me that my first day of school I cried and cried ( and that was college) and that she had to stand by the doorway so I could see her. Of course once I got busy and distracted she left and all was OK. But the idea that in back of my mind I knew I was not alone.
Today the Church calls this Sunday Good Shepherd Sunday because we hear about Jesus as the shepherd. Just as the real shepherd always keeps eye on the sheep and stays with them… so too is our God..always keeping you and me in sight no matter where we go, what we do and even if I turn my back on Him. In a sense Jesus the Shepherd is just outside the door of our lives looking in.
In the very brief Gospel today what might help us in our faith and relationship with Jesus?
Look at the one sentence: ‘MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE.I KNOW THEM AND THEY FOLLOW ME”
KEY HERE IS TO HEAR AND LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF GOD.
HOW WELL DO I DO THIS?
DO I GIVE THE LORD THE TIME TO LISTEN?
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I HEARD THE VOICE OF THE MASTER AND SHEPHERD?
To listen well demands I take the time and discipline to block out everything else and put myself in the presence of God.
God wants to speak but often my ears and life are so PREOCUPPIED with other issues.
Ever get introduced to a new person, shake hands and he/she tells you her name and you walk away and for life of you can’t remember the name?
WHY? Chances are because you had others things thinking about that blocked the ability to really listen.
We often multi-task with email, texts, cellphones, working and cooking same time and perhaps cannot hear half of what we should.
God is there always wanting to share his voice and love but we block it out.
I like the story of the man who carved Mt Rushmore with the huge four presidents. Someone asked the sculptor how he did it and after 14 years to complete, He said:
“well those figures were there for 40 million years. All I had to do was dynamite 4 million tons of granite to bring them into view.”
The shepherd’s voice is there in our life everyday all we have to do is remove all the distractions, blocks, business and prejudices and pride, etc to have him come into view.
For the sheep, hearing the Shepherd’s voice could be a matter of life and death. To not hear the Shepherd’s call when the wolf is coming can lead to destruction and chaos.
We might not have the wolf at our door but that wolf is disguised in many ways today.
The wolf of lack of faith.
The wolf of temptation.
The wolf of self-centeredness.
The wolf of laziness.
The wolf of addiction.
The wolf of the society in which I live that does not value life or faith or my religion.
The wolf of cancer, mental illness, and many more human ills.
The Shepherd can help my with all these if I but take the time to hear HIS VOICE in my daily life.
So this week:
LISTEN TO JESUS IN YOUR HEART.
LITEN TO JESUS IN QUIET PRAYER TIME.
LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD SPEAKNG TO YOU at Mass today.
LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD IN THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND LOVE OF OTHERS.
LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD JESUS EVEN WHEN I FAIL AND SIN.
LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE SHEPHERD IN BEAUTY OF NATURE, THE TEARS OF GRIEF, THE FOOD HANDED TO THE POOR OR THE GIFT OF CLOTHING TO THE NAKED.
LISTEN TO GOD SPEAK IN THE SMILE OF CHILDREN AND THE WARMTH OF A HUG.
Life is empty and without help and meaning unless I have the Voice of God always in my life.
I like the anecdote about the old time comedian Grouch Marx.
A California realtor once persuaded Grouch to inspect a palatial ocean front estate in Malibu that was for sale. He salesman drove the comedian up the half mile long beautifully landscaped approach,. He escorted him through the house, the stables, demonstrating to him the beautiful features of the dream mansion. Finally he ushered him to the front on a huge terrace overlooking the blue pacific ocean.
“Now what do you think”? he asked Mr Marx.
“I don’t care for it” replied Groucho thoughtfully as he pointed to the gorgeous view. “TAKE AWAY THE OCEAN AND WHAT HAVE YOU GOT?”
FOR US TODAY.. TAKE AWAY THE VOICE AND LOVE OF JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND AS GROUCH SAID “WHAT HAVE YOU GOT”?