Are Your Ears Open to His Voice?

From the Catholic Liturgy for the 4^th Sunday of Easter, May 12, 2019. Gospel – John 10:27-30. Theme: Are Your Ears Open to His Voice?

In today’s Gospel, when we hear Jesus declare: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…” it should make us ask ourselves, I know it made me ask myself when I was a young man investigating Christianity:  How can I hear Jesus’ voice teaching the way to eternal life today - 2,000 years after he has risen from the dead and ascended to Heaven?

Well, we can find the answer in the New Testament. The Gospels clearly show us that Jesus intentionally provided us with a sure way of hearing his voice after He returned to Heaven.  It was precisely for this reason that he gathered together twelve apostles during his 3 years of public ministry. He specially formed and instructed them to be his representatives. He explained things to them that he did not do for others.

Furthermore, the Gospels show us that Jesus identified himself intimately with these twelve men. He gave them a share in his authority over demons. He empowered them to heal the sick and to cure all kinds of illnesses. He declared to them several times, “whoever hears you speaking is hearing me,” and, “whoever accepts you, accepts me; whoever rejects you, rejects me.” At the Last Supper, he said that the Holy Spirit, whom he would send to the, would teach them and keep them faithful to the truth, so that they could in turn teach others. And on the first Easter night he bestowed upon these apostles the awesome authority to even forgive sins in his name.

Then when we move on from the Gospels to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we learn even more about the mission of these men. It makes it extremely clear that these leaders of the Church, were accepted by the first Christians an extension of the Risen Jesus in the world: ministering in his Name and speaking with his voice, which means teaching with his authority and commission. It makes it very clear that the sheep of Christ’s flock believed that the Good Shepherd continued to lead them through these leaders of his Church.

Well, so far so good…my inquiring mind had a good but partial answer to that question…but then I asked myself: what happened to the voice of Jesus after the apostles left this world? Did he go silent? Who would speak for him to me today?  Well, again, the New Testament came to my rescue. It tells us that the Holy Spirit inspired the apostles to hand on and share their leadership with other men.  The Book of Acts shows us that the apostles chose St. Matthias to take the place of Judas and St. Paul became an apostle in addition to the original ones. This passing on of the apostles’ ministry has continued down through the centuries even into our own times.

Eventually these shepherds came to be called bishops, with their leader, the voice of Jesus for all the Church, was called pope. Pope Francis, for example, is the 266^th successor of the Apostle St. Peter.  It is the solemn responsibility of the pope, and of the bishops in union with him, helped by priests and deacons, to be the voice of Jesus in every era, to continue teaching and leading the sheep to eternal life.  

But I think, in all honesty, we must admit that it can be very hard for people to hear and accept the voice of Jesus speaking in today’s Church. The fact that some our shepherds have been guilty of extremely un-Christ-like behavior, have been guilty of abuse & harassment, of cover-ups & lying makes many want to close their ears and not hear the voice of Jesus teaching through them. But there is an interesting episode from the life of Jesus that is very applicable to this sad situation. It is recorded in the Gospels and happened before Christianity broke away from Judaism. 

Many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were interested in self-promotion, in amassing power and wealth, in living a luxurious life. They did not have the sheep’s best interest at heart or in mind. Sound a bit familiar?  Jesus told his followers to listen to what these leaders taught because they legitimately held the teaching office in Judaism.  But He warned them not follow their scandalous example saying, “Do as they say but do not do as they do.”

Jesus reminded the people that God could and would still teach through these men. And he continues to say the same thing to us today.  You see, the Holy Spirit keeps the voice of Jesus speaking and teaching in every era of history no matter who is leading us. Not for the sake of the teachers, but for the sake of the sheep, for our sakes. We need to hear the sure voice of Jesus teaching us in the midst of a world so full of competing voices!

So, I think the bottom line, the “take away” from all this is that the sins of the leadership cannot drown out the voice of Jesus, unless we allow it. He will not permit the infidelity of some shepherds to stifle his voice and leave us, the sheep, without guidance and direction. Jesus’ closing words in today’s Gospel give us this assurance: “No one can take my sheep 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”