Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C (The Good Shepherd Sunday)

Whose Voice Do You Listen To?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C

St. Aphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, May 8, 2022

The amazing thing about Christianity is that it is not a set of ideas. It is not philosophy or ideology. Although Christianity uses philosophy a lot, it is not in itself a philosophy like Platonism, Existentialism etc. Deep down, Christianity is a relationship with someone who has a voice. It didn’t start with philosophy or the speculation of a social or moral issue. It didn’t start with an abstract speculation about the stuff that all things in nature are made. It began with a small group of people who sat at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth. They heard his voice. In today’s Gospel, the Good Shepherd, Jesus speaks some of the most comforting words in the Bible, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them.” The first disciples were privileged to hear the voice of the historical Jesus. I think the most terrifying words in the Bible are the opposite words Jesus says he will speak to the damned at the Last Judgment: “I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers” (Matt. 7:23). Even from an earthly father, the words, “I never knew you” can hurt deeply. It’s like a punch to the gut. So to avoid being told, “I never knew you” we must listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and to follow him. 

How do we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd today? We hear his voice when the Scripture is proclaimed at Mass; we hear it when the Bishops and the Popes speak to us. We hear the voice of Jesus in the conscience. John Henry Newman called the conscience  “the aboriginal vicar of Christ in the soul.” The Second Vatican Council Fathers define it as “a person’s most secret core and sanctuary,” where each of us is alone with God whose voice echoes in our depths. We also hear the voice of Jesus in our spiritual friends, in the voices of those who comfort us, challenge us, call us to higher ideals, and encourage us when we fall. The voices of our parents, grand-parents, priests, faith formation teachers etc can also be the voice of Jesus speaking to us. St. Paul says: Faith comes from hearing….(Romans 10:17). 

Today, there are so many voices coming from sports, entertainment, news media, social media, politicians, cultural leaders, celebrities and famous people. They are voices representing different points of view urging us in different directions. Amidst the cacophonies of these voices, who do you follow? Whom do you listen to? If you are trained in the Christian life, you should be able to discern and recognize the voice of Jesus amidst all these competing voices. But why are we listening to the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd? Why are we discerning his voice and following him? It is true that by listening to his voice and following him, we become better people; we become more ethically upright; we begin to work for justice and peace. We begin to work for the enthronement of what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “The Beloved Community.” But if that’s all to it, then it’s no different from following any guru or spiritual teacher. Ultimately we listen to Jesus and follow him with all our souls because he is leading us to eternal life, to a renewed and transformed life on high with God, the life of heaven where we shall never perish. In that life, we shall see God face to face and sickness and death will no longer have power over us. We should never forget the supernatural ambition of Christianity or the final destiny of the human person. We listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd because he is leading us to eternal life in heaven. No one can snatch you and take you away from Jesus except yourself. Only you can refuse to listen to his voice. Only you can refuse to cooperate with him.