Fourth Sunday of Easter C, May 1, 2004. Our Lady of Grace 7:30, 6PM. Acts 13: 14, 43-52. Revelation 7: 9, 14b-17. John 10: 27-30.

My dog is a hundred and fifty pound marshmallow. He loves to run with the children on the play ground. When a hundred kids swarm all over him, he curls up and waits for me to come to his rescue. He has never met a human being that he doesn’t like – except for one, the Vet. When we pull into the Veterinarian’s parking lot, Shadrack starts to breathe very loudly and very hard. He is fine with the office assistant who greets us, but when the doctor, a very nice young woman, comes into the room, Shadrack puts his head down and tries to push her out of her office. When that doesn’t work he shows his teeth, something I have almost never seen him do, and makes it very clear that he doesn’t want her to touch him. Finally I let Shadrack bury his head in my lap and I pet him gently on the head. This huge dog wines with his head buried in my lap. He lets the Vet work on him because he trusts me. It has taken us 10 years to get to this level of trust.

At a basketball game, when thousands of people are yelling and howling in the stands, how can a young basketball player possibly hear the coach’s voice when there are so many other people yelling at the same time? How can the player know which voice belongs to the coach? The simple answer is that you learn to look for and recognize the coach’s voice. You learn to recognize the coach’s voice because it is important that you hear the coach barking orders even though there are many others yelling good or bad advice. You hear the coach because making a mistake would be very bad for you and for the team. Most of all, you learn to hear the coach because you trust him to tell you to do what is right. Trust between a player and a coach is a very important thing.

The same is true in a room full of children. When all of the children a re yelling “Mom” or “Dad” at the same time, how does a parent know when it’s his or her child that needs help? Parents recognize their child’s voice because they love the child. A child looks for his or her parents because they trust mom and dad. Not only do parents recognize the child’s voice, but they also know what a little child is saying, even when no one else can understand the babbling which is coming from the child’s mouth. When you love someone a lot, you not only recognize their voice, but you know what they are saying long before anyone else does, and even when nobody else does.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. No one will ever snatch them out of my hand.” An important part of being a follower of Jesus is recognizing his voice, even when nobody else does, and understanding what Jesus is saying even when nobody else cares. Teachings about Jesus, sacraments and rituals are very important. We all need to know and practice our faith better. Yet, without a deep relationship with Jesus in which we hear and trust his voice, our faith will never provide us the strength, the vitality and the courage we need to lead a good life. For most of us, life is like being in a big arena with action happening very fast all around us. There are things we have to do and moves we have to make. We have to work together with other people to score some points. Jesus is the coach who can help us make proper and wholesome goals now- and eventually the goal of eternal life. . But with thousands of people all around us, all barking out orders at us, how do we know which person is the coach - the person we can trust, the person will help us play the game of life well? It is very hard to hear the right coach’s voice in life. There are many people who think they know what should be done - and many people who want us to do it their way - they shout at us too - Are they the best coach to help us reach the goal of a good life?

Is the friend who says, “I do love you - go all the way with me now, without vows, without commitment, without planning, without mutual respect - is that person the coach we should be listening to? The friend may be a young friend or and old friend - but is that person really a friend? Does that person really sound like the voice of the Good Shepherd? God’s voice usually comes to us through the many voices around us - how do we know which voice really belongs to God? How do we know which voice will really bring us safely home to God? How do we know which voice will lead us to real peace and happiness in this life. It’s very important to know which voice belongs to the coach and shepherd of our souls when there are so many voices out there.

I don’t think that it is possible to recognize the Good Shepherd’s voice unless we are people of regular prayer. Let me say that again - I don’t think it is possible to recognize the Good Shepherd’s voice unless we are people of regular prayer. Prayer teaches us the sound of Jesus’ voice. It teaches us what Jesus says and what he would do. Prayer teaches us how to understand the voice of Jesus even when it isn’t very clear. Prayer teaches us to love Jesus and to seek to hear him in everyplace where he is speaking. Prayer makes us as wise and as cunning as the spunky little six year old who met a child molester on the way home from school. He told her: “Your daddy sent me to pick you up from school today - just get into the car.” And the spunky little girl put her hands on her hips and shouted at the man: “I know my daddy and my daddy would never tell me to get into the car with a stranger - now you get going fast because I’m calling the police.”

How do we know what is right and what is wrong? We have the guidance of the teaching of the Church. We have the wisdom of good people to help us. But we must also be people who pray and who listen to the voice of Jesus every day - there is no substitute for that. Then when everyone is screaming at us and when the television is blaring at us we will know which voice belong to Jesus and which voice will lead us to happiness and eternal life. For the gift of recognizing and responding to the voice of Jesus among all the confusing and misleading voices of life, we give God thanks and praise today.