Discern His Voice

Today’s Gospel Text: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; 2 but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. 9 I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:1-10

Reflection: One needs only to sit quietly for a few moments to realize how unquiet the mind is amidst even the greatest of silence.

Yet the human mind seeks for peace in the quieter atmosphere and then realizes that it is not able to sustain that peace, which then begins to haunt them or bore them to death.

In finding peace is our happiness but the greater peace and happiness is in accomplishing the mission which God has sent us into the world with:

This mission cannot be established with our good intentions or plans, guided by an in tranquil and disturbed mind, which is self seeking in the good it does.

It is even short on the overall vision and plan that the God, who still works in creation, has for humanity as a whole:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isa 55:8-9

Hence God’s plan gains precedence over every human plan and thus we arrive at the basis of Christian life:  Discernment!

A Christian is one who constantly seeks to discern the will of God, thus seeking to listen to the voice of the Shepherd among the many clutter of voices that speaks to our mind in the world in which we live in.

Prayer:  “Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears." 1 Sam 3:9

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