Acts 13:14, 43-52; Ps. 100:1-2, 3, 5; Rev. 7:9, 14b-17; Jn. 10:27-30

The voice of God is always present, do we hear it?  Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who gave life to a child either by birth or by upbringing.  As moms you accepted to give of yourself so that a child could also receive the gift of love and hear the voice of God through you and all of God’s creation.  As mothers you also bring the love of our Blessed Mother Mary to her son in your faith to accept this awesome calling to serve God as moms.  Blessed are you for your fiat to serve as the voice of God to a child. 

The voice of God is to flow through Mothers both with the authority of God but also through the sensibilities of tenderness, patience, and mercy.  Ask a little child, “who’s the boss of you?”  They will most likely identify their mothers as being in charge.  Women hold onto your motherhood and don’t be deceived by the currents of politically correct culture who try to simply label women as “birthing persons” as if women are asexual and only different because they have a womb.  Women are much more than a body part; you are gifted to be mothers. 

“We are his people” who hear his voice says the Lord.  In times of distress, we may question God “Does God hear our prayers?”  The question for us however needs to be “Do we hear his voice?”  The voice of God is always present to us when we turn to the scriptures as the “gold standard” of knowledge and the “diamond” of wisdom.  The voice of God comes to us through his appointed ministers guided by the Holy Spirit to shepherd his people.  The voice of God comes to us in prayer when we become still in silence and wait upon the Lord. 

If we desire to hear the Lord, we are to open up the scriptures and spend time with the Lord reflecting on his word.  If we desire to hear the Lord, we come to receive the sacraments through the hands of the priesthood and the indwelling spirit will speak to us.  If we desire to hear the Lord, prayer is our daily constant in all its forms, the prayer of the Mass, the prayer before the blessed sacrament in adoration, the prayer of the family, and the silent prayer of the heart that calls out to God as we invite him into the moment of our day.  

We are to ask ourselves, “Is our desire to hear the Lord?”  A quick examination of conscience gives us the answer to the extent we study the scriptures, celebrate the sacraments and pray.  How long will we keep the Lord waiting for us to come to him, desire his presence, be in dialogue with him?  Last Sunday, Jesus asks Simon Peter “Do you love me?”.  We say we love God and yet how much is he a part of our day? 

We say we love our family but if we only see them in the morning before we all leave home and at night to check in on them then how strong is that love that will stand united when troubles come?  Time together is the bond of love that strengthens all relationships and God desires a relationship not simply an act of worship.  If today we hear his voice, it is because our love for the Lord brings us here to celebrate his presence in our life, our relationship with him.  Otherwise, we are simply living by tradition, a ritual of life on top of all the other rituals and habits that may have lost their meaning. 

The voice of the Lord makes our hearts burn within us as he speaks to us and opens the scriptures to us.  If you recall the movie “City Slickers” the three men went out to find that “one” thing in life they needed.  The one thing we need is to hear the voice of the Lord to give us peace, consolation, hope, mercy, all wrapped together in his love.  The voice of the Lord is the key that opens up the mystery of faith in tangible ways for us to follow.  This one thing makes everything else come to order in our priorities.  If we are not hearing the voice of the Lord then are we going in the wrong direction?  

The Lord comes to us in his body and blood in communion, in fellowship, and in sacrifice.  Today we see in the first reading Paul and Barnabas coming into the synagogue on the sabbath as Jews that those gathered may hear the voice of the Lord in the word of God revealed by the apostles.  This is their evangelization to bridge the old with the new.  Then on Sundays they gathered as believers to break bread as followers of Christ, that is as Christians.  The early church was attempting to bring about a reformation of the Jewish tradition and have Gentiles follow Jewish law but the more the Jews rejected and persecuted the Christians the more they recognized the voice of the Lord was making all things new for the Church and guided them in a new direction.  Not our will but thy will be done Lord. 

Paul and Barnabas were happy “they shook the dust from their feet in protest”, a sign they accepted it was not their fight to convert anyone.  They spoke “boldly” but only to urge them “to remain faithful to the grace of God.”  The lesson from Paul and Barnabas is that no one condemns us but those who reject the word of God “condemn yourselves as unworthy of eternal life”. 

Oh, how we desire to convert the world to the truth of the gospel but sometimes we struggle to convert our own household.  We have fallen away siblings, children, even parents.  It is not our fight it belongs to the Lord.  We are to pray for conversion to begin with us to witness to the truth by the testimony of how we live our lives and pray “Jesus I trust in you” for others to seek you and hear your voice.  The closer we get to holiness the greater the voice of God will resonate through us to others.  We worry and have anxiety about so many things and people but this only resonates fear and control to others and nobody is drawn to fear and control.  The voice of fear and control keeps the voice of God silent next to ours.  Let us resonate the voice of God through love and mercy. 

The world remains in a time of great distress in the voices of war, death, violence, and persecution in order to gain power over others.  We wash our robes white with the blood of the lamb.  This blood comes to us by remaining faithful to the voice of the Lord and in the body and blood of Christ who we join with in the suffering for our sins and those of this world.  Revelation does not say we will not have tears in this world but “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” and lead us “to springs of life-giving water.”  Marian apparitions call us to “pray for the conversion of sinners”.  The power of prayer is not our power but the power of the one sent to us.  In the name of Jesus, the apostles demonstrated his power to heal, bring about conversion and other miracles.

If today you hear his voice know that you belong to the Lord.  If we cannot hear his voice then we are to turn back to the path he provided for us to follow and we will know the “good shepherd” is with us and no one can take us out of his hands.