Sunday, April 13, 2008

Good Shepherd Sunday (Fourth Sunday in Easter)

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, the savior who leads us into the safety of the Trinity's loving embrace. We need to listen to His voice, to know His voice through and through. If we become 'accustomed' to knowing His voice, we will be more ready to follow wherever He leads. If we are not familiar with His voice, we may find ourselves following other voices that would lead us to our destruction, whether those voices are from Satan, the world, or our malformed consciences and twisted psyches. Only the Voice of Jesus Christ will lead to lasting freedom and eternal happiness.

Prayer, as I have said before, is absolutely necessary. Prayer is the conversation we have with God, and it is not to be a one-sided affair. We must listen to Christ, to hear His voice.

Though they are not Catholic and some of their songs are from a Protestant Theology, the band Casting Crowns has a powerful song that comes to mind this Good Shepherd Sunday: The Voice of Truth. In the song, they sing about listening not to the laughter of the giant or the rumble of the waves, but to the Voice of Truth, who says do not be afraid. Let us listen well - let us know the Voice of Truth, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.

2 comments:

Dave Johnson said...

Hello Father,

I just wanted to leave you a note that my son mentioned that he saw you at the youth rally on Sunday.

He came home really excited and seemed to be really alive in his faith. Something that happened at that rally touched him.

He was especially excited about spending time in adoration. I wanted to share this with someone involved and since you are the only priest that I know how to get a hold of online. I thought I'd share it with you.

Thank you!

Dave Johnson

Fr. Todd J. Petersen said...

Thanks, Dave, for your note. The Rally was a great event, and would have been made better only by having our own Bishop, the shepherd of our Diocese!

Sr. Margaret asked to show the Fishers of Men Video, and it was very well received by the youth. The keynotes were great and very solid in their Catholic identity.