Each year the Fourth Sunday of Easter highlights the Risen Christ as the Good Shepherd. Today’s gospel is very brief. It names the two necessary steps in willing to be led by Christ: hearing his voice and following him where he leads.
Truly hearing the voice of Christ happens when we are attentive and familiar with how the Risen Christ speaks. That is why four Bible passages are proclaimed at each Sunday Mass. (Today we hear from the Acts of the Apostles, the Book of Revelation, Psalm 100, and the Gospel of John.) Our own personal reading and studying of the Bible reinforces and deepens this attentiveness and familiarity. What helps you to hear Christ?
This leads to heeding Christ’s voice and following where he leads. Fr. Jose Pagola sums it up this way: “It is to believe what Jesus believed, to love what Jesus loves, to defend the dignity of the human person as Jesus defended it; to be with the powerless and vulnerable as Jesus was; to be free to do good as Jesus did; to trust the Father as Jesus trusted Him, and to face life and death with the great message of Easter: Hope! Victory!” What helps you to heed and follow Christ?