Readings: Acts 11: 1-18; Psalm 42; Jn 10:1-10 In today’s first reading from Acts, we see Peter confronted by his fellow Apostles for eating in the house of Gentiles. He tells them the vision he had and the Spirit’s instruction for him to accompany some men to that house. There the Holy Spirit came upon the household and the Gentiles were baptized. Peter then said: “If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God”. The truth is this, that God sent His Son Jesus to save all humanity.
Today is the continuation of the Gospel of the 4th Sunday of Easter: we reflected on the Good Shepherd. Jesus says: “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him and the sheep hears his voice”.Recognizing God’s voice is something that many people struggle with. There are often competing “voices” that speak to us each and every day. From the latest headline news in the, to the opinions of friends and family, to the temptations all around us within the secular world, to our own self-drawn opinions, these “voices” or “ideas” that fill our minds can be hard to sort through. Nonetheless, if we are attentive to our inner conscience, it is possible to recognize the voice of God. There are many general truths that God has already spoken to us. For example, everything contained in the Holy Scriptures is the voice of God. When we read Scripture, we become more and more familiar with God’s voice.
God also speaks to us through gentle inspirations that result in His peace. Oftentimes His answer comes in the form of a deep and certain peace of heart.Learning to recognize the voice of God in our daily life is accomplished by building an interior habit of listening, recognizing, responding, listening, recognizing and responding, etc. The more we hear the voice of God, the more we will recognize His voice in the most subtle of ways, and the more we come to hear the subtleties of His voice, the more we will be able to follow. In the end, this is only accomplished by an ongoing habit of deep and sustaining prayer. Without that, it will be very difficult to recognize the voice of the Shepherd when you need Him the most.