05/02/2004: "Thoughts on today's Gospel reading"

Today's Gospel reading is a short one, but so clear. How can it be more simple?: The followers of Jesus hear His voice.

So, do we hear His voice? I think there can be two reasons we might be able to say no and both are troublesome. The first is the most obvious: we don't hear a voice. Or what voices we hear, we don't know. This can be those of us who are searching for God and don't know if we've seen Him. The second is the more troubling: the voice we hear is not Christ's. The sheep of other flocks, follow their shepard just as much as Christ's do.

So for those of us who hear, how can we be sure we're hearing Christ?

I would respond that while there are many indicators, none of them are conclusive of their own right. We could say we follow the scriptures, but many would argue that the scriptures should be interpreted differently or are the wrong scriptures. We could say we belong to Christ's Church, but that only proves that there are fellow people who believe what we believe, whether or not it is what Christ would have us believe.

In the end, it is only our Faith that can tell us we're following Christ, nothing else. I believe that Christ founded the Catholic Church and He continues to guide the Church through the Holy Spirit. By following His Church, I follow Christ, and I hear his voice in the world today.