St. Norbert's Church - Sunday Reflections

There is only one Good Shepherd. Does that mean that we all recognize Him? From the Gospel it seems unlikely. Rather, the sheep seem ultimately only to recognize the voice of the Lord, who comes not to steal or slaughter or destroy, but to give Thelife.

These are reassuring words who us who seek the living God, who seek to know the God revealed to us in the Church and in Scripture. There are so many voices at various times, all seeking our allegiance and telling us that each one has the way to salvation. Salvation is not a lottery. Salvation is not finding something that makes us happy. Salvation is following the authentic voice of God in His Church and in His Scriptures.

In the Acts of the Apostles in today's reading, we have this incredible conversion story, all from preaching the word of Scriptures. The eleven clearly knew the Word of God and could preach it because it was clear to them that Jesus was its fulfillment. The more we come to understand the Word of God and allow it to possess us, within the Church, the stronger can become our own conversion. This also give us authority to speak with others about God and His Word.

Only if we ourselves are personally convinced that Jesus is the Savior of all can we have the strength to proclaim Him to others. When we become convinced that He is Savior, we are not afraid to point out sins: lying, covetousness, lust, adultery, stealing, fornication - the whole list that Saint Paul gives us. Today we add the particular problems of abortion and homosexual acts.

The First Letter of Peter reminds us that we are all saved in Jesus Christ. None of the sins mentioned above can keep us from Christ. Rather the more we come to Christ, the more we see that in Christ alone is our possibility of living free from sin and in the freedom of the children of God.

The voice of the Good Shepherd has a difficult time today, in the present age, when our secular society often tells us that what Christians consider as sinful actions are instead virtuous actions and actions that are needed to be fully human. Nevertheless, the more we live in Christ - not in our thoughts, not in daydreaming, not in theological or religious abstraction - the more we come to live in the wisdom of God and become free from our passions so that we can walk in the way of the Lord, following the Good Shepherd. May we hear the authentic voice of Jesus today.