Eliminate the Noise
(Acts 13.14,43-52; Rev 7.9,14b-17; Jn 10.27-30)
Today in tradition has been known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It has been dedicated as a day to pray for vocations to the priesthood. All over the Western world these numbers are falling away. Could it be that God is not listening any more?
A God who creates and loves people never stops speaking. Perhaps our world has forgotten how to listen.
Many influences are shaping this impasse. I want simply to focus on one. It is how noise - both aural and visual - is blocking our ability to hear. Our days and nights are filled with sound and digital images: TV screens, computer screens, phone links, a torrent of advertising, a cascade of tempting bargains, events and performances.
There is only one escape – silence. We desperately need time to focus on God alone, at least twenty minutes a day, when we need to shut up and shut out. Then possibly like Elijah on Mt Sinai we might hear the still, silent voice of God and know he is calling me by name.
Source: 4th Sunday Easter year C
This Sunday