Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice…I know them and they follow me.” It strikes me that in the first reading we have several examples of both hearing the Shepherd’s voice and listening for it. Stephen’s martyrdom, a tragedy for that early Christian community, turned into the blessing of the spread of the good news of Jesus’ life death and resurrection to distant lands and beyond the Jewish community. Hearing this news prompted the apostles to send Barnabas to Antioch. We are told “he was filled with the Holy Spirit” and encouraged these new “Christians” to “remain faithful in firmness of heart”. We too are called to faithful following and discerning what our next best step is in witnessing to Jesus’ life and resurrection in our own day and time and place.
Our daily prayer helps us hear the voice of the Shepherd, even in the very difficult moments, and to “see the grace of God,” as Barnabas did. Often the voice of God comes through the events of daily life – the colleague that needs an affirmation, the stranger that can use a smile rather than being ignored, the moment when we recognize a nudge to do something or go somewhere that’s a little beyond our usual. This is what the apostles and Barnabas model for us today. May we be faithful hearers of the Shepherd’s voice and follow his invitations – big and small - with firmness of heart and eyes open to “see the grace of God”.
—Sr. Laura Leming, FMI