John 10: 27-30
Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
We Will Know His Voice
I have often asked myself how I will recognize Jesus when I meet him face to face for the first time. I have never had a vision of him, nor do I expect to.
John’s Gospel answers my question: I will know him when I hear his voice, the voice of the Good Sheperd.
Mary Magdalene did not recognize the risen Jesus at first in the garden. Only when he spoke her name, “Mary,” did she know who he was. In a similar way, when I hear the Lord speak my name, I will know his voice and the identity of the speaker.
Luke’s Gospel offers a different answer. Speaking of the two disciples of Emmaus, he says they came to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
Both answers are valid. Hopefully, both work for us.
—Fr. Dick Hadel, SJ, is a member of a community of senior Jesuits at Saint Ignatius Hall in Black Jack, Missouri. He gives spiritual direction and hears confessions for individuals and groups.
Prayer
Safe in your hands, O God, is the flock you shepherd through Jesus, your Son. Lead us always to the living waters where you promise respite and refreshment, that we may be counted among those who know and follow you. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
—Fr. Dick Hadel, SJ
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