A VOICE TO BE HEARD.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER. YEAR C.
April 29, 2007.
(First Reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52) (Second Reading: Revelation 7:9, 14b-17)
(Gospel Reading: John: 10:27-30)

A VOICE TO BE HEARD.

Every communication is based on the premise that whenever someone speaks the other listens. The one who speaks does expect his audience not only to listen but, most importantly, to understand what is being said.

For more than twenty centuries the words of the Lord Jesus Christ have been proclaimed to us, human beings, and it appears that the audience has for the most part remained deaf.

What has Jesus' voice been saying? Today's gospel reading reveals that Jesus has been telling us:
- who we are, and
- what is our way of life.

- Who we are. Jesus reveals to us that we are called to be one with God, just as he, Jesus, and the Father are one - "The Father and I are one" says Jesus.

- What is our way of life. Our way of life is one that leads us to God, that is to say, a way of life that enables us to reach the fulfillment of our human nature - the fulfillment of who we are - by listening Jesus' voice calling us to follow him in his way to the Father. Jesus says: "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me". So it is that by following in the way of life of Jesus, we are on our way to achieve eternal life starting here on earth: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish" says Jesus.

How do we achieve the fulfillment of our human nature? By living as children of God, that is to say, by relating to one another as God relates to us. Let us explain: The Book of Revelation tells us how God relates to us when it says:

"The one who sits on the throne will shelter them.
They will not hunger nor thirst anymore,
nor will the sun or any heat strike them.
For the Lam who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them
and lead them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes". (Revelation 7:15-17).

So there it is the example of how we human beings ought to relate to one another, there it is the way that leads to eternal life beginning here on earth.

Now, are we faithful to our own human nature? Do we human beings follow the way of true life?. From what the world looks like now, our answer is a rotund NO!

Our world has betrayed our human nature:
- Human beings refuse to respect their dignity of being one with God, of being children of God. Our world rejects the unity between human beings and God and between human beings themselves. The powerful rulers of the world have divided mankind into antagonistic nations and groups and classes whose insatiable ambition for possessions and power only brings suffering and death to countless masses of powerless human beings.

- Human beings refuse to accept the way of life that leads to God, the way of life that was revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Instead of a life of common participation in the wealth of the earth, the world has established that said wealth be only the privilege of a few; instead of pursuing dignity of life for every human being, the world promotes the use of human life as a means to accumulate more wealth and power in the hands of a few; instead of fostering the common good for all mankind, the world fosters the well being of the oppressors.

The voice of Jesus, however has been resounding loudly for more than 20 centuries, yet it still continues to fall on deaf ears, or it is suppressed by persecution against those who speak up the voice of Jesus.

The Acts of the Apostles relates how the powerful of the world persecute those who proclaim Jesus' words: "... The leading men of the city stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their territory" (Acts 13:50).

The Book of Revelation reminds us that persecutions are both
(a) the means of defense of the worldly powers, and
(b) the way for the followers of Christ to defeat said worldly powers.

The Book of Revelation, referring to those who follow Jesus, says: "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress [persecution]; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14).

This is the time for all human beings to courageously live in a way that demonstrates that the Lord Jesus has risen, that He is alive in us. This is the time to demonstrate with our life that we can live in unity as children of God in a world where there are no oppressors nor oppressed, where there is peace and mutual respect among all human beings.

The Acts of the Apostles says, this is the time for human beings "to remain faithful to the grace of God", the grace that allows us to be able to listen to the voice that needs to be heard.