Father Chas Canoy
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A powerful Good Shepherd Sunday reflection on recognizing the voice of Jesus in a noisy world. Discover how prayer, Scripture, and intentional living help us follow Christ and experience the abundant life He offers.
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All right, Shane is going to put down the screens because on Good Shepherd Sunday, we usually try to do something customarily for the promotion of vocations. And so we’re going to hear from one of the ordinands this upcoming June who will be ordained. One of them is Deacon Jacob Derry, if you remember Deacon Jacob, he interned here.
He’s going to be ordained and he’s going to have a massive Thanksgiving here shortly thereafter. Also getting ordained is Jonathan that you’ll hear about, one of his fellow ordinands. But first, let’s dive into today’s gospel on this Good Shepherd Sunday.
So sheep herding or shepherding back in ancient Israel was different from modern day shepherding. When we think of herding sheep, we may think about, at least I do, think of those incredible border collies. Right there who quickly and effectively drive sheep where they’re supposed to go and do it with such great efficiency.
Amazing animals. Right. So the sheep in that case are driven from behind.
Well, back in ancient Israel, they too would drive them out of the sheepfold. The sheepfold was the secure pen or enclosure or shelter where the sheep were kept overnight to keep them safe, particularly from predators, but also from storms. In fact, shepherds back then would often share their sheepfold or enclosure with other shepherds.
So when morning came and it was time to put them out to pasture, the sheep were driven out of the sheepfold. But then here’s a different part. Once outside, how did the shepherds know which sheep was theirs? Well, maybe you’ve seen livestock marked either by by spray paint or by being branded.
Well, they really didn’t need that back then because the herds weren’t as big and commercial. But also the sheep, the sheep knew the voice of the shepherd. And so we read in today’s gospel, the sheep hear his voice as the shepherd calls his sheep by name and leads them out when he was when he had.
And here’s the key part. When he has driven out all his own, what he walks behind them. No, he walks ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
All right, so the sheep sorted themselves out automatically because they intimately knew the voice of the shepherd. So, friends, do we recognize the voice of Jesus, the good shepherd in our lives? Are we like those sheep who intimately know the voice of our good shepherd? Because we hear so many voices in the world today, right? Especially with the advent of the Internet and social media, we hear a cacophony of voices that can be incessant if we lack self-control and limiting our exposure to such media. And so Jesus implicitly poses a question to us in today’s gospel.
How many of those voices love you? How many of those voices would lay down their lives for you? How many of those voices are truly seeking your best interest instead of their own selfish interest or self-gain or self-promotion? I mean, there are, of course, some who have good and sincere intentions on their platforms. The church herself cannot neglect the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel to everyone and in every place. She must go where people spend time.
And in many ways, we’ve, you know, entered this golden age of quality Catholic media with organizations like Ascension and Word on Fire, with heralds of the gospel like Father Mike Schmitz and Bishop Barron, Sister Miriam Heidland, Dr. Scott Hahn, of shows like The Chosen and The House of David, right? Even the rank and file in the pews have a voice that is able to be heard by many, right? I recently met this wonderful mother of five, five little ones still, Marie Mazonti Proctor, who puts out these simple but yet engaging and funny faith short videos on apologetics and church teaching and traditions and parenting. And she has over 200,000 people who follow her posts. And there are, so for sure, there’s a myriad both within the faith and just with practical things of life, right? A myriad of interesting, entertaining, and practically helpful people in this revolutionary invention that puts the world in our fingertips.
But to find them and to access these edifying voices means wading out into a sea, a dangerous sea of what Jesus calls thieves and robbers. They are reaching out to you, not for your good, but selfishly looking out for theirs, even if it costs you your mental health, even if it costs you your spiritual well-being, even if it costs you your marriage and family, given the content out there that destroys those things, right? Jesus would refer to such folks as thieves and robbers. A thief comes only to steal, to slaughter, and to destroy, Jesus says.
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. So Jesus desires for you to have a life of abundance. And we’re not talking about mere material wealth, but the kind of wealth that is far more valuable, right? Immortality, for one, right? Eternal life itself.
And then the fruits of the Spirit that money can’t buy, such as love and forbearance and faithfulness and true joy, and a peace that is far beyond all understanding. But there are spiritual forces in the world that drive us instead to the opposite of those things, as Jesus said, to steal, slaughter, and destroy. And we’ve seen the carnage of such evil, with deaths of despair skyrocketing, right? Cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction and overdose, suicide, as thieves and robbers attempt to mute or silence the voice of the Good Shepherd, the Church in the world, who offers the hope that humanity needs.
But we as Christians are not to lose hope and let them steal our joy or our peace, because among that cacophony of voices that sow chaos and confusion, the voice of the Good Shepherd can still be heard, despite efforts to silence Him. For those who have ears, for those who have ears to hear, that is, right? And so we need to be super intentional about having the voice of the Shepherd be the voice in our lives. If we are not hearing Jesus’ voice clearly guiding us in our daily lives, we have to attune our ears to His voice, so that we are like sheep who recognize His voice like a clarion call and readily follow His footsteps.
So we attune our ears to His voice by doing two things. Number one, incorporating prayerful silence in our lives. And number two, meditating daily on the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, in which we hear the words of the Good Shepherd Himself, to the point of memorizing some of the go-to verses that strongly resonate with us in our particular situations.
For a lot of our young families and parents, trying to incorporate silence in our lives means maybe having that silence after the kids go to bed or before they get up, right? But prayerful silence and God’s Holy Word, those two things are how we attune our ears to His voice. Another good way is Eucharistic adoration, signing up for an actual hour where you and your spouse may tag team. Or you can sign up with another family or two so that you cover that hour in case of having to sub regularly.
So now, when and where do we do that in other ways? Well, number one, we do that daily as far as those two things, God’s Word and prayerful silence. We listen for His voice every day of our lives, particularly in the morning, before we go out to pasture that is this world, asking God to reveal His will in those various commitments that we have on schedule, we have, and what that day looks like, living it in confidence and joy of the Lord, knowing that Jesus has our back, the Good Shepherd. And then, also when we return from pasture before resting at night, if we are not intentional about coming back into the sheepfold regularly, the cacophony of voices of the thieves and robbers, they can be overwhelming, and that’s when we can begin to get anxious and be tempted to despair or fall into its temptations.
But when the voice of the shepherd is sure and clear, we can become confident, courageous, and unstoppable, just like the early apostles were that we heard in the readings. So Jesus emphasizes in today’s gospel that the sheep are to come in and out of the sheepfold regularly. So, we listen for His voice daily, particularly at morning and at night, when we are in the sheepfold.
What do I mean by the sheepfold? There are two sanctuaries in particular for us, right? The domestic church, that is your family home, and the parish, that is your local church. These two places are to be the sheepfold or the sanctuaries of safety and rest for us, right? Because what does a sheepfold serve as? It’s the place that the sheep return to regularly for shelter, protection, and rest, so that they can be safe from thieves and robbers and the predators that come, as Jesus said in the gospel, only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But that doesn’t mean they don’t try to get in all the time, right? Amen, amen, I say to you, Jesus says, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
So you have to be sure to keep the sheepfold of your family home safe from that. Your family home should be a sanctuary where the peace of the Lord reigns. That’s why I enjoy house blessings, right? That’s what we pray for in a house blessing.
I just did one earlier this month with one of our newest parishioners, the Thompsons. Because that is your family’s domain, you have control over what enters into that domain, right? Screens, however, have made things a little more complicated. We would never allow strangers to enter into our home willy-nilly, but we actually let all kinds of strange influences right into our home through the screens and our TVs, our computers, our iPads and phones.
So we need to be vigilant about who we let into our homes, whether physically or virtually. Can I offer an analogy? So this church, this sheepfold, so to speak, that we come to each week at least, this area, when you ascend these steps, is extra holy. This is all sacred ground, but this area in particular is holy, the holy of holies, because this is where Jesus is, right? And this is where Jesus lays down his life for us.
That’s a holy thing that happens. And so, you know, it’s beautiful to have all our children here, and they might be running around before and after Mass or whatever, but not here, right? We are super aware that this is a holy place set apart. And so I would suggest to you in your domestic church, you make your bedrooms that holy place that’s set apart for rest with the Lord.
And so not to let the things of this world in particular, devices or whatever, into that sacred place so that you do have some place of refuge from all of those voices that try to get in there amidst the voice of the Good Shepherd. So I love how our parish is getting into the Word, tuning their ears to the voice of the Lord, like that Monday night study that we have, where a lot of our parishioners are diving into the Scriptures every week. And then we’ll be offering, because they’ve been covering the Old Testament this past year, they’re going to bring the New Testament this next year.
So look out for that. And so one of the examples that, you know, Jonathan here, he was one who strayed, a sheep that strayed a little bit in his youth. And he speaks about that, but then he heard the voice of the Shepherd calling him back, and particularly through Divine Mercy Sunday.
And then Our Lady calling him back as well, giving her call to him, his heart. So let’s listen to that video now. He also gives a little plug for the DSA, which is apt for us, since, you know, a lot of us haven’t turned in our DSA contribution this year yet.
So let’s listen to Jonathan, who’s going to get ordained this June. I never thought I would be here, if you asked me, as a child, as a teenager. I was born and raised Catholic.
I treated Jesus as a part-time personal assistant, and not as my Lord and God. And as a result, I found myself seeking material possessions, worldly fulfillment, chasing the next big thing, always. I think my career opportunities, travels, experiences, took a priority.
I remember waking up one day, this would have been about 2020, and feeling like this isn’t sustainable. And there was a sense of frustration that I felt like I had everything the world had to offer, and yet I still felt very adrift. I felt very hollow.
And I was at a loss at what it could be. And I knew in my heart that Jesus was calling me to get closer to Him. And so I knew I couldn’t do it my way anymore.
And that was the first time I remember just saying, Lord, I want to do a better job. And so I participated in Divine Mercy Sunday in 2020. And my whole life changed.
I didn’t know what it meant to receive unconditional love. In my brokenness, I was motivated to figure out what the catch was. And so for the next 10 to 12 months, I was determined to figure out the truth of the Catholic faith.
I did a consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I was praying rosary every day. And it was in 2021, I attended a First Saturday Fatima Conference.
And it was there that the Blessed Virgin invited me to come see her in Medjugorje on a pilgrimage. And it was on pilgrimage in Medjugorje that I heard God’s call to discern priesthood. The DSA support, first and foremost, pays for our school.
And that is a big investment. And it’s something that the diocese sees a tremendous amount of value in. And they see value in forming men and doing it right.
Part of my journey before even receiving the call of priesthood, I loved volunteering at Catholic charities. Spending time at the local soup kitchen was a way for me to grow in love, to grow in mercy, to give back to a community that has a real need. And that’s also only possible through the DSA.
I’d say this is an investment, it’s not an expense. It’s something that, as Catholics, we should absolutely see value in. Your contribution makes up for an area in which someone lacks, or for an area that someone can’t contribute.
These investments are put into the diocese, into communities that have a real need right here and now. It would remove a financial barrier for a man who’s discerning priesthood. And to be able to have that weight off their shoulders means a tremendous amount.
God will never be outdone in generosity. I truly believe that. That whatever you’re able to give, that God will absolutely repay your generosity in one way or another.
www.dsa.gov www.dsa.gov.au www.fema.gov
(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)