DO I STILL HEAR THE SHEPHERD?
Acts 2:14a, 36-41; 1 Peter 2:20b-45; John 10:1-10
An Amerindian and his friend were walking in midtown New York. Decibel levels were deafeningly high: people chatting, vehicles moving, horns honking. Suddenly, the Amerindian said: “I hear a cricket.” His friend exclaimed: “That’s crazy! You couldn’t possibly hear a cricket in all this noise!”
The Amerindian insisted that he had heard a cricket. He walked to a big plant, looked under the branches and… found a cricket.
His friend was stunned: “That’s incredible! You must have superhuman ears!” The Amerindian said: “My ears are no different from yours. It depends on what you’re listening for!” He pulled out a few coins from his pocket and dropped them on the sidewalk. Every head within twenty feet turned to see if the money that had tinkled on the pavement was theirs!
“See what I mean!” said the Amerindian. “It depends on what your ears are attuned to, and that depends on what’s important for you.”
Today’s liturgy highlights the importance of having ears attuned to God and his word.
The gospel has two parables.
In the first, the imagery is of a sheepfold into which the shepherd and a prowler seek to enter. It is a challenge to Israel’s religious authorities: will they listen to and heed Jesus’ message? Jesus can offer no external credentials for his authority.
The second parable concerns the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd, and between the sheep and a stranger. Jesus indicates that a small group respond in faith to his message because they hear in it the authentic voice of God.
Both parables make the same point: The Lord is our shepherd who cares for us, accompanies us, protects us, and gives us abundant life; we need to listen to him and allow him to be our shepherd. The previous chapter of John had shown Jesus doing the work of the Good Shepherd—healing the man born lame and then seeking him out!
The first reading is an “enactment” of the second parable! The people listen to Peter’s admonishment. “They were cut to the heart” and ask what they must do. They heed Peter’s voice: they repent and are saved.
If Jesus and his word are important for us, we will hear him above the bustle of our lives, above the noise of consumerism and materialism. If our ears are attuned to power, prestige, and pleasure, we will hear those. To whom/what do I listen? Whom do I follow? Do I still hear the shepherd and follow him?
The quality of our life indicates to what our ears are attuned! If we do not live “abundantly”, we are listening to and following not the shepherd but a stranger.
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