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Fr. Leo Pabayo

I ONCE told a story to some grade school pupils to illustrate the meaning of faith in Christ. It is also a good story on faith for adults and is consonant with last Sunday’s Gospel (April 17, 2016) which is about recognizing the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd in our world today.

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The story goes like this. Three little children were trapped in a house that had caught fire. They were in the second floor of the house and they had no way of escaping from the fire. The only escape would be for them to jump from an open window. But the second floor was too high and jumping would certainly seriously harm them or possibly kill them. They also could not see below because of the thick smoke from the fire that blinded them.

A fire truck arrives with the firemen bringing a wide net which they set up to catch the children whom they urge to jump out of the window. The children however were afraid to jump. Also, blinded by the smoke from the fire they could not see anything below. They could hear a cacophony of voices urging them to jump. The voices were however mingled with the voices of hooligans and drunkards with their bizarre comments that made the children more confused and afraid.

Soon, however, the parents of the children arrived. From the cacophony of voices the children could clearly hear the voices of their parents telling them to jump and assuring them that it is safe to jump. Hearing the assuring voices of the parents they jumped and were saved.

Our situation in life is very much like that of the children. We are children of God who are trapped in a hellish situation a world that is at war or suffering from calamities that have been caused by our carelessness. We are often times at a loss on what to do. Unable to save ourselves we call on God for help. God sends his help. His help comes through the word that he speaks that that are heard by the good men and women who are in tune with his spirit like the prophets and patriarchs of old whose teachings have been recorded in the bible.

Finally, the definitive help or act of salvation came in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God from all eternity. Of him New Testament says, “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe.” [Hebrews 1:2]

We might refer to this voice also as the voice of conscience or the voice of faith and reason.

This voice may sometimes be muffled by the cacophony of voices in the world from people who are in error. It is the responsibility of each of us to discern where the true voice is coming from and to ascertain that it comes from God bearing the message of truth and love that saves. The voice bears the teachings that resonate with what is deepest and most authentic in our human nature and thus can be heard by all good people.

What does it take to hear and heed this voice? What it takes is that we should be tuned in to this voice. We are able to hear when we are in the same wave length with God, so to speak, because have tuned in to God or we have disposed ourselves to hear his voice. We have heeded his wisdom telling us, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” We are able to hear his voice either literally or metaphorically because we have developed the habit of raising our minds and hearts to God in prayer.

The voice is the voice of God. But it is also from a human voice speaking the word of God. Of this word of God John the Evangelist says, “In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was made nothing that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness grasped it not. ” (John 1:1-5)

The Word of God came in the person of Jesus Christ who was “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary”.  He is the Good Shepherd who is both God and man.

His voice is now heard most of all in the Church that he has established and blessed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In is found most of all though not exclusively in those who have been called by Christ to lead the flock like the Good Shepherd that He is. These men and women are human and sometimes they themselves are weighed down by their own sins but are however fundamentally faithful to the workings of the Holy Spirit in their lives except the one who betrayed Christ.  These are the apostles of yesterday and today who are continually in tune with the voice of God speaking His Word accompanied by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

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