The fourth Sunday of Easter is also called Good Shepherd Sunday. In each of the three lectionary cycles, the Gospel reading is taken from the tenth chapter of John. Set in a moment of tension and conflict, Jesus answers the question, “Are you the Messiah?” He answers the question with a familiar image of the time, a Good Shepherd. This familiar depiction has endured over the centuries as a primary image of Jesus in our faith tradition. The image speaks to us about Jesus’ protection, safety, and care for his followers. It speaks powerfully about the familiarity and intimacy between Jesus and his disciples, expressed as recognizing and knowing one another’s voice. Jesus’ familiarity and intimacy is not just with us, but he identifies being closely connected to the Father; so close that they are one.
What images speak to us about familiarity and intimacy? In my mind it brings up images of friends sitting together over a cup of coffee, a couple taking a walk together, a parent and child sharing a special moment, or a teacher and student engaging in deep conversation. There is something unique about another human being giving you their time and full attention, not to tell you what they know about anything and everything, but because they sincerely care about your well-being and want to understand you. We know who they are because we feel good after having spent time with them.
The great theologian and philosopher of our time, Paul Tillich, wrote a book titled Love, Power, and Justice. He writes a relevant passage about love and listening. In it, Tillich is discussing “the relation of justice to love in personal encounters.” He writes: “love can adequately be described through three functions of creative justice, namely, listening, giving, forgiving. In none of them does love do more than justice demands, but in each of them love recognizes what justice demands. In order to know what is just in a person-to-person encounter, love listens. It is its first task to listen. No human relation, especially no intimate one, is possible without mutual listening. Reproaches, reactions, defenses may be justified in terms of proportional justice. But perhaps they would prove to be unjust if there were more mutual listening. All things and all men, so to speak, call on us with small or loud voices. They want us to listen, they want us to understand their intrinsic claims, their justice of being. They want justice from us. But we can give it to them only through the love which listens.”
In today’s world of disconnection, multi-tasking, and distraction, the art of listening is very important. Listening is our access to understanding. We are constantly being bombarded with information from emails, phones and the media, which can lessen our capacity for concentration and contemplation. Franciscan priest, Fr. Richard Rohr says: “A good journey begins knowing where we are and being willing to go somewhere else.” Are you willing to go somewhere else with your listening? There is hearing, and there is listening. Each seems to have its own nuance. Sometimes our frenetic lives drown out small voices. We need to tune our hearts toward hearing the holy in the midst of the ordinary. We need to be adept at listening well to the things that really matter if we seek to be attuned to God’s voice. We need to listen with the big picture in mind. We need to listen with our smallness and our selfishness set aside. We need to listen to ourselves and our bodies in a generous and faithful fashion. We must bring this same act of listening to our conversations. We need to be “all in.” When we come to a conversation, we should come with all our attention; we need to come with our ears of love. Paul Tillich says, “the first duty of love is to listen.” The opposite of talking is not waiting to talk.
But what does God’s voice sound like? It will sound like the voice of risk, of trust, of surrender, of soul, of common sense, of destiny, of love, of an intimate stranger, of your deepest self. God never leads by guilt or shame! God leads by loving the soul at ever-deeper levels, not by shaming at superficial levels. What are some ways that you listen to God? To those around you? To the events of the day? To creation? How would you describe having ears of love? What are some things that hinder us from being loving listeners? What might be some qualities of a loving listener? What are some things that you could do to help you listen better? How could you start to put those things into practice?
On behalf of Fr. Terry, the staff of Holy Family, and myself, we wish to extend our appreciation to all women for their boundless love, sacrifices, courage, and wisdom. May Mother’s Day expand our vision as we remember all women, both past and present, who have done so much to shape, mold, work for, and nurture our collective souls. Let us incorporate into Mother’s Day not only mothers, but all women from different backgrounds and walks of life who have made significant contributions to our world. Let us also honor all women who have struggled with infertility or who have lost a child. Let us recognize the joys, passions, ambitions, and pains of all women on Mother’s Day.