Pastorale

Now, we have a continuation of last Sunday's theme. Recalling the gospel reading a week ago, we have Jesus re-appointing Peter as a shepherd because he loves Jesus more than fishing so he do the works of Jesus. His not catching a fish symbolize that he is not fit for that job anymore, he has another work to do, a ministry to be exact. In the first reading we see in the Acts of the Apostles the hardworks of Paul and Barnabas in shepherding the gentiles. A shepherd we are also. Jesus calls us by name as he said in the gospel he knows his and his knows him.

Do we know Him? Do we recognize his voice? Jn 10; 27=30

Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

It is important that we hear his voice for direction. The sheep may fall into a pit when a shepherd is not directing the steps of the flock. That may happen if we don't hear him. How do we hear him you ask. Well we Catholics believe that the Lord speaks in the following;

1. The Holy Mass--- by listening to the Sunday readings and the homily of the celebrant, by deep communion with the assembly of God which forms His body, by receiving the Holy Host in silence of the heart, by listening to the liturgical music sang by the choir [ I am not saying this because I am a musician], by the light of the Easter Candle... all these helps in hearing the voice of the Lord.

2. Eucharistic Adoration--- God can be heard when we shut our mouth and cease the shopping list items. The chapel is not a grocery store or a Rustan's Mall, it is the school where we learn from the Master, the well where we drink in the fountain of life, the clinic where the physician heals us. the tent where we meet the commandant of our battle.

3. Bible/ Scripture--- One must have a separate devotion time for reading the Word of God alone, then a one to one consultation with another believer, then a prayer group where they can have a Lectio Divina aided by Church's ready made guides, then a corporate seminar on the basic catechism for the Bible. Better if you will find a CD or DVD that contains a lecture of a bishop or a charismatic speaker about the semantics and exegesis of the Word.

4. Church Fathers--- In the teachings of the Catholic Church, you cannot grow without the reference to the early martyrs and those theologians who walked with the apostles or even with Jesus. They are the freshest source though old. Fresh from the apostles, direct from the early and non-fabricated theology of the early fathers, our church is relying also in the letters and teachings of the Church Fathers as part of our Traditions [big T].

5. Conscience--- It is important that every Christians at the very early age are given value formation of conscience according to the Catholic Traditions, Church Fathers, and Word of God.

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But now, I would like to underscore the role of another potential which I believe was also called by the Shepherd to bear His voice. I am talking about the Broadcasting Industry. Very timely that April is also the Anniversary Month of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas . The KBP {http://www.kbp.org.ph/about-kbp}too is called to be instrument of God's voice. Filled with communicators skilled to reach audiences via their voices, the KBP is a potential bearer of the voice of the Shepherd. It is very significant for KBP members to ask themselves if they have had enough time to be instrumentality of God's Voice. Are you a shepherd in your own way by constantly doing what you do best to take care of the flock of the Lord?