I came that they may have life and have it to the full
Today’s gospel concludes with the famous words: “I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly”. At any one stage in our life, we can think of the things that could make our life better, happier, more fulfilled. We can even look around and say, that if I were like so and so, I would be happier. The strange thing is that, if we obtained what we longed for, we would still have something we wish we could have. Those whom we look to and feel that they are fulfilled, also have something they wish they could have.
Jesus tells us in today’s gospel the formula for our happiness. It is to learn to recognize his voice as our shepherd. It is to come out when he calls. It is to follow when he walks ahead of us. He, the author of life, knows what makes us truly happy, not only in this life but also in the life to come.
Our challenge is recognizing his voice and following. There are many voices that claim our attention. There is the voice of trials and tribulations in the midst of which we can sometimes think that the chief Shepherd lo longer cares for us. There is the voice of our ego, our selfishness. There is the voice of the world with all its false attractions. There is the voice of Satan who came not give life but to still, to steal, to rob, to slaughter and to destroy. And unfortunately, all these false voices can sound even louder than the voice of the Shepherd.
We pray for the grace to be like the writer of today’s Psalm, that our souls learn to thirst for living God. That when today we hear his voice we may not harden our hearts.
