LISTENING & DOING: TWO DIFFERENT THINGS

Sunday Gospel: May 8, 2022 (John10: 27-30)

In the category of ‘kids say the funniest things,’ we have a memorable story in my family.  My daughter was about five or six years old at the time, and we were trying to correct some behavior of hers.  Se we said to her, “You are not listening!”  Without pausing, she said in reply, “I am listening.  I am just not doing what you are telling me to do.”  We still get a laugh at that today, as she is now getting ready to begin college.

It seems that, in a very real way, we are doing, in our relationship with the Good Shepherd, what my daughter was describing.   We are probably listening to the Lord.  We so often are just not doing what he is asking us to do.  So, the question is:  are we really listening?  If we are not really listening, if we are just pretending we are paying attention, then why are we not listening?  Well, why is that children often don’t really listen.  They don’t really listen because they are trying to exert their misunderstood freedom.  As children, we think freedom means we should be allowed to do whatever we like.  And that is understandable. From the moment of the conception in the womb, through our birth, and through our earliest years, we have no choice but to be totally dependent on our parents.  Without their assistance, we would just not survive.  We need them to feed us, to give us shelter, and to totally guide us.  In our earliest days, we cannot even move from place to place without the assistance of Mom or Dad or some other adult.

But as we get older, we start to enjoy the sense that we can start doing things, all be it limited, on our own.  And we kind of like that.  Of course, as we get into our adolescent and teen years, we then, even emotionally, begin to rebel against those whom we once totally relied.  Of course, we pass adolescence, or at least most of us do.  We come to the realization that even though we are, through the hard work and sacrifice of those who raised us, better able to make decisions and do things on our own.  The really mature person still recognizes though that it is still important to rely on the wisdom and guidance of our elders, no matter how old we are.

And while we could look at our relationship with the Lord, with the Good Shepherd, in the same way, it is actually so much more than a child-parent relationship.  For as old as we get, the reality of our relationship with the Lord is still both one of a mature adult, formed in the Truth, but also one of child-like dependence.  If the Lord is indeed the Lord of our lives, then we must treat him as such.  We must not just allow him to be Lord when we agree with what he is saying or when it is convenient.  We must always listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd and then, do whatever he tells us.

 

The Servant