The voice of advertisements, the voice of entertainment, the voice of financial success and the voice of God are some of the many voices that call to us each day. How are we to hear, recognize and follow the voice of God? As a baby learns to recognize the voice of his/her mother as she enters the room, as a pet recognizes the sound of his master’s car entering the driveway and as the sheep in today’s Gospel recognize the Good Shepherd’s voice , so too must we learn to discern God’s voice, or presence in our life.

Fr. Ron Rolheiser recently wrote in an essay:
“What follows is a series of principles to help us discern God’s voice among the multitude of voices that beckon us. What is the unique
cadence of the voice of the Good Shepherd?

•  The voice of God is recognized both in whispers and in soft tones, even as it is recognized in thunder and in storm.

• *The voice of God is recognized wherever one sees life, joy, health, color, and humor, even as it is recognized wherever one

sees dying, suffering, constrictive poverty, and a beaten-down spirit.

• *The voice of God is recognized in what calls us to what’s higher, sets us apart, and invites us to holiness, even as it is

recognized in what calls us to humility, submergence into humanity, and in that which refuses to denigrate our humanity.

• The voice of God is recognized in what appears in our lives as “foreign,” as other, as “stranger,” even as it is recognized in

the voice that beckons us home.

• The voice of God is the one that most challenges and stretches us, even as it the only voice that ultimately soothes and

comforts us.

•  The voice of God enters our lives as the greatest of all powers, even as it forever lies in vulnerability, like a helpless baby in

the straw.

• The voice of God is always heard in a privileged way in the poor, even as it beckons us through the voice of the artist and the

intellectual.

• The voice of God always invites us to live beyond all fear, even as it inspires holy fear.
• The voice of God is heard inside the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even as it invites us never to deny the complexities of our world

and our own lives.

• The voice of God is always heard wherever there is genuine enjoyment and gratitude, even as it asks us to deny ourselves,

die to ourselves, and freely relativize all the things of this world.

• The voice of God, it would seem, is forever found in paradox.”

This week as we enjoy the bright spring days, perhaps we could spend time in prayer asking that our minds and hearts be open to hear, recognize, and follow the voice of God as we encounter the presence of the Divine throughout the day.

Peg Orzel