Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

The Voice We Hear

Whether in a mall or an airport, nothing catches people’s attention like hearing their name over a loudspeaker, and no matter where we are no voice is more welcome to our ears than the voice of someone we love. Jesus tells us that we — his sheep, his followers, his friends — will come to know his voice, too, and respond to it.

Of course, we hear many voices these days. They tell us to be afraid or buy lots of things or hate or ignore certain people or be lustful or cynical. But Christ’s voice speaks to us of trust, love, forgiveness, peace, courage and hope. If we hear voices that urge us to do or think other things, we need to shut our ears to those voices and listen to Christ instead.

And Jesus speaks our names as no one else can. Mary Magdalene experienced that. On Easter morning, at the tomb, she didn’t recognize Jesus; he looked like the gardener. But when he spoke her name, “Mary,” she knew right away it was Jesus. It didn’t matter how he looked, the voice told her it was her Lord.

This Easter season, let’s pray that we may hear Christ’s voice speaking words of life and calling us by our names, and let’s also ask the Holy Spirit, whose coming we will celebrate in a few short weeks, to give us the grace to follow Christ. In fact, this is a gift we can ask for every morning as we start our day, for each day we can expect to hear Christ’s voice.