Bishop Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the Gospel for this Sunday, May 11, 2025, entitled: “Voices.”

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Acts 13:14, 43-52: “Now we turn to the Gentiles.”

Psalm 99: “The Lord is our God and we are his people. Alleluia.”

Revelation 7:9, 14-17: “The Lamb will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water.”

John 10:27-30: “I give eternal life to my sheep.”

There are many ways to drown out a voice: violence, a louder noise, replacing it with other voices, covering our ears. Saint John today offers us one of the signs that we belong to Jesus, that we are His: if we can recognize His voice. His entire Gospel is built on a constant opposition between those who belong to the world and those who belong to the Kingdom of God, and today he puts it in a wonderful synthesis: “A disciple knows how to listen to the voice of Jesus.” The oppositions he offers us make Jesus’ proposal even more striking. Which voice do we listen to and follow? It would be very interesting to recall which voices influence our daily lives and which are the voices of Jesus that most move us, that move us, and that invite us to follow Him. His voice has resonated since the beginning of the Gospel as Good News, as great news that offers full salvation, but that demands true conversion in return.

We find Jesus’ voices of great mercy accompanied by the human gesture that touches the deepest fibers and transforms people. His voice, at other times, is filled with authority to demand truth and coherence between the Word and life; it is not first yes and then no. His voice is addressed to each and every person; for each one, it has a special tone. What voices of Jesus resonate within us? Let us be very attentive to our ears and hearts, because there are many voices that seek to drown out the voice of Jesus, as if He had nothing to say to our world today. The first challenge will be to recognize that loving voice among so many voices that seek to drown it out and that come to us in droves to stun and deafen us. We must discern so as not to be distracted by voices, noises that inform, that call for attention, that overshadow the voice of Jesus. Do I know the voice of Jesus? Am I able to distinguish it every day?

Knowing is not only knowing how to give details about a person. Knowing is not looking at the features of a face, for “we see faces, but we do not know hearts,” and Jesus knows us fully and accepts us as we are. We go through life, and even if we don’t want to, we wear a kind of mask. Some people know us superficially, others know one aspect of us, others only our name, the position or status we hold within a group, a family, or a society. And that’s how they treat us, respect us, or ignore us. Jesus knows us within, and most importantly, by knowing us, he loves us and calls us accordingly. This is how he directs his voice to each of us. His voice is a friendly voice with the familiar, direct accent of one who knows just what to touch. He isn’t fooled by our expressions and masks because he discovers the reasons for our joys, our complexes, and our fears. He knows how to uncover our positive side and the best in our hearts. And in knowing us, his voice is life for us; it has the accent that awakens the best in us, inspires us with hope, lifts us from our failures, and keeps us alert in our struggles. Jesus knows us and loves us. This will be the great strength of our lives. We cannot rely on ideologies or traditions, nor can we be sustained by customs or mandates. The only thing that sustains us is knowing that Christ knows us and loves us. How have we experienced this love and knowledge of Jesus?

The world offers us voices that invite us to follow Him. They disguise their lies to destroy the truth, they distort values ​​to dull desires, they camouflage attacks on life as human rights, they present the “things of the earth” as desirable and pleasing, to make us forget the promises of Jesus. Jesus presents His word to us once again, and a word spoken with such love, such intimacy, cannot be dismissed or allowed to fall on deaf ears. Let us follow Jesus. Let us put aside the unbearable noises of a society drowning in consumerism, to listen in silence, with attention and affection, to the word of Jesus that promises us an eternal and full life.

His word brings a new wind of hope, but we must listen to it. Of course, it demands, and seriously, but because He was able to first give Himself for us, to love us without measure, and to present Himself to us as the great servant and guardian of life. Those who follow Him will have eternal life and will never perish. Other voices come from a culture of death and offer false hopes based on power, money, and superficial things. Today, Jesus invites us to follow Him. To follow Him is to joyfully welcome and care for all that gives life, to continue His cause. Only by searching for the voices of hope, of pain, and of the anguish of those who suffer will we be able to recognize His voice. The new followers of Jesus, like the first community, will have to courageously confront a world that seeks to drown out His voice. We know that no one can snatch the sheep that belong to Him from His hand, but let us be careful not to surrender ourselves to a world without love, full of ambition and selfishness. This day’s very short passage ends with a phrase of hope and model: “The Father and I are one.” It is a phrase of hope because He does not abandon us; it is a model because, like Jesus, we are invited to be one with Him, with the Father, and with all our brothers and sisters.

How are we listening to the voice of Jesus? What are we doing to build a new and eternal life? What paths has Jesus opened for us, and what should we do to follow them? How do I feel knowing that I am known by Jesus, loved by Jesus, and invited to form a community with the Father and with my brothers and sisters?

God, good and merciful Father, guide us to the eternal happiness of your Kingdom, so that the little flock of your Son may arrive safely where its risen Shepherd already is. Amen.