The Voice of Jesus

The Fourth Sunday in Easter is traditionally Good Shepherd Sunday. It is the Sunday, in which we have readings about sheep. And In year A we get the famous Psalm that is probably the first bit of scripture we all learn in Sunday School early on, The Lord is My Shepherd. But this year it is a little different.

This year we get the Gospel, with Jesus saying he knows his sheep’s voices and we as his sheep should know his. We also get the pairing of John in Revelation with the lamb of heaven at the banquet, with the uniting of races and tribes of every nation in heaven to gather and worship together. This vision was a game changer at how I viewed Revelation, and should be a game changer for us all.

This week we all have been inundated with news that just continues to disturb us. First, with the Supreme Court, and then in my home state of Florida with the shooting of a 20 year old by police, who was unarmed, and his only crime was having $40 of Pokemon cards and pizza from a Target and he didn’t bring a reciept to his car. With readings focusing us on unity, and following the voice of the Lord, we have events that the world wants to further divide us.

Many of us joined Old Catholicism to move away from divisive voices. Those that would exclude a mother who had to make a choice between saving her life and being their for her living children, or the one life that may or may not be viable that is inside of her. We have leaders (mostly men) in churches telling people that their souls are bound on this choice. We joined for the freedom to say that God understands the choice and doesn’t condemn us in this impossible circumstance.

But what is Jesus voice telling us, to speak up at injustice in any circumstance. Such as the loss of our autonomy, and the loss of us as a society to see beyond who a person is, and rushes to judgment of people simply for the color of their skin. Jesus asks us to speak up, and unite as a human race and create a society that doesn’t condemn, but finds various means to make abortion as a need to those of only medical necessity by making a society that supports all people all the time not just when it is convenient. I pray that we all can see this and use our voices to speak, and to help those who need it heal.

God bless,

Matt+