4th Sunday of Easter - C 2025

It is astonishing – though perhaps we should no longer be astonished – how distractible our world has become. Every glance at a screen is met with a volley of appeals: “Buy this,” “Click that,” “Subscribe now and be transformed!” Even the roadside billboard and the morning newspaper have joined the chorus, each one a little evangelist for consumerism, each promising happiness – at a modest monthly fee.

But the noise is not confined to commerce. Our politics, too, are crowded with voices. Activists, pundits, and candidates all clamoring for attention, each offering their particular gospel of change. The cultural atmosphere today is not merely noisy – it is a clamor of competing truths, a multitude of shepherds vying for our belief.

Because belief, after all, is what shapes behavior. People act because they believe something to be true. You don’t buy the shirt unless you believe it will do you some good. You don’t vote unless you believe it matters. Change the belief, and you change the person. That is why everyone – from advertisers to ideologues – is so desperate to shape what people believe.

In this crowded marketplace of voices, one voice stands alone: the voice of the Good Shepherd. He says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” This is no rhetorical flourish. It is a promise – and not a promise of comfort or convenience, but of eternal life.

Yet here lies the subtle temptation of our age: to treat the voice of Jesus as one option equal among many, to weigh His words against public opinion or personal preference. But Christ does not present Himself as one voice in a chorus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And those who would follow Him must listen to His voice – and not merely the parts they find agreeable.

So where can His voice be heard with clarity today?

It is heard most concretely through the Magisterium of the Church, through the teaching authority that Christ Himself gave to the Apostles and their successors. The Church is not a debating society, nor a spiritual co-op. She is the Body of Christ. And when the Magisterium teaches definitively on faith or morals, it is Christ who teaches.

That means the faithful are not merely invited to consider the Church’s teachings. They are bound to obey them. Not blindly, but faithfully. Not because bishops are perfect men, but because the Church’s teaching office is guided and protected by the Holy Spirit. When the Magisterium speaks clearly, there is no safer place to stand.

This obedience is not always easy. It will often require swimming against the current. The Church’s teachings on marriage, on human sexuality, on the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, to name a few, stand in direct contradiction to the dominant voices of modern culture. And yet these teachings are not arbitrary. They are life-giving, because they come from Christ Himself.

In such a climate, the need to pray for our shepherds becomes urgent. Bishops – those tasked with guarding and handing on the faith – need strength, wisdom, and courage. They need clarity of vision and firmness of purpose. And above all, they need fidelity: to Christ, His Church, and to the sheep they serve.

That is especially true for the Pope. The successor of Peter carries a unique burden as the visible source of unity in the Church. With the election of Pope Leo, the Church begins a new chapter. His name already calls to mind the courage and clarity of Pope St. Leo the Great, who defended the faith with boldness in a time of crisis. So, prayers for Pope Leo are not optional. They are essential. Ask God to sustain him, protect him, and give him wisdom to shepherd the flock of Christ through the storms of our time.

Of course, obedience to the Magisterium doesn’t mean every teaching will be easy to accept. The truth has edges. It challenges and purifies. But Christ does not deceive. The voice of the Shepherd, heard through His Church, always leads toward life.

So, here’s the question: Which voice actually shapes your thinking? What beliefs are behind your daily choices? Is the Magisterium forming your conscience, or is some political platform? Are decisions shaped by the Gospel, or by comfort and convenience? Which shepherd are you following?

Only one voice leads to eternal life. That voice still speaks. It is not lost in history. It speaks through the teaching Church today. Tune out the noise. Hear the Shepherd. Obey Him. And follow where He leads.