May 3, 2020
Fourth Sunday of Easter

With whom do we converse and listen to the most? Believe it or not, the answer is ourselves. We are constantly having conversations with ourselves, and sometimes we even get caught! Our inner conversations reveal the truth about ourselves. We really cannot hide from ourselves, although we often pretend we can. By conversing with ourselves, we find solutions to our challenges, problem solve, work through our relationships, formulate opinions, run through dress rehearsals of possible conversations, and wrestle with and determine our system of priorities and values. What other voices affect the conversations we have with ourselves?

Often, voices from our past continue to haunt us. These voices cause us to mistrust our judgment, harbor anger, and cling to our fears of rejection, failure, being wrong, and the like. It is in these inner conversations that we face what holds us captive — our limitations, weaknesses, sinfulness, and stubborn ego preoccupations. We often go about our lives putting out one fire or another, keeping ourselves preoccupied and busy, and trying to stay on top of things. Intentionally or unintentionally, we find ourselves wandering off. We turn around and can no longer see our home. We look down at our feet and realize we have lost our anchor. Feeling scared, out of place, desolate, unsettled, and lonely, we realize that we are lost.

We listened to the wrong voices! In the midst of everything competing for our attention, the voice of the One who could truly call us home got muffled. We didn’t hear it. As our inner dialogues continue to play out, the one voice we need to consult — even before our own — is God’s. He is the Good Shepherd who can keep us safely where we need to be. As we graze through the stuff of our lives, we must constantly remember to look up, be attentive, and stay focused. Our habits of prayer are the only thing that can properly root us and keep us grounded. Contemplating God’s presence and developing an inner awareness of love incarnate, we will then find ourselves praying unceasingly as the days and nights and the ebbs and flows of our of lives unfold. Suddenly, the inner conversations we are constantly having are no longer just with ourselves or with voices that can lead us astray but with the Trinity, who desperately wants us to stay home.

©LPi

MEDITACIÓN DEL EVANGELIO

3 de mayo de 2020
4º Domingo de Pascua

La Pascua es obra de Dios; todo lo que viene de ella es solo el gran amor y misericordia para la humanidad. Es el Domingo del Buen Pastor, el que da la vida por sus ovejas.  Sin duda alguna, es el Pastor que guía y protege hasta el extremo. El Evangelio menciona hermosas palabras que llenan el alma de esperanza, de cambio, de conversión constante: La Puerta, el Pastor, y la Voz. Estas palabras se refieren a Jesús que nos invita a entrar por esa puerta única de salvación; a distinguir al Pastor que cuida amorosamente de la oveja perdida.  Y la voz, esa voz de Dios que siempre resuena en nuestra conciencia para distinguir el bien del mal.

Dios llama a cada persona por su nombre; conoce y anima a seguirle como auténtico Pastor. No debe haber confusión entre las miles de voces que escuchamos a diario. Aprendamos a escuchar su voz, a distinguir su amor verdadero; esto implica poner de nuestra parte. El Salmo 22 nos ayuda a profundizar en lo que es confiar la vida al Buen Pastor: “Tu bondad y tu misericordia me acompañarán todos los días de mi vida; y viviré en la casa del Señor por años sin término.” El Papa Francisco nos habla de distinguir y escuchar a ese Pastor con el siguiente mensaje: “No olvidemos que Jesús es el único Pastor que nos habla, nos conoce, nos da la vida eterna y nos protege. Nosotros somos el único rebaño y solamente tenemos que esforzarnos por escuchar su voz, mientras con amor, Él escruta la sinceridad de nuestros corazones.”

©LPi