4th Sunday of Easter Year C

Acts 13:14,43-52
Apocalypse 7:9,14-17
John 10:27-30

Listening to God and doing His will. Or are we?

As Christians, we are called to listen to God and follow His calling. But this is not easy for many reasons. While this can be a lengthy reflection topic, this week, the Scripture invites to reflect one aspect of it, that is, on discernment. In other words, how do we know it is God who is calling us?

In the Gospel this week, we hear Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” (verse 27) But, how do we know that what we are hearing and what we think God is asking us to do is really God’s will? Could be it our ego and pride causing us to pursue a course of action, rather than God? To make our discerning even harder, just because it is God’s calling, it does not mean that there would be no obstacles – just look at the many difficulties encountered by Abraham, Moses, the Saints and even Jesus Himself. And even when it is true calling from God, it does not mean that we are immune from temptations to abuse God’s blessings. This is when we use what God endows us with to do our own will rather than His will. We read an example of this in the Old Testament story of king Saul, when after being granted an emphatic victory over the Amalekites, he chose to disobey God. Saul’s action drew this rebuttal from the prophet Samuel, “Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam 15:22)

While there is no one golden rule to help us tell the difference between a true and false calling, it helps examine the fruits of the calling. In other words, does the calling bear good or bad fruits? For example, does the calling bring about joy, peace and help build the kingdom of God? Conversely, does the calling bring about division or even draw people away from God? The story of Paul and Barnabas in the First Reading gives us a good example.

Paul and Barnabas were called to spread the Good News to gentile towns. But this is no easy work. They had to be away from their hometowns, friends and families for long stretches of time. To make things even harder, at times, they were even persecuted and made unwelcome. But along the way, their hard work and sacrifices yielded good fruits. We read this week, “many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” (verse 43) Not only that, the community continued to grow: “The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” (verse 44) Most importantly, their work brought joy to those who heard the Good News: “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.” (verse 48) And in fact, the work also brought great joy to Paul, Barnabas and their companions, who were doing the hard work. So in spite of being persecuted for their good work (verse 45, 50), “the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (verse 52)

My brothers and sisters, let this be our reflection this week. Let us ask ourselves today: What is God calling me to do? Have I answered and responded to Him? What difficulties and obstacles have I encountered? Have I encountered success, even small incremental ones? Has the work yielded me good or bad fruits?

May the Holy Spirit come with us as we labour in God’s vineyard. Amen.