How to Hear the Shepherd's Voice

Those called to the priesthood of Jesus are called to be shepherds, in the image of Christ the Good Shepherd. But becoming a shepherd of God's people does not mean one stops being a sheep oneself.

In fact, if one does not know how to be a good sheep (disciple of the Lord), then one will not know how to be a good shepherd. And it all starts with the ability to listen and hear the voice of the Lord.

The ability to recognize the voice of the Lord is something that all Christians must learn. It is not innate. Just as Eli taught young Samuel in the temple at Shiloh how to respond when Yahweh called to him in the nightSpeak Lord, your servant is listening (cf. 1 Sm 3:9)so, too, all disciples must learn how to properly discern what it is the Lord is trying to tell them through prayer and the circumstances of life.

We know that most of what constitutes God's will for us has already been revealed in Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and taught by the Magisterium. As Jesus said to the rich young man, If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments (Mt 19:17). But there is much more to being a disciple of the Lord than simply keeping commandments. God wants to daily give us the grace and power we need for Christian living and communicate his Now word to us, for the sake of our own sanctification and that of the world.

In order to really hear what it is the Lord wants to communicate to us (i.e., how he wants to lead us), whether personally or corporately, we must be rooted in prayer. Prayer can take many different form—contemplation, worship, meditation, intercessionbut at its core it is an intimate dialogue with God.

Jesus taught the disciples to call upon God as our Father and to pray that thy will be done (cf. Mt 6:10). To be an effective shepherd of God's people, future priests will have to learn what God's perfect will is for their parish or community (in any given circumstance or matter that is up for discernment). This will require the ability to separate the sheep from the goats (i.e., the many good ideas from God's perfect idea).

If a priest does not become a shepherd who is a man of unremitting prayer, he will wind up with precious little to offer his flock by way of solid discernment and leadership. The foundress of the Madonna House apostolate in Canada, Catherine Doherty, lamented the fact that many Christians, because they are not truly rooted in prayer, only manage to offer a broken world their own busyness and not the real peace or healing presence of Christ.

The good news is that Jesus is the living Head of his Body, the Church. And he wants to lead it! The same goes for parish communities that priests will one day serve.

So our seminarians learn how to actively seek God's will in all circumstance—and to not make a move without it. They are encouraged to impress this principle on members of parish pastoral councils. If a priest wants an even greater challenge, impress this on members of parish finance councils, too! Take the time not simply to analyze and debate ideas, but to seek the will of God.

This approach may necessitate spending extra time in prayerful discernment of an important pastoral matter. It might even mean holding a day of reflection/recollection and inviting all parishioners to get involved in interceding and helping to discern things. In the short term, going about daily happenings in this manner will take longer, but the payoff for a priest will be far greater if the end result is centered in God's perfect will (for it will be far more fruitful).