Have Your Hearing Checked !

Jesus said:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him,
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
they did not realize what he was trying to tell them.

So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."

There is only one way to heaven.  That is through the gate we call Jesus.  Sheep are rather dumb animals but they do learn that if they want to stay safe they will stay in a group and not just in any group but their group.  They also know, through experience, the voice of the man that is their leader, their shepherd.  Their shepherd has taken care of them their whole life and they have come to trust that voice.  Other men might try to call them to follow them but since they do not recognize the voice of the stranger, they ignore it and listen patiently for the one voice that they know has their best interests at heart. 

Jesus is our shepherd. We have to listen for His voice.  In today's world, there is a cacophony of voices all demanding our attention. If we stop listening for the voice of Jesus, we run the risk of leaving the flock and finding ourselves outside of the pasture where a wrong step in an unfamiliar pasture might send us tumbling down a hill or even off of a cliff.  The major responsibility in the relationship between sheep and shepherd is that the sheep will listen and the shepherd will care for the flock.  We have a faithful shepherd to guide us, so just keep your ears tuned to the sound of His voice. 

Do you realize all of the Protestant loved ones that are at this very moment in Purgatory with no one to pray for them?  Their friends and relatives do not believe in Purgatory so millions of them are there without anyone to pray for them.  There too are our relatives and friends who have passed on before us.  Are they too waiting for our prayers for them?  Those in Purgatory cannot help themselves, they rely on us to pray for them and mitigate their time in this place.  You can make a best friend forever by praying for and making sacrifices for a poor soul in Purgatory.  They will always remember those that helped them.  Dedicate your day to the Poor Souls, offer up the little disappointments that happen, the aches and pains of your arthritis can even be offered for them.  Waste nothing that happens to you.  Everything can be paid on account of a soul in need.  The soul who becomes a saint will remember and help you in your times of need.