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Gabrielle FeuvrierFinal Vows Saturday 21 May 2011“The Good Shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out … the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”Listen to the opening line of the Prologue to The Rule of Saint Benedict:“Listen carefully to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.” He goes on, “This is advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice.”Listen … be attentive … put it into practice.In the Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius of Loyola offers a way of prayer that relies on an application of our senses – our sensual experience of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. In his exercise on the Incarnation, Ignatius invites us to listen to the sounds of the people of the earth, to listen to God’s desire to bring about the salvation of all people, and to listen to the availability of Mary. At one point, Ignatius says, “This is to hear what they are saying … and then by reflecting on oneself to draw some profit from what has been heard.” In other words, Ignatius is not just thinking of Mary’s availability, but the response and availability of each of us – Gabrielle included. And, like St. Benedict, Ignatius is not interested in listening just for the sake of hearing something. We have to put into practice what we have heard. We are not listening to a voice designed to help us to sleep or relax at the end of a hectic day. We are listening to a voice that is asking something from us, a voice that is stirring us into action and service. Go and set the world on fire!Listen … be attentive … put it into practice.Then, there is the Good Shepherd. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out … the sheep follow him because they know his voice … they will listen to my voice.” This is an excellent choice from Gabrielle. It was last Sunday’s Gospel. But it was also a unifying image in her prayer for the past year or so. The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the clearest images we have of Jesus’ tenderness and compassion. This image of Jesus is brilliant regarding listening and discernment and action. The Good Shepherd offers us a manner of listening that is followed by an action. The sheep hear and recognize the voice of the shepherd. The sheep will be able to discern if it is a bandit or a stranger who is sneaking in. The way of Jesus is one of life. The way of the bandit is a path to destruction and death for the sheep. Jesus is calling us to an attentive listening; he is not lulling us to sleep. And, his words always call us to a life of prayerful action, to set our sights on Jerusalem. Listen … be attentive … put it into practice.Whether contemplative or active or contemplatives-in-action or actors-in-contemplation, the saints and spiritual writers invite us to listen carefully. To listen with discernment … to know how to discern between voices and words that we can trust and follow, and voices and words that are suspicious. Jesus teaches us that it is in listening that we come to knowledge … not the variety of knowledge that is found in books or the Internet or lectures. The wisdom and knowledge that Jesus offers is related to intimate knowledge, such as we hear it described by St. Ignatius. His grace for the Second Week is, “an intimate knowledge of our Lord, who has become human for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.” It is a knowledge that is heart-felt. It is knowledge that we have because we have entered into the mysterious rhythm of Jesus’ birth, life, passion, death and resurrection.This form of listening that comes from people like Benedict, Ignatius and the Good Shepherd is incarnational. We hear and respond in the real world. Claire Moneste, the foundress of the Xavieres, tells us, “Every vocation is an incarnation.” She also says, “Let us be fervent in this world and not the world of yesterday; we constantly adapt.” Listen … be attentive … put it into practice.What I am speaking of is “obedience”. Many of us may know that the very word obedience is rooted in listening. The word is from the Latin obaudire (ob + audire) – “to turn one’s ear to someone or something … to hear.” In other words, being attentive. Obaudire is at the heart of religious life and its commitments – the obedience to a superior that is rooted in mutually listening to each other and dialoguing with each other … a listening that is rooted in intimate knowledge. Hearing is not a mere passive compliance; it is active. It is never passive or neutral. It has to do with receiving and responding appropriately to a message. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice and respond to him. Gabrielle hears the Good Shepherd’s voice and responds to Him. As Psalm 116 proclaims, “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” “What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? … I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” Today, in the presence of all his people, we give thanks for Gabrielle and her commitment. That commitment comes about because of listening – listening to the Good Shepherd, listening to her family & friends, listening to her heart, listening to her Sisters in the Xavieres, listening to her co-workers, listening to the People of God in the Church. Gabrielle has come to this day because she listened. Her commitment means that she will continue to listen carefully, with discernment and love, and with a love for service.This morning we celebrate Eucharist, the great sacrament of listening, being attentive and putting our lives into mission. Let us pray this day for Gabrielle and her life as a Xaviere. ................
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