April 26, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02Not every voice in your life wants
2. 0:05what's good for you.
3. 0:07It's not easy to hear.
4. 0:10Some of those voices are lying to you.
5. 0:13Some of them are using you.
6. 0:16Some of them are slowly destroying you
7. 0:18and you do not even realize it.
8. 0:22Jesus Christ says it plainly today.
9. 0:26A thief comes only to steal and
10. 0:29slaughter and destroy.
11. 0:32This is not dramatic language.
12. 0:35This is reality.
13. 0:37And then he says something even more
14. 0:39unsettling.
15. 0:41Those voices do not sound dangerous.
16. 0:45They sound familiar.
17. 0:47Because if they sounded dangerous, you
18. 0:50would run.
19. 0:52If they sounded like destruction, you
20. 0:54would reject it right out.
21. 0:58But they do not.
22. 1:00They sound like your own thoughts.
23. 1:03They sound like the culture that you
24. 1:05engage in.
25. 1:07They sound like the voice you've been
26. 1:09listening for so long that you stop
27. 1:11questioning it.
28. 1:14And that's how it hap- happens.
29. 1:17Not all at once.
30. 1:19Not in one catastrophic decision.
31. 1:22But slowly.
32. 1:24Quietly. Almost
33. 1:28unrecognizable.
34. 1:31You begin to follow a voice that is
35. 1:33taking you somewhere you never intended
36. 1:35to go.
37. 1:38And into that confusion, Jesus speaks
38. 1:41with absolute clarity.
39. 1:43I am the gate.
40. 1:46Not one voice among many.
41. 1:49Not one option among many.
42. 1:52I am the gate.
43. 1:55Which means there's
44. 1:57a way that leads to life and there is a
45. 1:59way and there are ways that do not.
46. 2:03And we resist that.
47. 2:06Because we love options.
48. 2:09We want flexibility.
49. 2:12We want spirituality on our terms.
50. 2:16We like to adapt it to us.
51. 2:20But Jesus does not adapt himself to us.
52. 2:23He invites us to trust him.
53. 2:26Because every other voice eventually
54. 2:29takes something from you.
55. 2:31Your peace, your clarity, your freedom,
56. 2:34your identity.
57. 2:37Jesus says, "A thief comes only to steal
58. 2:40and slaughter and destroy."
59. 2:44That is not somewhere out there. It is
60. 2:47something within us.
61. 2:50Something personal.
62. 2:53But then he says this.
63. 2:55"I came so that you might have life and
64. 2:57have it more abundantly."
65. 3:00Not barely surviving. Not just
66. 3:03functioning. Not just one day leads into
67. 3:06the next day. Not always searching and
68. 3:08never arriving. No, he says, "I came to
69. 3:11give you abundance of life."
70. 3:14A life that is whole.
71. 3:16A life that is ordered. A life that is
72. 3:19not pulled apart by competing voices.
73. 3:24And here's a truth we do not like.
74. 3:27That life only comes if you actually
75. 3:29follow him.
76. 3:32Because right now, every single person
77. 3:34here is being led by some voice.
78. 3:40Some of us are being led by fear.
79. 3:44Every decision.
80. 3:45Every transaction. The way we live our
81. 3:48lives. Everything
82. 3:50dep- is dependent on fear.
83. 3:53And it's shrinking your life.
84. 3:56Some of us are being led by your past.
85. 4:00And it keeps you stuck.
86. 4:03Some of you are being led by success. By
87. 4:06comfort.
88. 4:07And it's draining your soul while
89. 4:09everything looks fine on the outside.
90. 4:12Trying to keep up with the Joneses.
91. 4:15Some of you being led by sin. And you
92. 4:18know what that sin is.
93. 4:20And it's costing you.
94. 4:22But it feels too familiar to let it go.
95. 4:27And here's the line you need to
96. 4:28remember.
97. 4:30If you do not intentionally follow
98. 4:32Christ, you will unintentionally follow
99. 4:35something else.
100. 4:37There's no neutral ground.
101. 4:41But here's the gospel.
102. 4:43>> [clears throat]
103. 4:44>> The shepherd does not give up his sheep.
104. 4:47He calls them by name.
105. 4:50And that means this is not abstract.
106. 4:54He knows exactly where you are. He knows
107. 4:56exactly what voices you've been
108. 4:58listening to.
109. 5:00And he knows exactly where it's leading
110. 5:02you.
111. 5:04And he's calling you right now.
112. 5:07This very moment.
113. 5:09Are you listening?
114. 5:12Not to shame you, but to lead you.
115. 5:16And this is where everything turns
116. 5:17because once you hear his voice, you
117. 5:20have to respond.
118. 5:23So, how do we do this?
119. 5:25Well, first, we need to claim him.
120. 5:30In prayer, in silence, at this altar, at
121. 5:33the moment of the Eucharist. Not in it
122. 5:35as an idea, but as a reality.
123. 5:40You say it until you be until it becomes
124. 5:42true in your life. The Lord is my
125. 5:44shepherd. The Lord is the one that
126. 5:46guides me.
127. 5:47I follow the shepherd. He is the voice
128. 5:50that I listen to. You need to claim it.
129. 5:52You need to let him into the places that
130. 5:55you've been controlling.
131. 5:58You let him lead you through the valleys
132. 6:00that you've been avoiding.
133. 6:03You let him feed you not with noise.
134. 6:06But with himself.
135. 6:09Because until he becomes your shepherd,
136. 6:11his voice always will remain one voice
137. 6:14among the many.
138. 6:18The second thing is you need to stay
139. 6:20with your flock.
140. 6:23Because no sheep survives alone.
141. 6:26And yes, the church is imperfect. It has
142. 6:29its wounds. Its sinners. It has had its
143. 6:32moments in history that are painful.
144. 6:36But this is still his flock.
145. 6:39And he does not save us as isolated
146. 6:42individuals.
147. 6:43He saves us as a people.
148. 6:46A people bound together not by
149. 6:47perfection, but by his mercy.
150. 6:51And the temptation is to walk away when
151. 6:53it gets hard.
152. 6:56But the shepherd does not call you to
153. 6:57run. He calls you to remain.
154. 7:00Because even with all its imperfections,
155. 7:03this is still where his voice is heard
156. 7:06and his life is giving out and poured
157. 7:09out for you.
158. 7:11Right here. At this altar.
159. 7:15And third,
160. 7:17you learn to lead by following.
161. 7:22Because every single one of you in some
162. 7:23way is shepherding someone.
163. 7:27In your home. In your family. In your
164. 7:30work. In your parish.
165. 7:33And the only way to lead well is to
166. 7:36first be led.
167. 7:39To let your heart be shaped by his.
168. 7:42To let your decisions be formed by his
169. 7:45truth.
170. 7:46To let your life reflect his way of
171. 7:49loving.
172. 7:51Because the world does not need louder
173. 7:53voices. It needs clear voices.
174. 7:57Men and women who have learned to
175. 7:59recognize the voice of Christ and live
176. 8:01it.
177. 8:03So, don't miss this opportunity.
178. 8:06Because this is where everything
179. 8:07changes.
180. 8:09The shepherd is calling you by name. Not
181. 8:11in general, but actually calling your
182. 8:14name.
183. 8:16Right now. Right here.
184. 8:19So, stop following the voices that are
185. 8:20draining you.
186. 8:22Out in the world, everyone has an
187. 8:24opinion and everyone is an expert on
188. 8:26everything.
189. 8:29Just follow any Instagrammer,
190. 8:31influencers, or gurus. They have the
191. 8:34perfect recipe. They have the perfect
192. 8:36solution for a wonderful, fulfilled
193. 8:39life.
194. 8:41Those voices are confusing you.
195. 8:44They're distracting you.
196. 8:47So, stop trusting voices that are taking
197. 8:49you somewhere you don't want to go.
198. 8:53Follow him and only him.
199. 8:55Not halfway.
200. 8:57Not occasionally. But completely.
201. 9:02Because my brothers and sisters, he is
202. 9:04not trying to take something from you.
203. 9:07He's trying to give you everything.
204. 9:10We are the ones that resist.
205. 9:13A life that is not fragmented.
206. 9:16A life that is not restless.
207. 9:18A life that is finally whole is what he
208. 9:21wants for us.
209. 9:24Give your heart completely to the
210. 9:25shepherd.
211. 9:27Claim him. Remain in the flock.
212. 9:32And then,
213. 9:33allow yourself to be led.
214. 9:36Because the Lord is your shepherd. Now
215. 9:38we have to live like we believe it.
216. 9:41Amen.