“And the sheep follow him…
They recognize his voice.”
With the advent of artificial intelligence (“AI”),
we have speech recognition devices of all sorts.
We have even given them names: Siri or Alexa.
They are really smart.
We talk to them as if we are talking to a person.
They interpret what we say
and they translate it back into the computer;
and they answer back.
Remember, this is “speech” recognition not “voice” recognition!
What happens is they will recognize what we are saying,
translate it into text, put it into the computer
and the computer then gives us back an answer;
puts it back into text and then is read out aloud to us.
That is really what is happening in the background.
It is not “voice” recognition but “speech” recognition.
Voice recognition is a much more sophisticated piece of software.
They are out there but they are way, way more expensive
and they have a whole set of other requirements.
There is a whole authentication process that goes through;
they must recognize the modulation of the voice
and whose voice it is; and it is used for security
but again they have to have tons of sample data
to make sure it is right and only works under tons of computing power.
You and I have that computing power pretty readily.
You and I can recognize a voice.
When your mother calls, you recognize that voice right away.
You do not need a computer to tell you whose voice it is. Right?
Or, if it was your father or your spouse.
You know your spouse’s voice.
Even when they are sick and their voice is weak,
you’ll know whose voice it is.
So, it’s interesting.
We have a lot of smart intelligence up here!
But notice the difference between
speech recognition and voice recognition:
One is just the content and the other is the one who authenticates it.
Now here is the part;
we have trusted voices that we recognize
but we can easily be fooled by the context which they give to us,
thinking that speech recognition and voice recognition is the same thing.
This can happen internally, or it can happen externally to us.
For internally, you might hear the voice that says,
“Brendan, you’re no good.
Nobody is going to like you.
Nobody is going to do anything you say.
You’re wasting your time.
You’re no good.”
That is not the voice of truth.
That voice inside can often lead to mental
not wellness and even illness
if we listen to that voice because it is a false voice.
It is not the truth.
We have to be careful how to figure this out.
It happens externally when people say things that are not true.
For instance, we had a huge case recently
that was on a big national media network.
They themselves knowingly told mistruths
and they were caught at it.
I mean they themselves knew;
but why would you knowingly not tell the truth?
Because that was not the purpose.
It was not about truth
but it was for money or power; or revenue;
or maybe just the public opinion they wanted
but we know that they were not telling the truth.
And so, the question is
“How do we discern which voice to listen to,
whether internal or external.
How do we know which is the authentic voice of truth?”
This is where the gospel comes in.
The gospel tells us that the Good Shepherd
is the voice we are called to listen to
because he will bring us to all truth; all goodness; and all beauty.
That is what the Good Shepherd will always bring us to
but we need to test the Spirit.
We need to make sure that what we are listening to has that voice.
Here is the thing about it,
you’ve heard me say it a thousand times,
the only way you will know how to do this,
the only way we can come to know the voice of the Good Shepherd
is to have plenty of sample data, which is called prayer.
We have to learn to pray every day
so that we come to know the voice of the Good Shepherd
whether externally or internally,
we will recognize the traces of that voice
and be able to say, “Oh, yeah, that is the truth.
That is the Lord speaking to us.”
And that can only come when we spend tons of time in prayer.
And when we do that, we come to know the voice
and we come to recognize the voice amid all the other voices
that are happening internally and externally.
And we come to purify but we must put in the time,
just like a good artificial machine,
we too need to put in the time to recognize the voice.
Now, there is an important point to this gospel
and that is how we validate it internally.
But we also do it externally together.
The flock of sheep stick together.
They help each other filter out
and come to know the Good Shepherd’s voice.
We, too, need each other to correct; to dialogue;
and to hear each other so that
we can discern the Good Shepherd’s voice
among us as individuals and as a community.
We have to do this together;
and we have to be open to correction
because we can be so easily fooled by the voices out there
that can lead us astray.
Now, that’s all great.
The question is what else?
God will lead us through the Good Shepherd’s voice;
Christ will lead us to this truth,
but he tells us something more that is even deeper and more important;
and that is what the Pharisees didn’t get.
Jesus had to repeat himself in a different way.
He says, “I’m the gate. I’m going to protect you.”
So, it is not just about guidance but protection.
To understand, let’s just assume this is the gate
[demonstrating by seating down between the ambo and altar]
and that is where all the sheep are.
This is the gate.
What he literally does is sits down, right down;
and says this is where I am.
You are not getting in without getting through me.
You cannot get into the sheepfold unless you come through me.
And if you are in the sheepfold,
I am going to protect you.
I am your guardian in here.
But anyone else who comes here a different way is a thief or a robber.
They are not the truth.
They are not the bearers of truth.
Jesus promises to not only guide us
to this truth;
to this beauty;
to this goodness.
He also promises to guard us when we are there;
and that is what happens when we come here.
We are guarded by the Lord, protected by the Lord,
promising to protect his flock.
But we need to put in the time to know his voice
so that we can get inside the fold so that he can protect us.
Then he can lead us and protect us.
Today, may we become men and women, boys and girls of prayer
where we spend the time learning to know the voice of the Good Shepherd.
Then we will listen to it and stay in the fold as one of the flock.
Then we will know
all truth, all goodness, and all beauty
for he will guard us inside the fold because he is the gate.
“And the sheep follow him…
They recognize his voice.”
