The Life that Lasts
Julián Carrón - In a multicultural world like ours, with so many choices about how to live, how can we recognize the true path among all these differences? All choices promise to make our lives better. We can understand the difficulty, living in the age of social media, where truth and falsehood, or “fake news,” are often mixed together. How can we recognize the truth among so much fake news?
To recognize the truth, the Gospel tells us: “My sheep listen to my voice.” Jesus, the good shepherd, says that his sheep recognize his voice by listening to it. What is amazing is the trust Jesus places in us, that we can recognize his voice among many. He, who appeared as a man among men, knows that those aware of their needs, hunger, and thirst can easily recognize his voice, just as a sick person recognizes their healer or a child recognizes their mother. “I know them,” says Jesus, “I created them, I know what they need, and that is why when they hear my voice, with its unmistakable accent of truth, they follow me.”
How can we be sure we haven’t mistaken false promises for the truth? That we haven’t followed a charlatan or a fraud? Jesus gives us signs to identify him: “I give them eternal life.” The sign is the life experienced by those who follow him: a life full of meaning and purpose. Not just any life can do this; only a life that never fails, that endures unlike false things. The sign of truth is its lasting nature in love, trust, and fullness. Many things seem true at first but leave us empty because they don’t last. They never keep their promise. The life Jesus offers has three consequences that anyone can recognize in their experience.
The first is that the sheep who follow him “will not be lost forever.” How can we be sure? Because we can verify it now. If He fills our lives with meaning and this life never fails, then the One who sustains it now has the power to make it last forever. The second is that “no one will snatch them out of my hand.” No one can deceive us into leaving Him. No other life meets our needs like His. We may fall, make mistakes, or stray temporarily, like the prodigal son. But once we’ve tasted His life, we can’t live without it. The third consequence is bolder: “No one can snatch them [my sheep] out of the Father’s hand.” Jesus says: “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all.” No power, now or in the future, can take us from that life or from the One who gives it. “I and the Father are one.”
The challenge Jesus introduced continues after Him, as seen in the Acts of the Apostles. When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Antioch of Pisidia, they proclaimed the new life brought by Jesus to those in the synagogue. Many Jews and proselytes believed, recognizing Christ’s voice in Paul’s words. Others did not. Then Paul and Barnabas said, “It was necessary that the word of God be proclaimed to you first, but since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. This is what the Lord has commanded us [...].” When they heard this, the Gentiles rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were destined for eternal life believed.
Today, we face the same choice: we can accept the word, as it is addressed to us, or reject it, like some Jews in the synagogue. As the word continues to be proclaimed, others will accept it and rejoice. The book of Revelation confirms the promise’s fulfillment, speaking of those who participate in this new life forever. In them, all the fullness we desire is absolutely fulfilled: “They will never again be hungry or thirsty, nor will the sun strike them, nor any scorching heat, because the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and guide them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Fourth Sunday of Easter – Year C ; Notes from the homily by Julián Carrón, May 11, 2025
(First reading: Acts 13:14, 43-52; Psalm 99 (100); Second reading: Rev 7:9, 14b-17; Gospel: Jn 10:27-30)
