A Meditation for our fourth week of Eastertide in 2026

It takes so much effort to make space for silence in my life (chapter 20). The world around me is swirling, and it feels so hard right now to make the time and calm my mind. Yet, alongside the noise life may scream, there is always a voice of life and peace. This weekend for many of us is a reading from the Gospel of John (chapter 10); here Jesus talks about how only He enters the sheep pen by the gate. As He continues to speak, He shares a few important things. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

Jesus calls me by my name. So many of the voices and the noise in my world are telling me what I could be, or pointing out what I am not. Living with depression has invited me to live with voices within me who speak negatively and critically of all I do – and of who I am. On top of this, the marketing in our contemporary world insists on contrasting who I am with how much better my life could be. There are groups I’m a part of where it seems like I exist to play my part. Yet, Jesus calls me by my name. This good shepherd knows who I am in this moment and comes to me. God knows the depths of me and still invites me to be present. I hear my name as He calls out to me.

Jesus leads me, makes a way for me, and guides my steps. This is a promise from our God, but not a guarantee. It takes my hearing the voice of Christ and choosing to follow Him. This is the hard work of my life of faith. In some ways, hearing the voice of Jesus is the easy part. It isn’t like He is telling me to not touch a hot stove. It’s the active listening to Him while moving through the moments of conversations, work, transit, and life. 

Finally, there is something here I could have easily missed. I am not called alone. Jesus is my good shepherd, and yours too. I am walking with you and with countless others – with Urban Monastics, and in my local church. Two weeks ago I watched a flock of sheep move through a field. It was chaotic and joyful. There is a freedom in following that is beyond perfection as I learn to hear and trust my shepherd. I’m free to look around, enjoy the moments, the air, the grass, and others while trusting the way of Jesus. None of us are charting the way forward. We are following the One who is the way and the life. As one of the leaders of our Urban Monastic movement, I am simply doing my best to hear and follow Jesus in a way that invites you to join us.  I trust in our Lord that He came so we may have life and have it abundantly.

May you hear Jesus call to you by name, call you beloved, and lead you into life abundantly.

Photo Credit
Paul Prins on 8 April 2004 in France.