Vocations and the Good Shepherd: A Call to Faith

Good Shepherd Sunday: Listening for Jesus’ Voice and Praying for Vocations | Mary’s Message Podcast

Cristy Murray and Father Perry Kenaston open Mary’s Message on Good Shepherd Sunday with prayer and a preview of Psalm 23, reflecting on whether listeners truly believe “The Lord is my shepherd” and how well they listen to Jesus’ voice. Father Perry explains shepherding imagery from John’s Gospel, including how shepherds and sheep recognize one another, and contrasts Christ as the gate and true shepherd against thieves and robbers. The conversation emphasizes the need to pray for priestly and religious vocations—sharing a vocation prayer used at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau—while also encouraging families to prepare for Mass through silence and daily prayer. Father Perry discusses avoiding “mechanical” priesthood, imitating the Good Shepherd through service to others, and mentions upcoming travel to a Project Rachel convention in Wichita before closing with traditional prayers and a blessing.

00:00 Welcome to Marys Message
00:36 Good Shepherd Sunday Focus
00:55 Psalm 23 Opening Prayer
01:46 Hearing the Shepherds Voice
03:07 Praying for Vocations
05:55 Priesthood and Preparing for Mass
08:43 Project Rachel Trip
10:24 Jesus the Gate Explained
12:52 Psalm 23 Lessons
15:56 Imitate the Good Shepherd
21:21 Family Prayer Habits
24:22 Closing Prayers and Farewell

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Transcript

Restream recording Apr 26, 2026 • 04:43:09 AM 0:00

Hello everyone. Welcome back to Mary's Message, leading Hearts Through Jesus Today, the podcast where we listen to the voice of the blessed mother and allow her to guide us ever closer to her son in our modern world. I'm Kristi Murray, along with Father Perry Kenton, and each week we explore stories of faith, conversations with Catholic voices and practical spiritual tools to help you encounter Christ more deeply. In a world longing for peace and clarity, Mary continues to speak to her children with love, hope, and a mother's gentle wisdom. Thank you for joining us as we open our hearts to Mary's message and let her lead us into the loving embrace of Jesus. Um, so today is Good Shepherd Sunday, um, week. Father Perry and I decided that we were going to continue with our Mary's Message series next week. Um, we don't wanna forgo. Good Shepherd Sunday is really important to everyone. And so, father Perry, would you like to start us with prayer? In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Uh, the opening prayer basically is very fitting. It's the response soil psalm. So if you haven't been to Mass yet, you're gonna get a, a sneak preview of, uh, what the response oil psalm is since it's, since it's Shepherd Sunday, it's taken from the Psalms of David. 23. The Lord is my shepherd. There's nothing I shall want. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want inver pastors. He gives me reposed. Besides restful waters, he leads me. He refreshes my soul. Now, I could continue on here, but I don't wanna s spoil. What's going to happen at mass? So we're just gonna leave it there at that. And I'll just consecrate on, on one thing here. The Lord is my shepherd. Do you really believe that? Do you believe that he's your shepherd? Um, picture, if you will, the time of Jesus. And as you do that, remember that in those days, being a shepherd was a very. Important part of your life to a certain extent. And you know, a sheep fold is basically nothing more than a bunch of sheep getting together into one pen. And there's a whole, there's four or five shepherds and each one of those. Each one of those shepherds, they know their own, they have a certain voice, and the sheep know that. One of the things that I learned today at Mass was that when a sheep is first born, the shepherd takes that sheep and holds it really, really close to himself. And that way the sheep could, can smell the shepherd and hi and listen to the voice. So that's just a, a little bit of Bible trivia in case you wanna know that. But basically that's what it is, huh? So how well are we listening to Jesus as a good shepherd? Now, there's two ways we could go about this today. One is to do what I'm just doing, or the other one is. This is what we use Good Shepherd Sunday for is to call for priests and it's a wow, never, no pun intended, but there's a shortage of priests and there's about five of my types next year already to are ready to retire if, but at the same time, who's gonna take care of the flock. So we need to, we're, we're starting something new in cs and it's called the, uh, well, I've got it right here in front of me. Uh, I'm gonna read it to you right now. This is what we do have during the intentions at Mass. Prayer for priestly vocations in the march. Diocese of Anchorage, Juno, oh God. Who wish everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of your truth. Send. We beg you laborers into the harvest. Help us to call from our parish faith filled men to serve at your altar. Grant them grace to speak your word with boldness so that your word may spread and be glorified in our, in our parish, in our archdiocese, and in our world, and all people come to know you, the only God and whom you have sent Jesus Christ your son. Our Lord who lives and rains forever and ever. Amen. Now, that's every, every time at mass, especially on weekends, that's what the parish of Saint Elizabeth Van Seton is doing. I the parishes, you, you know, vocations come from the family, uh, you know, and you gotta pray for vocations because. We're not, we, we need young men and women, uh, to do that. Young men for the priesthood and young ladies, uh, to answer the call, to, to become a consecrated person and everything else. I, I know the monastery here, that's, that's right here in Anchorage. They've got three or four new vocations right now, so that's a good thing. I know one of 'em, she is, they're. Daily mass and everything else. And she's got the, the white uniform arm. She's got I think two years and then she moves to another step and eventually then she'll take perpetual vows. Uh, well, how can I say this? Uh, we don't take, well, we kinda do, but we kind of don't. In regards to priesthood, if you're a religious order, that's, that's when you take your promises. Now as regards to dialysis of priest, you take three promises, uh, you know, obedience and all that good stuff. But, you know, at the same time, uh, I've been at it for 26 years and, well, it's almost 27 now, but you know, it's an interesting situation. When you're, uh, the very first day that you kneel down before the bishop and he pours oil on your hands, and he says You're a priest forever, according to the order of Eck, you don't, that doesn't really sink in until you're older, priesthood wise. And I, and I tell people, I said, you know. I hope and pray that I never become a mechanical priest. And what I mean by that is that everything is rote. I just know you do such a disservice. The people, my friends, the people come there to be refreshed, to enjoy the peace and the quiet. And that goes the entire family. I mean, um, the question that I always have, not for me too. How much time have we spent preparing to celebrate mass? And I'm not talking about about the priest, I'm talking about the the family too. Or do we just get in the ju just get outta bed, take a shower or whatever, jump in the car and go, where's the prayer time? Where's the prayer time? To, to say hi? How you doing today And be the, be the Mary and not the Martha. You don't have to worry about that for at least a couple of hours. Just be quiet, huh? Shut up. Me. I keep on telling people that, but how can Jesus talk to you if you're talking all the time in your head? You know, God, I, I'm amazed at the number of people when I have to leave and go to the, an early mass. How many people are out there going so fast? They're hurrying to go work. They're hurrying to go to work. Why don't they pray first, uh, en route? You know, they make CDs for that. They make the living rosary. What you have to do is pop that in and you're set. But some people, I think they just, oh, I gotta go, gotta go. I gotta, and then it's really sad. That's one reason why I could never live in LA or any place like that. I mean, here's bad enough. Lake Otis, when I was living over on the other side from 6:00 AM to eight, 8:00 AM he stayed off Lake Otis 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM He stayed off Lake ob. That was rush hour. I mean, these people, man, they're hurry to go someplace. They're hurry to get home so they can. Open up a can of beer and relax, I guess, instead of being with Jesus. But anyway, that's just my, my perspective. I'm sitting here talking to you and, and this time next, this time tomorrow, myself and another young lady, we're going to a convention, uh, in Wichita, Kansas. Uh, project Rachel, it has to do with, uh, with women who have had abortions. So it'll be a chance for us, the two of us, just to network with other people and to share our views. And I have a few things to say. I said, you know, you guys are sitting here in your plush areas. I'm not, I'm gonna be nice to 'em. So I, I won't say too much, but at the same time I says, you know, you guys are, how, how many of you would have had a conversion experience? When's the last conversion experience you've had? And I'll tell him, I says, you know, guys. I can guarantee you that if you accept my invitation and I might even pay for the ready ticket, come up to Alaska and I'll buy you a plane ticket, a small plane ticket so that you can have your conversion experience, especially November and December, because I know that's what it really gets. Interesting. They got wind, they got a lot of good stuff, and the. Sometimes the winds takes that little plane and plays bad mantin with it. So Sure, you got free will guys, I, like I said, I might even, I might even play for the plane ticket. I see the operative board there might might, but you know, whatever. But, so anyway, here's, that's, you know, I'm, like I said, I'm not gonna be a spoiler here. With regards to the, you know, you know, regards to everything, but Jesus says right here in scripture, he says, I am the gate for the sheep. All who come to before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy. I come to have everybody have a eternal life, and that's it. The, uh, like I said, to better understand the gospel. It is necessary first to go back to the previous chapter of John in the ninth chapter, John tells the story of the healing of the man born blind, and then it, it continues on. So Jesus uses the analogy of a shepherd to describe his role and explain who he is and what is doing such stories and illustrations. I. We're familiar to the people of Jerusalem and Judea because the Jews of Jesus dying were first shepherds and then farmers, so that he lays his course out. He does it again. You know, he in, in today's text, Jesus uses two sets of images. The first one is the saint of the common Shepherd, or different shepherds would bring their sheep in night and hire a gatekeeper to guard the entrance in the morning. As the sun came up, the shepherds would return to the sheep fold, which I explained was, and be let by in by the gatekeeper. They then would call their sheep out of the fold and lead them to pasture, to shepherds, call their sheep out and we go from there. In contrast, thieves and robbers would gain access to some other way. Using this illustration, Genesises identifies himself as the true shepherd. So as I shared with you before, the sheep, when it's first born, he takes it and holds it so he can imprint, and this is what they're using, the word imprinting. The the sheep takes a really good whiff of the what. The Shepherd smells like and listens to his voice and knows right away that this is his, this is the person that's gonna take care of him, et cetera. That's the same way with Jesus. Now, prayer to applications, Psalm 23, porch. Portrays God as a shepherd who cares deeply for his flock, leading them to green pastures and stew waters restoring their souls and guiding along the right paths. In Catholic teaching, the imagery emphasizes our dependence on God, highlighting that without his guidance, we are like sheep. First one, one lesson trust in God's providence, the psalm. And encourages beloveds to trust that Gods provide for all our needs, even in times of difficulty or nature. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. Another one. God's guidance and restoration. Just as the shepherd leads sheep to nourishment and safety, God restores our souls and guides us immortal. And spiritual paths. This guidance is both personal and communal, reflecting God's care for the church and each believer. Third, faith have been trials. The, the message acknowledges life's challenges, but assures us that God's presence brings comfort and courage. Sacrificial love of Christ Jesus is a good shepherd. Expl amplifies ultimate love by sacrificing himself for the flock. This teaches us about humility, service, and a call to follow Christ faithfully. So practical application, daily trust in Jesus. How? How often do we trust Jesus? You know? You know, was. There's a, a guardian angel of God, my guardian, dear to whom evolution here ever this day be at my side, delight and guard to rule. And God, how do you trust when something happens? Do you put all your trust in that and says, oh, well, spiritual reflection, meditate on Psalm 23 to find peace and a reassurance service to others. Humiliate Christ, shepherding by caring for those in need, offering guidance, support, and compassion. Every day that I leave the, the apartment here and right in between there, there's the medium and there are these guys are holding up the signs. Anything will help, et cetera. You know, whether people on the street, I, how often do you care for them? You know, I'm not saying that she had, you know, or whatever, but it sometimes it's, you know, it's only by the grace of God. That we have what we have and how well do we take care of the, the initial resources and everything else like that, that we have. Psalm 23 reminds Remains a timeless source of comfort, spiritual insight, reminding Catholics that God's care is constant. His guidance is sure, and his love is sacrificial and per personal. By falling the shepherd, we are led to nourish spiritual nourishment protection. And eternal hope. That's it. Oh, no. Emulate the, the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd can take care of us. Uh, bless you can imitate others. If he takes care of the, if he takes care of his sheep, then we should be able to take care of, you know, parents. You are shepherds. Whether or not you wanna know that or not, you're shepherds. And when that, when that baby comes out, that's when the fun begins. That's when being a shepherd begins. So what, at three o'clock in the morning it goes. Yeah. Hi, how you doing honey? It's your turn. No, I was an hour up again. Oh, I know, but it's your kid too. Well, well, same thing, father with, um, the babies. You know, the babies, even before they come out, they can, they can sense their mother's heartbeat. They know like how their mother sounds. So then when they come out too, then they can smell the milk. Um, so yeah, so the mother imprint on the child and. Like, soon as like the child, a con conception happens, right? Yep. The child knows the mother, the mother knows the child. They're connected. And that's life in the womb. Well, and that's what, that's what fascinates me with, uh, project Regional and Regional Vineyard, the same things, but one's a, one's a long process, and the other one's a short process. It's the same idea about abortions and everything. Mm-hmm. But I, I, I had a chance today. At the dinner and she just happened to drop her name. I'm Janet. Oh my God. You know the, the mind kind of ticked on that one. Hmm. Is that the same one, Janet, that I'm gonna go stay with? I mean, that's the wrong thing to Hey, to be with a travel with. Yeah, travel. That's a good idea. It creates a better picture, I think. Yeah. But anyway, so Janet and I had a chance to talk and everything else, and she said that, you know, when I left, I mean, we talked a bit and everything else, but mm-hmm. Let's see, what time is it? It's oh nine o'clock. Well, we still have, I'll be i'll, I'll just be going there now tomorrow, but Janet said I'll be there probably about 11 o'clock or so. So, but we'll have four or five days of a. Of talking, but with talking with other people too. I'm, I'm just not gonna, gee, please understand. I've been alone for 25 years and I, I'm not, I'm not a hitch to somebody's hip. I'm not quite sure if you have to end that or not, but it'll be good to you. Travel with someone, keep you outta trouble. That's true, that's true. Or maybe they will keep me out. Well, vice versa. Yeah. There you go. You can be each other. Shepherd. You keep Well, that's, that's the whole thing, you know? I mean, what was it the other day? Oh, today when I went to the mall, they recognized me and he says, you know, father, my littlest girl here was having a birthday today. I said, oh, really? So I just went straight over to her and B, blessed her. I'm not, not afraid of that. We're supposed to be doing that. I mean, that's what we're supposed to bring Jesus to people. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It says in scripture, not a bunch of state individuals that, oh, what was me? Oh, garbage on that. I mean, I, you know, I, I asked by one of my people that I was sitting with there at the dinner, so to speak, what time is, oh, it's 10 minutes to eight, so I. I said, well, it's about time for me to leave anyway. So I just left and I came here and like I said, guys, because of my executive decision I made coming over here, that car is gonna stay where it is until I see it on Sunday and next week. cause it's safe. You don't have to worry about getting hit or hitting me the car. That is, he might be vengeful. And he'll be all alone for a whole week. So I'll have to bring in a present when I get back just to make sure that it's okay. But boy, I tell you what, my friends, that sucker is dirty. I mean, my God, if I was as dirty as that, I'd be after my own two, but it'll, it'll cost me like $20 to wash it and $30 for the interior. So. It might be worth the effort for me to do that, but while I'm gone, my cleaning lady will be in on Friday of next week to take care of things. Uh, and that's it. Today, you know, I, I, the more and more I think about it, the more the, the decision has been made with regards to tomorrow I just get up and I can have Jesus right here. And alls I have to do is just put around a bit. And by the time. Tom gets me here. When Tom gets here, he'll come up and we'll do a walkthrough and make sure the lights are all off, and then I'll just go right straight to the airport there. You father, you sound excited You're going on a trip That's Well, yeah, I, I've gotta pack my brownies too, but that's. Like your daily brownies, right? Yeah, chocolate, chocolate brownies. Oh, good, good, good stuff. Yeah. But well remember, yeah, guys is just ask yourself a question tomorrow when you get up. What am I doing for vocations to the priesthood of religious life on Good Shepherd Sunday? He was asked that question, not only to you and to your. Husband and wife, but also to your kids. Uh, cause we need them not only in the priesthood, but also in the religious life. Uh, I can, that's all I can say. Uh, I just thought of something when you said, um, about driving and in the morning and prayers. So, um, I, so my kids and I, when we pull out of the garage, we, we say our prayers. So we say we start with, um, the Guardian Angel Prayer, and then, you know, we have several prayers after that, but there are times that, you know, I'm such in a rush that I forget to pray. And then my kids remind me, mom, we haven't prayed yet. Mm-hmm. So it's, I'm glad that they're, you know, getting that habit that now they're reminding me if I forget. Um, that's right. You should take the keys away. So if you haven't started that on your own. Like you said, instead of turning the music on and listening to some things that are not so spiritual, not so Christlike, it's just get, um, get something. But there's also CDs out there that you can buy from, uh, Marion house, uh mm-hmm. And it's, uh, it's right there. Just a second man. Okay. Yep. So now Father Perry is holding a CD of prayers. It's, but I, father Perry, a lot of newer cars today, I don't know if they have CD players. I think it's like people just connect Bluetooth their phone to, to their cars. Yeah. Well, yeah, I know the modern technology nowadays. Uh, but if you have a CD player, there's a lot of CDs there that will, that can automatically play, I mean, automatically play whatever you choose it to. And if you just program it. Well, they don't, they don't come anymore with CD players, do they? The cars? Mm-hmm. Nope, not the newer ones. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Because the one that I have here, the one I replaced is a CD player, so, mm-hmm. It's got the CD in it. Yeah. But you can program it to connect, you know, you can choose whatever channel or song that plays first when, when you turn your, your music on. You just gotta be cognizant of what you're playing. Yeah. So my friends, I guess it's a, you know, I just ask you the same question again. What are you doing to celebrate the Good Shepherd Sunday? Are you praying for. Are you praying for young men and women or more mature people like myself, uh, to, uh, answer God's call to being a shepherd or even women too. So I, you know, I close with that. We have to continue to pray for our priests too, right? Just because they're priests already. We don't, I mean, we can't, that's what I'm saying. That's one reason why we're, we're using this right here, um, to, uh, and it's in the back flap of the missile lit. And they, they say it during the, uh, intentions and everything else it sees. So yeah, it's become a daily, it's become a, a habit now. So, which is a good thing. Yeah. Oh, okay. How else they, you know, the kids are out there, they just have to realize that that's a, a worthwhile calling too, and not being brainwashed by society. Mm-hmm. That says, no, you can't do that 'cause you can't make any money at it. Well. Yeah. I'm sorry. That's, that's not right. There's, there's more important things than, than when you, yeah. All right, father, you wanna see our closing prayer? I like that picture that you have there. Yeah, if it, I don't know if it's, I don't know if it's ticklish scratching his, that's just what you do to a dog. You should catch your belly. Well, heavenly Father be coming before you now, and we ask you to. To be with us and as we close with closing prayer today, let's do it this way here. Let's start with an our father and go from there. So our father who art in heaven, hallow, be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth that is in heaven. Give us and day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not do temptation. I deliver us from evil. Amen. Hey, O Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among and blessed your Lord Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinner now of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father, to the Son of the Holy Spirit, as was the beginning is now in every shall be world without him. Amen. The Lord be with you. God bless us, the father of the Son-in-law. Holy, holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. My friends, keep us in your prayers as Janet and I travel back to which, which you taught Kansas. Uh, the latest weather report there is that thunderstorms and flooding and 60 degrees, so wow. All right. Well, but I'm gonna bring my, I'm gonna bring my umbrella just in case I want to, I wanna see if I can do a Ben Franklin thing. Uh, we'll pray for you, father, you and Janet. Yeah. All right. Thank you for joining us today on Mary's message, leading Hearts to Jesus today. If this conversation brought you closer to Jesus, I invite you to subscribe. Leave us a five star review and share this episode with someone who needs a little hope and. Every time you do you help Mary's message Reach more hearts. For links, resources, and ways to stay connected, be sure to check the show notes below. And if you'd like to go deeper, we now have a newsletter just for you. Head to our subscription landing page in the show notes to join our community. Receive reflections, resources. Um, Mary, an inspiration delivered straight to your inbox, and you get to ask Father Perry directly if you have any questions or need spiritual direction. Until next time, may Mary's message echo in your heart and lead you ever closer to the loving embrace of Christ. I.