One flock, one shepherd.

I had the privilege of hearing His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama this week. He spoke at Loyola University on the topic of ecumenism. His very simple, yet hauntingly insightful, message can be summed us as follows: "In the past we believed we could not get along because of differences in doctrine. Later we convinced ourselves that we could not get along because of culture. Now, we have no excuse except for our own selfish arrogance." He said that international and inter-religious peace has to begin in our hearts and in our families.

The Dalai Lama is now a Loyola Rambler!

If we look around there is too much anger and violence between peoples of faith. Strangely, most of the Great Teachers of our peoples preached a message of peace and captivated our hearts with their messages of love. We have forgotten those messages because they challenge us to love people who are different than ourselves.

In tomorrow's Gospel reading Jesus tells us that he is the Good Shepherd. Interestingly, Jesus says "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. There also I must lead, and they will here my voice and there will be one flock, one shepherd."

This passage serves as a humbling reminder that the voice of Jesus is spoken and heard in places that we don't know! We can be respectful and let others know how we hear God's voice, but we should be open to hearing them share how they hear it too. The Dalai Lama said, "You can have faith in only one religion, but you can learn from and respect them all."

In the Kingdom we are all brothers and sisters. You are as responsible for the growth and flourishing of a buddhist monk in Tibet right now as you are for the person who will be sitting next to you in Church tomorrow. Love both of them.... heck, love ALL of them.

Peace turtles!