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A good shepherd who is really attentive to his sheep knows the distinctive voices of his charges. Just as a mother knows the voices of her children, so the shepherd can recognize the call of his sheep. And wonderfully, the sheep know the shepherd's voice. When they hear it, they joyfully fall in line, for they know that the shepherd is the key to their flourishing.

Jesus Christ, as the Good Shepherd, says that he has come to gather the nations, and the nations, by implication, will recognize his voice when they hear it.

What is it that leads people to accept Jesus Christ? What is it that appeals to them when they read the Scripture or they approach the sacraments?

We could say that it is only custom or background or luck but I think that something much deeper is going on. There is a resonance when Christ's voice is heard precisely because the whole world has been wired to hear it. The voice of Jesus is the voice of the gatherer. We lost sheep implicitly recognize it and respond.

Jesus is so much more than an inspiring moral example and much more than a saint whose dedication and love we admire. Jesus is someone who knows us personally. He is the one who can pick out our voices from the hubbub around us; who knows our names and distinctive needs and desires. We are known by him. When we pray in our distinctive way, we are heard.

And more to it, we hear his voice and recognize it as the key to our flourishing. We have been wired for the Word of God, and Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. We instinctively know that he has the words of everlasting life. And just as the sheep long to be commanded, so we long to be ordered by the Word of God.

                                                 Memory Lane!            

So, we asked Google AI: "Besides the upcoming NFL Draft, on what other occasions have the eyes of the USA been fixed on Pittsburgh, PA?" The below 16 items are listed below the pictures in the order that they appear. You may or may not agree with the gravity of some of them (Furries? Pickelsburgh?).  Can you think of any events that they may have missed?