Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Reading I 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19

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1 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading I 1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19 Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was. The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, Here I am. Samuel ran to Eli and said, Here I am. You called me. I did not call you, Eli said. Go back to sleep. So he went back to sleep. Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. Here I am, he said. You called me. But Eli answered, I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep. At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, Here I am. You called me. Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening. When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, Samuel, Samuel! Samuel answered, Speak, for your servant is listening. Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect. Responsorial Psalm Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, Behold I come. R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

2 In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart! I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. Reading II 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, Brothers and sisters: The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. Gospel Jn 1:35-42 John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, What are you looking for? They said to him, Rabbi -. which translated means Teacher.-, where are you staying? He said to them, Come, and you will see. So they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, We have found the Messiah -. which is translated Christ -..

3 Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas.- which is translated Peter. Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright 1998, 1997, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

4 HOMILY In last Sunday's gospel the Magi followed the star and discovered the newborn King. In today s first reading, a young Samuel heard a voice and finally followed a call from God that led to him becoming a great prophet. In this Sunday's gospel the disciples follow Jesus himself and discover that he is the Messiah, the anointed One. Today s readings are about God s call to all of us and ultimately encourage us to hear our call and be mindful of our response. Today s first reading gives us a beautiful and simple story from the Old Testament s First Book of Samuel. A young boy, Samuel, apprenticing with an old priest, Eli, is awakened by a voice, a voice he heard perhaps in a dream. He thinks Eli is calling him. Eli is wise. Thinking it to be an illusion he tells the boy to go back to sleep. The voice calls a second time. After the third time Eli begins to realize that God is really calling the boy and so tells him, If you are called again reply Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. It is important for us to see that God takes the initiative. God offers, we respond. We may not understand why, but it is important that we be open to God s initiatives. And God s initiatives come in unexpected ways to unexpected people. For even though young Samuel was just a kid, a kid who was not familiar with the Lord, who was not particularly religious, he became God s first Old Testament prophet, the first in a long line of prophets. The first reading is about the call of Samuel. The key moment is when Samuel learns to open himself up to God s message: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. The gospel is about another call, the call of the apostles. Jesus challenges two of John the Baptist s disciples with the question: What are you looking for? Andrew, one of the two and the brother of Simon Peter, brings Peter to Jesus. Peter, like Samuel, likely wasn t particularly religious. He was brash, presumptuous, and unreliable, and yet became the chief among the other Twelve Apostles not by his choice and certainly not by theirs. He became Cephas or Peter which mean Rock. He turned out to be a Rock by God s choice. Just why God chose him remains a mystery. For Eli, for Samuel, and for Peter, the critical thing was in the fact of their response and in the quality of their response. The awesome reality is that God wanted to be personally involved with Samuel and with Peter. And the equally awesome reality is that God wants to be personally involved with you, in all that you think and say and do. God wants to be so involved with you that you become an actual source of God s presence, power, and love in our world. The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, Here I am. Samuel s call is your call and my call. We stand on the same ground and occupy the same place in the eyes of God. He wants us all for something. Eli said to Samuel, if you are called, reply, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. The big issue for us is not whether God speaks to us. It is rather seeing the

5 hand of God and the presence of God in people and in events. God uses them as His means of reaching us. The most critical issue for us is whether and how we respond. It s the question of our willingness to respond. We are being called. Sometimes we don't realize it at first. Like Samuel we are asleep, or we need someone wise like Eli to help us discern our calling. Sometimes we do realize it, and we must change our life, as Paul suggests, to reflect the holiness of our call. Sometimes it is more obvious, as if Jesus is boldly asking us what we're looking for. What are we being called to? Discipleship. When Jesus enters our lives with the gentle call of his grace, how will we reply? Will we be busy with other things, afraid he will ask too much of us? Or will we trust him? Will we be open to his call and a new beginning in our lives? The next time you pray, you might listen for your call, take Eli s advice to Samuel, and say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. Henry A. Ormond, O.Carm.