HOMILIES

Dear Audience,
For better understanding of the spiritual message behind this homily I kindly remind you to first read and contemplate the biblical texts before reading or listening to my preaching - a human reflection on the Word of God!

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)

Jan 18, 2015

4064

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First Reading

A reading from the first Book of Samuel (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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms of David (40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10)

(R) 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. (R)

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)

"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!" (R)

I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know. (R)

Second Reading

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (6:13c-15a, 17-20)

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.

(P) The word of the Lord.
(R) Thanks be to God.

Gospel

A reading from the Gospel according to John (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. 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.

(P) The Gospel of the Lord.
(R) Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily

There is a story of a man who wanted to fix his troubled marriage. One day he sought the advice of an old well respected monk in his neighboring village. The monk said, "It is very simple. You must learn to listen to your wife." The man took the advice to heart and tried his best to listen to his wife. After a month he returned and said to the monk, "I took your advice seriously and listened to every word my wife was saying and yet I did not enjoy peaceful relations with her." And this time the monk said with a smile, "My brother! Now go back home and listen to every word she isn't saying."

So we say, silence speaks louder than words. Silence expresses what words cannot. Conscious listening to what one says and what one speaks in silence is important in interpersonal relationships but it is even more important in our relationship with God.

In today's second reading from the first Book of Samuel we heard a familiar story - the story of Eli and Samuel. Who was Eli? Who was Samuel? Eli's name meant Exalted. He belonged to the priestly tribe of Levi. He lived at Shiloh in a dwelling adjoining the Temple. He was a judge and High Priest of Israel for forty years. He was a good man. He loved and served God faithfully, but failed miserably as a parent. He failed to curb the sinful behavior of his sons, Hophni and Phinehas. The conduct of his sons disgraced their priesthood calling. Eli had warned his sons of their shameful ways but he did not exercise the authority of a father, judge and priest to rebuke them severely. Eli's sin was so serious that it caused God to condemn his family forever. His sons were killed by the Philistines in a battle and the Ark of the Covenant containing the original tablets of the Ten Commandments was taken away. After the death of his sons Eli continued to live in the temple. It was then that a barren woman named Hannah came to the temple and prayed and promised the Lord that if He would give her a son, she would dedicate him to God.

Samuel was born in answer to his mother's prayers. Hannah, after a year of weaning, fulfilled her vow by entrusting her son to Eli's care. Eli had a godly influence on young Samuel. According to the story we read today it is said that when both were asleep all of a sudden Samuel heard his name being called out. The only other person in the whole temple was Eli so Samuel ran to him. Eli told him that it wasn't him who had called and told him to go back to sleep. This happened again and on the third time Eli in his vast experience and wisdom understood what was happening and instructed him to answer with, "Here I am. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Samuel did as Eli had told him. After Eli's death Samuel became the last judge of the Israelites, a priest and then Israel's first prophet. He crowned Israel's first King Saul, and then anointed the second one, David. In many ways Samuel restored law, order, and regular religious worship in the land of Israel, 1 Samuel (4:15-18; 7:3-17).

What is the message for us?

Even today all of us can relate to where Eli and Samuel were at that time. God is always speaking to humankind. God spoke to some people directly. It happened to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Paul and so on. God also spoke to His people in various ways and by different means, through angels, prophets, dreams, visions and so on. For example, God spoke to Samuel who was young and inexperienced with the help of Eli. Samuel approached Eli three times assuming that it was him who had called him. Eli also did not know what was happening. Finally he understood that it was God calling out to Samuel and instructed him to respond to the call with, "Here I am, Lord. Your servant is listening." I believe today God speaks to us through the teachers of our faith. Like Samuel we too need to seek the counsel of our Church Fathers and teachers of the past and the present so that we could learn to respond to God's call appropriately. Sad to say many people do not want the teachers of our faith to tell them how to live anymore. Lots of people probably want to come to church whenever they want and they don't want to be bothered with Church teaching and scriptures. Some of us perhaps do not want to hear from God perhaps because we are afraid of what He may have to say to us or what He may ask us to do.
God may speak to us in any situation even in the silence. It is in the depth of silence that Samuel heard God's voice. In today's world we all could easily get distracted by the noise and clamor of the things of this life instead of focusing intensely on listening to God speaking. For example, Pope Francis during his recent visit to the Philippines celebrated Mass with bishops, priests, and religious persons, at the Manila Cathedral. In his homily our Pope called on Christians to love the poor and live simple lives of piety to please the Lord. In particular, he encouraged priests and nuns to reject materialism and embrace poverty to identify with the least of our brothers and sisters. However, in contrast several priests were seen raising their smartphones, tablets and cameras to capture an image of Pope Francis throughout the mass. The following day many people took to the media to slam the priests, noting that they have been discouraging churchgoers to use gadgets during mass and here they were doing just the opposite; moreover, completely ignoring the message of the Pope. Therefore, the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still and quiet enough to hear when He says. If we really want to hear the voice of God, we must be physically, mentally and emotionally still. We must silence our hearts to feel the peace of God. We must put aside our worries, our fears and our desires and focus on God and know His Will. So, whatever form of prayer and worship we may observe, what is truly important is silence. When we are quiet and when we are not expecting much, sometimes God moves the most.
God's call is a process of trial and error. When Samuel first received his call from God, there was no grand plan laid out for him. It was simply God calling Samuel's name trying to get his attention. Three times he heard God's call, and three times he ran to Eli, not recognizing that the voice calling to him was in fact coming from God. Like Samuel, our process of discerning God's voice amidst all the other voices clamoring for our attention, is often a process of trial and error. We can't expect God's call to be completely and perfectly laid out for us - telling us exactly what to do, how to do it, when to begin and where to begin. God's call sometimes would require us to get clarification from the scriptures, doctrines and teachers of our faith, and we may even head in the wrong direction for a while but God will make everything right in the end.
To listen to the voice of God we must have the desire, sincere willingness and humility to listen to God's message. Samuel was guided by Eli to position himself as a servant who listens attentively to the call of his master in order to know exactly his masters wishes, desires and commands. We must also humbly and sincerely present ourselves before God, and respond just as Samuel himself responded by saying, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

Let us not tell God what we want Him to do instead listen to Him and then do what He wants us to do.

(P) Amen.

God Bless You!

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