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11-Jan-2009
Dear Friend,
From our human experience we know that people call one another when they need
to get in touch or when they need something or someone. We also know that for
good communication to take place listening is essential. Listening helps us to
know and to understand others! The attitude of listening symbolizes that we
care for others; that others are important and that what they have to say is
meaningful and important. God speaks to us and communicates with us, but are we
ready to listen? This weekend let’s spend some time listening to God, for to
listen is to love! -Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: 2nd Sunday of the Year ‘Speak Lord, your servant is
listening! 18-Jan-2009
1 Samuel 3: 3-19; 1 Corinthians 6: 13-20; John 1: 35-42;
The book of Samuel offers a beautiful vocation story account. In between Moses
and Samuel the voice of prophecy was practically absent. It was rare for Yahweh
to speak but now Yahweh speaks to young Samuel. God has not abandoned his
people, he continues to reveal himself and speak to the people through the
prophets. With Samuel a new age is beginning, God is once more breaking into
human history. It was new for Eli the priest and Samuel dedicated to the
service of the temple, so they do not understand or recognize the voice of
Yahweh. But God calls again and again, till Eli understands that this is no
ordinary human voice but the voice of God. It reminds us that the initiative of
the call comes from God and it demands a response to be freely given. God
speaks for a purpose and to understand its purpose one needs to pay attention
to His word all the time. Man’s response has to be obedience to the word and
willingness to do God’s will. “Speak Lord
your servant is listening!”
The Quest for Jesus
Albert Schweitzer was a concert pianist in Europe who gave up his career in
music to become a doctor and work as a missionary in Africa. Albert Schweitzer
writes in his book ‘The Quest for the Historical Jesus’ Jesus comes to us as
one unknown, as he did long ago to the apostles on the seashore. He speaks to
us the same words that he spoke to them: “Follow me!” “And to those who accept
his invitation, whether they be wise or simple, young or old, he will reveal
himself to them in their toils and sufferings. And they shall learn through
their own experiences who he is.”
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
In the second reading Paul is speaking to the Corinthians who were known for
their immoral practices and loose behaviour. In order to win them over to
Christ, Paul had to warn them and teach them to give up their immoral ways that
they had inherited from their ancestors and move over to Christ. Fornication
and sexual immorality was part of their life style and Paul had to warn them of
the danger to their faith if they held on to these former practices. Their
permissive society saw nothing wrong with their traditional sexual behaviour.
Paul reminded them that by baptism they had become a new creation and their
bodies were the temple where God abides. Therefore they had to live pure lives
and not indulge in whatever would destroy God’s abiding place.
Temple of the Holy Spirit
Once in a small town in Poland a young boy stood watching a gypsy as he drank
from a well in the town square. After drinking, the man stood there, gazing
down into the well, as though looking at someone. He was a giant, of a man but
had a friendly face. So the boy approached him and asked, ‘Who lives down
there?’ “God does’, answered the gypsy. ‘Can I see him?’ asked the boy. ‘Sure
you can’, said the gypsy. Then he took the boy into his arms, lifting him up so
that he could see down into the well. All the boy could see, however, was his
own reflection in the water. ‘But that is only me,’ he cried in disappointment.
‘All I see is me.’ ‘Ah,’ replied the gypsy, ‘now you know where Gold lives. He
lives in you.’
Anonymous
The gospel of today taken from John narrates how two of the disciples of John
the Baptist met Jesus for the first time. John gives the name of one of the
disciples Andrew, the other name is not mentioned. The second is in all
probability himself, or it could be deliberately anonymous, as it could stand
for anyone including you and me, disciples of the Lord! The mention of the
narrative of the vocation or first meeting is not so much to let Christians
know how John came to know Jesus, but to let them realize that what happened to
John happens to every disciple called by the master to follow him. John has
various steps in his encounter with Jesus: First Jesus is passing by, he is
always near and reachable; secondly, Jesus invites the disciples to a deeper
knowledge of himself: “What do you want?” he asks. Their response, “Rabbi,
where do you live?” Jesus replied, “Come and see”. The initiative of every
vocation is Jesus’ not ours. Thus Jesus
gently leads the disciples to himself. The final step in the encounter was
their response to his invitation. ‘They went, saw where he lived, and stayed
with him the rest of the day.’ The calling of the disciples is a personal
encounter with Jesus. They come to know him, they communicate and they listen
to Jesus, are attracted by what the saw and heard as they spent time with him.
They instantly became his disciples and they came back from the encounter eager
to share what they had personally encountered with others. Andrew ran and
brought his brother Peter to Jesus. John must have done the same with his
brother James. Philip who happened to meet Jesus the following morning hastened
to bring Nathaniel to Jesus. By narrating the story of his vocation John
reminds us that Jesus is always on the look out for people who will follow him.
He is always passing our way. The initiative is his in calling us and he awaits
our response. We have to be sensitive
to his call in order to respond to him. We become disciples by listening and
by spending time with Him. The most important part of following Jesus is not
about knowing his doctrine but about knowing and loving Him.
Discovering God’s Plan for Me
Coach Grant Teaff of Baylor University in Texas has written a book called ‘I
believe’. In it he describes an incident that happened earlier in his career at
McMurry College. One Saturday night he and his team had taken off in a
chartered plane to return to Texas. Suddenly the plane developed serious
trouble. The pilot announced that he would attempt a crash landing. The plane
was loaded with fuel, so an explosion was likely. As the plane sped downwards
one of the players called out, “Coach Teaff would you lead us in prayer? We’re
all pretty frightened.” Teaff prayed aloud for everyone. Seconds later the
plane bellied across the ground. A shower of sparks engulfed it. Miraculously,
however, it didn’t explode and no one was hurt. The next night Teaff and his
family were in the Church together. Right in the middle of the services Teaff
got up and left the church and went to the McMurry Fieldhouse about a mile
away. He went directly to the
team’s dressing room and knelt down and prayed: “God, I know you have a plan,
a purpose, and a will for my life and the lives of these young men. I do not
know what it is but I’ll…. try to impress upon the young men I coach this year
and forever that there is more to life than playing football; that you do have
a purpose for our lives.”
Mark Link in ‘Sunday Homilies’
“How sensitive this little Samuel appears, attentive to the voice of the
mysterious being who calls him in the temple! From the moment the living God
pronounces his name, the child awakens and is responsive to an experience of
intimacy which will allow him, in his turn, to recognize and to name the One
who speaks to him. Something similar occurs at the first meeting between Jesus
and some of his future disciples. A mystery of communion is hinted at;
something irreversible is set in motion: heaven murmurs names known to God
alone, while waiting for the earth in its turn to discover and pronounce the
divine name. On the banks of the Jordan, it is Jesus, who comes and goes
accessible to everyone, as if he wanted to attract attention. On the testimony
of the Baptist, who points him out, two men set out to find him, to follow the
Lamb so that they may live close to him. ‘Come and see ….’. What wonderful
delicacy, without the shadow of constraint: the
invitation to walk freely towards the truth, trusting in this friendship which
is offered. At the heart of every attachment, there is always a privileged
moment when we seek to give the one we love the secret name which belongs to
that person alone. Just so, all human beings bear a name of eternal tenderness
which Christ destines for them and which they will receive on the palm of their
hand. Of the two disciples who followed Jesus, only Andrew is mentioned by
name. We can guess who the other was: the beloved disciple. But under his
anonymity is not each of us included, each of us called to discover the
intimate name which has reserved for us?” -Glenstal Bible Missal
Finding Him and Finding Our Vocation
Sr. Sheila, a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, is based
in Houston, Texas. She works in a hospice and loves her ministry. Indeed, the
first stirrings of her vocation came at the age of twelve. Confined to bed in
the local district hospital in Kerry, she had lots of time to consider the
‘happenings’ around her. There were twelve beds in her wards and people moved
in and out at will. In the corner of the ward was an elderly woman. At night
when the lights dimmed, she would call, ‘Sheila, come.’ Sheila got out of bed
and tiptoed to her bedside. The woman smiled at her and said, ‘Water, water.’
From a plastic cup with a spout Sheila dropped water in her mouth, pulled the
blankets over her shoulders and quietly returned to bed. This was repeated two
or three more times during the night. Sheila always returned to bed wondering,
‘Whose grandmother is she, and why is she all alone?’ Awakening one morning and
doing her usual
early checking on the old lady, Sheila was shocked to find only starched white
lines on her bed. For days Sheila was angry with the nurses and doctors who
worked on the ward. She often found herself saying, ‘No one should die alone
like that. She could have called me.’ It was in this way that the seeds of her
vocation were planted in Sheila’s heart, and how she eventually found herself
working in hospice care. She says, ‘The hospice journey is short in terms of
calendar days, six months or less. But being a companion to those who are aware
of the shortness of life is truly a privilege. Being at the bedside is being on
holy ground.’
Flor McCarthy in ‘New Sunday and Holy Day Liturgies’
The Acorn Planter
In the 1930s a young traveler was exploring the French Alps. He came upon a
vast stretch of barren land. It was desolate. It was forbidding. It was ugly.
It was the kind of place you hurry away from. Then, suddenly, the young
traveler stopped dead in his tracks. In the middle of this vast wasteland was a
bent-over old man. On his back was a sack of acorns. In his hand was a
four-foot length of iron pipe. The man was using the iron pipe to punch holes
in the ground. Then from the sack he would take an acorn and put it in the
hole. Later the old man told the traveler, “I’ve planted over 100,000 acorns.
Perhaps only a tenth of them will grow.” The old man’s wife and son had died,
and this was how he chose to spend his final years. “I want to do something
useful,” he said. Twenty-five years later the now-not-as-young traveler
returned to the same desolate area. What he saw amazed him. He could not
believe his own eyes. The land was covered with a
beautiful forest two miles wide and five miles long. Birds were singing,
animals were playing, and wild-flowers perfumed the air. The traveler stood
there recalling the desolation that once was; a beautiful oak forest stood
there now all because someone cared.
Brian Cavanaugh in ‘The Sower’s Seeds’
May we listen to God’s call and discover our special calling in life!
Fr. Jude Botelho
[email protected]
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife. net Thank you.
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