2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Samuel 3:3-10;19

I always find this story to be funny.  Samuel is sleeping in the temple in front of the ark.  Eli, the priest, is sleeping in another location.  God calls Samuel’s name and he runs off because he mistakenly thought Eli was calling to him.  God never tells Samuel to stop.  He lets the boy go to Eli and wake him up.  God calls us and sometimes we are unclear about what we are called to do.  We might even not recognize the presence of God calling to us.  Our challenge is to stop, open our ears and respond as Samuel does, “Speak, Lord, your servant I listening.”  Those words are powerful.  In my prayer, I am usually doing most of the talking.  I am worried about this and that.  I want this and that.  Perhaps God is calling all of us to keep quiet and listen rather than talk.

Has God ever called you to anything?  Were you listening?  Was the task to be done easy or difficult?  What blessing came to you as a result of this call/invitation?

1 Corinthians 6:13-20

If anyone has ever accused the Catholic Church of worrying a lot about sexual morality, welcome to this reading.  Notice, however, that not even one time is the word “sex” ever mentioned.  This reading calls us to use the gift of our bodies for one thing only – serving the Lord.  That can be done in many ways – giving yourself to another in marriage, giving yourself to many in holy orders or religious life, or giving yourself to others as a chaste Christian.  Remember that God looked upon the creation of humans and found them “very good.”  Our bodies despite all their frailties mirror the goodness of God and are made in God’s image and likeness.  Even if you are older and your body is not functioning like it used to, it is still a body that God loves.

Do you see your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit?  If so, does the way you live reflect that belief?  Do you take care of your body as you should?

John 1: 35-42

I find it interesting that the apostles of John ask Jesus “Where are you staying?”  They do not ask him where are you going?  I am not sure why that jumps out at me.  Perhaps they want to know if he is just a transient or will he stay with the Jewish people.  Remember that Jesus does not stay.  After his Resurrection, he ascends back to His Father.  Stay also indicates permanence.  Perhaps there are asking, “Jesus, John told us you were coming.  Can we stay with you?  Can we be part of your plan?”  The Gospel says that “they stayed with him that day.”  Before they stayed with John and left when John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”  Now they stayed with Jesus one day.  Will they stay tomorrow or will they leave?  We don’t know.

Have we asked Jesus to stay with us?  What would that “staying” look like?  Do we live differently as a result?

 I invite your comments.