Homily for the Week of January 18, 2009

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2008
1 Samuel 3:3-10.19
Psalm 39
1 Corinthians 6:13-15.17-20
John 1:35-42

Most of you probably have never heard of John Ruskin. Ruskin lived in England about 100 years ago. He believed that a building or a table or a chair or a house was an expression of the faith and goodness of the one who built them. One day Ruskin was sitting near a window in his home in London starring in the distance, watching a lamplighter ignite street light after street light. Because it was dark, he couldn't see the lamplighter. He only saw the trail of the lights he lit. Turning to a friend, Ruskin said: That’s my image of a Catholic. You may not have seen the Catholic, but you know a Catholic passed by from the trail of light left behind. Can that be said of each of us?

That is the meaning of all of our Bible readings for today. With today’s first reading we are back in the generation immediately preceding the birth of David. There was a place where Jews would come every Saturday to worship God. In it was the ark of the covenant much like our tabernacle. In the church this day was a teenage boy named Samuel. His mother was Hannah who had prayed a long time to have a child. In gratitude to God for giving her a son she dedicated him to the exclusive service of God. One night God calls Samuel. Samuel did not understand what God wanted from him. God calls to him two more times. And then Samuel says to God: Speak God, I am listening.

In the gospel Jesus invites two of his most important disciples, Andrew and his brother Peter. Peter doesn't seem to understand what Jesus wanted until his brother Andrew says: we are going to work for Jesus.

Throughout our lives, all of us meet a variety of people. Most of these meetings have very little significance and are soon forgotten. Some people we see every day but we never get close to them. With these types of people, we never reveal any of our true self to them. These people often work with us and live near us and go to the same church as we do.

But, on the other hand, some of the people we meet turn out to be of great significance. They enrich our lives and, sometimes, they change them completely. A bond is formed and we are able to reveal our true and inner self to them. This, to be sure, is one of the most delightful and rewarding experiences of our lives. Think about the first time you met your future husband or wife or the person you plan to marry. For many people, it was a magic moment. You remember every detail of that first meeting.

Since I have been here at St. James I have had the joy of helping to prepare nearly 50 couples to be married to each other. Each of them had different and special story of how they met each other. Some may have gone to the same school or college; others may have worked in the same place; others may have been in the Navy together; others may have been a first responder at an accident. Some have told me that they thought they would never get married, until.... Each of you who are married have your own story. But in all cases, whether they knew it or not, God was involved. It was a spiritual call and mystery. The same situation takes place when a man or woman are feel a call to become a priest or a nun. We call it vocation.

And so it was with the two disciples who met Jesus in our gospel reading. It’s clear that Peter, Andrew and John had a wonderful first meeting with Jesus. In fact, many years later, when John was writing his gospel, he remembered that it was at 4:00 PM that they met.

These 3 men felt peace in His presence. They also felt that their contact with Jesus could help them become closer to God. They could feel the influence of Jesus over them. Jesus did not try to convert them or control them. But his influence was so great that that first Peter and Andrew were changed for life.

So, what are you looking for? Why have you come to church today? Did you come to fulfil some sort of obligation—like getting your card punched every week? And when you get the right number of marks on your card you will get you to heaven.

Do you know what you are really looking for? What was Samuel looking for? What were Peter and Andrew looking for? To me, all of us are looking for the one basic thing that only God can give us: love—true love--unconditional love. What really unites the people is that they are listening. They have put themselves in the place where they will be most able to respond to God’s call. Like the young couple preparing for marriage, we are looking for a love that will never cheat on us or deceive us or frustrate us. We want a love that will fulfil the deepest longings of our heart and mind and soul. That is what we are looking for.

Maybe we have grown tired of looking for love in all the wrong places. There is someone who can satisfy those deep longings within us. And, you know His name—Jesus Christ. Right now, He is challenging us like He did Peter and Andrew. “What are you looking for”? So often we may expect God to call others, and not us. We look around and see others who seem to be easy to speak to, or are smart and know a lot about their faith. We expect God to call them. But actually no where in the Bible do you hear that God calls the talented. In fact, the opposite is true. He calls slaves and street people and sinners and tax collectors.

God’s call can take many forms and come to us in many different ways. Maybe it’s through a direct contact, like He did with Samuel in our first reading. Maybe it’s much more subtle—perhaps through a friend or co-worker or a family member. Maybe it’s just a tug at our hearts that we often feel during the quiet moments in our lives.

Each of us who is baptized have been called to follow Jesus. You and I have also put ourselves today in the place where we can best hear God’s call. Here we are in God’s dwelling place. Today we all have listened to his Word from the Bible. We will soon be invited to share in the same meal. Today you and I have answered God’s call to follow him. We have come to church.

Each and every one of us is called to some specific work for God in this world. Some are called to be married; some are called to stay single; some are called to be priests or nuns or deacons. But in each of these the call is the same. It is an invitation to bring God’s love to others as a practicing Catholic and Christian. And as John Ruskin said: You may not have seen the Catholic, but you know a Catholic passed by from the trail of love left behind.