Answering the Call

Jan. 14: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

We don’t always hear God’s call literally, like Samuel does in today’s first reading. Usually, it comes from people we know, like in the Gospel.

Reading 1

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.

Sometimes we don’t recognize God’s call. But God is infinitely patient. He’ll keep calling us, no matter what. Probably not literally, like He did with Samuel, but it’ll be there. What is likely, is someone else in our lives will fill the role of Eli, having the perspective to recognize a call that we don’t. Talking with friends or even a spiritual director can help us discern what God wants from us, when He calls us in more oblique ways.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 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. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
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.
"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. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

The “new song” isn’t the Psalmist patting himself on the back for writing another hit single. It’s a song about God doing something new. This is a song thanking God for doing something He’s never done before. Which is how this connects to the Gospel, which is about the early days of Jesus’ ministry.

What’s interesting here is the statement that God doesn’t want sacrifice or offering; instead, he wants obedience. Jews were expected to offer sacrifices at the temple regularly, so this Psalm is actually rather forward looking. We no longer slaughter lambs and pigeons. Jesus is the final and eternal sacrifice.

Reading II

1 Cor 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.

Part of Paul’s reason for writing this letter is that some Corinthians believed sexuality was a morally indifferent area. They considered sexual satisfaction a matter as indifferent as food, and they attributed no lasting significance to bodily functions.

Paul assures them (and us) that you can’t separate yourself from your body, any more than you can from your soul. We are both bodies and souls. What we do with them either glorifies God or rebels against him.

Alleluia

Jn 1:41, 17b

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We have found the Messiah:
Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The second verse comes from John’s introduction to his Gospel, while the first is something Andrew says in today’s Gospel passage. Putting them together here, the Church wants us to see the narratives we’re told aren’t just stories about people and events long ago, but lessons we’re supposed to learn from.

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 he 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. 

John the Baptist truly wasn’t in it for his own glory; he didn’t care if anyone remembered him or paid him homage. It wasn’t fake humility that caused him to wear animal skins and live in the desert. He really was announcing the Messiah, and when he saw Him, he gladly pointed it out to his followers.

All these centuries later, we do remember and honor John. How about that?

Andrew and John, son of Zebedee, listen to John the Baptist, leaving him behind to follow Jesus. He’s a new rabbi to them, and they wind listening to Him all day. (The 4:00pm note implies that the sun is going down, and they have to stop for the night.) The next day, Andrew is convinced enough to tell his brother Simon he’s found the Messiah.

So, we have a chain of callings—John the Baptist to the sons of Zebedee to Simon-Peter. That’s how God usually calls us, through community and friendship.

We shouldn’t think we’re the end of that chain, either. We’ve been called, by our friends and family and church, and we need to become that call for others, as well, just like Andrew and John.