|
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 18, 2009 Year: B
1 Sam. 3:3-10, 19;1 Cor. 6:13-15, 17-20; Jn. 1:35-42
GOD IS CALLING
First Reading...
"Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord,
where the ark of God was.
Then the Lord called, 'Samuel! Samuel!'
and he said, 'Here I am!'
Samuel ran to Eli, and said,
'Here I am, for you called me.'
But Eli said, 'I did not call; lie down again.'
So he went and lay down.
The Lord called again, 'Samuel!'
Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said,
'Here I am, for you called me.'
But he said, 'I did not call, my son; lie down again.'
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
and the word of the Lord has not yet been revealed to
him.
The Lord called Samuel again, a third time.
And he got up and went to Eli, and said,
'Here I am, for you called me.'
Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.
Therefore Eli said to Samuel,
'God, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say,
'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'
'So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Now the Lord came and stood there,
calling as before, 'Samuel! Samuel!'
And Samuel said,
'Speak, for your servant is listening.'
As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him
and let none of his words fall to the ground." [1 Sam.
3:3-10, 19]
Second Reading...
"The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord,
and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and
will also raise us by his power.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with
him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits
is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the
body itself.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and
that you are not your own? For you were bought with a
price, therefore glorify God in your body." [1 Cor.
6:13-5, 17-20]
Gospel Reading...
"John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he
watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the
Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and
they followed Jesus.
When Jesus turned and saw them following, he 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 see.' They came and
saw where he was staying, and they remained with him
that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his
brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the
Messiah (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon
to Jesus, who looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son
of John. You are to be called Cephas' (which is
translated Peter)." [Jn. 1:35-42]
ANECDOTE:
Ravi had been blind all his life. He had never seen the
sun, or the moon, or the stars. He did not know that
the sky was blue, as that the grass was green. He did
not know what a tree looked like, and could not even
begin to imagine what shape and colours a bird might be.
His family and friends would say to him “The sun is
shining brightly today,” or “There are thousands of
stars in the sky tonight.” Ravi could not see them. He
would become angry, he often said “There is no sun.
There are no stars.” People felt sad because Ravi was
so angry. They told him that even though he could not
see them, the sun and stars were still there.
Sometimes people would talk to Ravi about the beautiful
colours of nature, but he did not listen. One day his
sisters were talking. They were trying to decide what
colour saris they should wear for a wedding. One said
she would wear red, the other preferred yellow.
“What does it matter,” shouted Ravi angrily, “There is
no such thing as colour.” Everything is dark. The
colours are only in your mind.”
Slowly people stopped talking to Ravi about the things
they could see. They knew it would only make him
cross. Then one day, when Ravi was twenty, his family
and friends heard of a man who might be able to help
Ravi. He was called The Buddha, and people who had met
him said he could make people walked who had never
walked before. And he could make blind people see.
His family and friends took Ravi to the Buddha. Ravi
was not quite sure what was going to happen, but he was
not afraid. The Buddha gently soothed Ravi’s eyes with
four different lotions and suddenly, he was able to
see. He knew that the sun and the stars shone in the
sky. He was how beautiful the colours of nature were.
He marvelled at the trees and birds around him and he
saw his sisters in their richly coloured saris. He was
amazed.
Jesus said to his followers, ‘come and
see’ meaning, you need to open your eyes and see what
you really want when you are with Jesus. Today we need
to look closely Jesus who is calling us for an
experience.
Who is
Jesus for you? John calls Jesus the Lamb of God
and thus signifies Jesus' mission as the One who redeems
us from our sins. The blood of the Passover Lamb
(Exodus 12) delivered the Israelites in Egypt from
death. The blood of Jesus, the true Passover Lamb (1 Cor.
5:7), delivers us from everlasting death and
destruction. It is significant that John was the son of
a priest, Zachariah, who participated in the daily
sacrifice of a lamb in the temple for the sins of the
people (Exodus 29). In Jesus he saw the true and only
sacrifice which can deliver us from sin. How did John
know the true identity of Jesus, as the Messiah? The
Holy Spirit revealed to John Jesus' true nature, such
that John bore witness that this is the Son of God. How
can we be certain that Jesus is truly the Christ, the
Son of the God? The Holy Spirit makes Christ known to us
through the gift of faith. God gives us freely of his
Spirit that we may comprehend the great mystery and plan
of God to unite all things in his Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ.
John
in his characteristic humility was eager to point beyond
himself to the Christ. He did not hesitate to direct
his disciples to the Lord Jesus. When two of John’s
disciples began to seek Jesus out, Jesus took the
initiative to invite them into his company. He did not
wait for them to get his attention. Instead he met them
halfway. He asked them one of the most fundamental
questions of life: “What are you looking for?” What were
they looking for in Jesus and what were they aiming to
get out of life? Jesus asks each of us the same
question: “What’s the goal of your life? What are you
aiming for and trying to get out of life?”
Jesus
invites each of us to "come and see" for ourselves that
his word is true and everlasting. "Come and see" is
God's invitation for fellowship and communion with the
One who made us in love for love. Augustine of Hippo
tells us something very important about God and how he
relates to us: “If you hadn’t been called by God, what
could you have done to turn back? Didn’t the very One
who called you when you were opposed to Him make it
possible for you to turn back?” It is God who initiates
and who draws us to himself. Without his grace, mercy,
and help we could not find him.
When
we discover something very important and valuable it's
natural to want to share it with those closest to us.
Andrew immediately went to his brother Simon and told
him the good news of his discovery of Jesus. And it
didn't take much to get Simon to "come and see" who this
Jesus was. Jesus reached out to Simon in the same way he
did to Andrew earlier. He not only addressed Simon by
his personal name, but he gave him a new name which
signified the call God had for him. "Cephas" or "Peter"
literally means "rock". To call someone a "rock" was
one of the greatest compliments. The ancient rabbis had
a saying that when God saw Abraham, he exclaimed: "I
have discovered a rock to found the world upon". Through
Abraham God established a nation for himself. Through
faith Peter grasped who Jesus truly was – the
Anointed One (Messiah and Christ) and the only
begotten Son of God. The New Testament describes the
church as a spiritual house or temple with each member
joined together as living stones (see 1 Peter 2:5).
Faith in Jesus Christ makes us into rocks or spiritual
stones. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of faith to
know Jesus personally, power to live the gospel
faithfully, and courage to witness to others the joy and
truth of the gospel. The Lord Jesus is ever ready to
draw us near to himself. Do you seek to grow in the
knowledge and love of Jesus Christ?
"Lord
Jesus Christ, fill me with the power of your Holy Spirit
and let me grow in the knowledge of your love and truth.
Let your Spirit be aflame in my heart that I may know
and love you more fervently and strive to do your will
in all things."
The grace of being with Jesus opens our
eyes. We will see what we have never seen. We will be
open to a new world of Jesus. There will be plenty of
good will, forgiveness, love, presence, kindness and
everyone will be happier. That is what happens when we
meet Jesus. We need to heed his call. Change will
happen.
LIFE EXAMPLE:
I was travelling back from
Bishop Bosco Penha’s office. I got down from the Rick at
Check Naka (Dahisar). I boarded another Rick to Mira
Road. I travelled less than 100 yards, I could see a
hand wave from the window of a car. I thought Rick
driver must have done a mistake. Well, within minutes
the car stopped right in front of the Rick. I was
afraid. A gentleman came down from the car and wished me
“good evening father”. I was surprised. He said,
‘father, come with me, I will take you to Mira Road’. He
paid the Rick driver. When I was in the car the gentle
man introduced himself to me and said, ‘father now I
have kidnapped you’; I said ‘what do you want from me?’;
‘nothing father’, ‘I want my house to be blessed’. Okay
I said. He drew the car towards his house, I went in. I
found a big house, clean, beautiful. He went into the
kitchen and prepared a tea for me and a few snacks.
After a while he told me, ‘father I am sorry I took your
precious time. Please bless my house’. I blessed the
house and I told him that the tea was good. He told me
that he is able to cook good food. I enquired about his
family, he said that his wife is a manager in a bank,
and he himself is the head of a company and his two
children in Panchagini in a private school and they
would go to meet them every weekend. He told me that he
cooks, some times his wife cooks, he does all kinds of
house work and there is plenty of good will and love in
the family. I looked into his eyes full of love and
understanding. I was surprised to know that a man with
such status, prestige and wealth, lives a love-filled
life. I was happy for the man and his family.
This
is what happens when one meets Jesus, life changes for
the better. This is what we are called to do.
|
