Homily
The 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Year B
January 14, 2018
Deacon Dan McShane
Opening:
I’m sure if you speak to anyone that is in the Ordained or Religious Life, or in Lay Ministry, they can all tell you a story about their call to their vocation. Some might say that it was one specific incident, or others might say that it was a process that took place over time, but they will all share one thing. They said yes to God!
First Movement:
In my own case saying yes to God was a process that took decades to come about, but was really focused for me on one specific event and person. Let me take a moment and tell you about it: As a boy I think I felt a calling to a vocation to the priesthood, but I refused to listen to it. Instead I got interested in the things of the world, not the least of which was girls, and I refused to listen to God’s call. But God is certainly patient with us all and will just provide other opportunities for us to serve him. That is what happened to me. As some of you know, I had a long career in executive management in the railroad industry, and at the time of this life changing event my company was in the process of participating in the privatization of the railways in Peru. I spent a lot of time there and as part of the process traveled extensively throughout the country looking at the railway’s facilities. These travels took me to lots of places the average tourist never sees, in fact, I found myself in a number of areas where people speak an Andean Indian dialect, and don’t speak Spanish at all, not that my Spanish would be much help in talking to them. In one of those villages we hi-railed into the town and a group of children gathered around us even before we could get out of the truck. One child, that was maybe 10 to 12 years old wanted to show me something. I followed her and she lead me across the tracks to a shrine that had a statue of Our Lady in it and the shrine was dedicated to the health and safety of all railway workers. While I couldn’t understand a word she said, I was touched by her faith as she prayed at the shrine. This child lived in a shack with a dirt floor and probably had no idea where tomorrow’s meals would be coming from yet she wanted to pray for me and the men that were with me. At that moment, I knew that God wanted me to do something more, and like Samuel, I had to answer that call.
I had been blessed in many ways in my life, now it was time to give back, which ultimately lead to my early retirement from the railroad industry and entry into ministry and ultimately my Ordination to the Diaconate.
I wonder about the little girl sometimes, she would now be in her late 30’s now, and I can’t help but wonder how her life has turned out, what she is doing, does she have a family of her own, is she even still alive, and if she had any idea of the impact she had made on my life! How her faith touched my heart that day, and opened me up to respond to a call from God that had been there for a very long time.
Second Movement:
Eli tells Samuel to respond to the Lord should he speak to him again, and when God does speak, he responds, “Speak, for your servant is Listening.” It is the listening part that is so difficult for us, isn’t it? I initially didn’t want to listen because it meant making some major changes in the way that I saw my life taking shape. Isn’t that the case for a lot of us? Don’t many people feel a call from God to serve Him in some way, but just put it aside? Maybe you heard an announcement before Mass saying we need more Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, or to volunteer with the St. Vincent de Paul, or for the young people to be an altar server and your initial reaction is, “I could do that.” But then you put it aside because you might have to attend some training classes, or it would mean you have to be at a Mass on a specific date and time, and you just don’t want to be obligated to be somewhere during your free time. That’s God calling you, but how are you answering? Are you responding like the Psalm response, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will,” or are you responding, “There are lots of people here today, some of them will do it, I don’t need to.”
3rd Movement:
When John the Baptist said of Jesus as he passed by, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Two of his disciples immediately followed Jesus. John had never proclaimed anything like this before about any of the hundreds that had come to him for baptism. The two disciples immediately recognized Jesus as the Messiah and set aside their lives to follow him. They didn’t choose to watch others from the sidelines, they stepped up, and Andrew even went and got his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus as well.
Each of us are called to bring our brothers and sisters to Christ. We do it by word and example, in our homes, schools and workplaces. We can’t rely on someone else evangelizing for us. We have to do it.
Closing:
St. Paul warned the Corinthians that just because they had become Christians, it didn’t give them a right to go back to their old ways of sin. As Christians, they had a new responsibility to live in ways that people saw in them the special relationship that Christians have with one another through their membership in the Body of Christ. We are not to stay on the sidelines, St. Paul would tell us to enter the race.
Does God’s call always come at the perfect time for us? Probably not. Is there sometimes confusion in our lives when God Calls us? Yes, after all it took Samuel three times and the counsel and advice of Eli before he got it. Do we always recognize God’s call for what it is? No, but the power of prayer to the Holy Spirit can help us to hear and understand that call.
My prayer for each of you this evening, is when God reaches out to you, you will decide to get into the game, and answer him like the Psalm response, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”