2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Fr. Leo
In that familiar and beautiful story of Samuel being called by God out of his sleep, Samuel cones to recognize the Lord’s voice and makes himself available by asking the Lord to speak as he is listening.
God is also calling each of us out of our “sleep” torecognize his call in our hearts. Thus, we need to be attentive to God and make ourselves eager listeners to God’s Word to become willing to do God’s will.
As psalm 40 says, “your law is within my heart.” God is in us and when we hear and unite ourselves to God, we find our delight.
God calls us in many ways, but always through our hearts. Andrew was called by God and then fetched his brother and said, “we have found the Christ.” Cephas goes, and in his own encounter with the Lord becomes Peter, the rock of the Church.
Just as Samuel and the apostles responded to God’s call and became his ministers, so too, each of us are called to be ministers of God. The call is a given. Our response is a choice. Two things will help the Holy Spirit make clear God’s voice to us, and make possible a self-giving of our whole selves to God.
The first is to be open to the Spirit by doing what we can to seek the Lord. Reading scripture, praying, meditating, and contemplating God’s presence in silence. Then, out of that disposition, we will hear and be inspired to follow the Lord. The Lord’s complete self-gift to us becomes our self-gift to him.
May the Holy Spirit soften our hearts and create a burning desire in us to be with the Lord. Then may we find our deepest joy in hearing and giving our whole selves to God in union with him in mind, body and soul. May we become his presence, his love, and his action in the world. For this we pray! Amen.