THEME: RESPOND TO YOUR CHRISTIAN VOCATION
The Ordinary Season has begun in earnest. The Liturgy of today will remind us about our Christian vocation and the fact that we all need assistance in fulfilling our vocation. Vocation presupposes a personal encounter with Jesus. We are summoned to set out anew like perpetual travellers, seeking the promised land of our vocation. To find one’s vocation in life is no small ‘arrival’. How many young men and women out there are wondering, sometimes with a nagging anxiety, whether they will ever find their purpose in life? Youthfulness can be a very trying time; indeed, youthfulness is a special moment. To experience a particular call from God, a vocation, is to experience one of God’s greatest blessings. Be it marriage or religious life.
In the first reading, we are presented with the story of the call of Samuel. The circumstances surrounding the call of Samuel is worthy of note. We are told that “ At that time, Eli whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the Ark of God was” ( 1 Samuel 3:2-3). Samuel teaches us that an atmosphere of silence is an effective way of discerning the will of God.
Again, the role of Spiritual Direction is paramount in our encounter with God. It took Samuel to go to Eli three times before Eli recognised that God was calling the boy. Indeed, it tells us that it is God who is our Spiritual Director Par excellence. The role of Spiritual Directors is to lead their clients to God. This is because the ultimate aim of Spiritual Direction is to restore broken relationship and union with God.
Indeed, it does not matter our age or status, God can choose you to accomplish His purposes. The only qualification is for us to make ourselves available to God. This availability calls for us to give our whole body to God’s service. We are told that Samuel was lying where the Ark of God was. Today, we have Jesus with us in Tabernacles throughout the world. Can we spend a little of our time in silent adoration and prayer? Just as we usually take our entire family to restaurants to eat, can we bring our families to pray together in God’s presence?
In the Old Testament, the temple was the pride of the Israelites; a place of encounter with God. That is why after the building of the temple in Jerusalem, all the Israelites had to travel to Jerusalem to worship God. But with the fullness of revelation in Jesus Christ, it is we who have become living temples of God; the tabernacle where Christ dwells. This is because; we receive the Eucharist every day.
The second reading, therefore, reminds us that we cannot use our bodies anyhow. It belongs to the Lord. “The body is not meant for fornication but for the Lord and the Lord for the body” (1Corinthians 6:13). We have become the property of God and we owe it a duty to use our body to glorify God. Let us ask God’s forgiveness in this Mass for the many who have committed fornication and continue to commit it because He is full gentleness and compassion.
Just as in the first reading, it took the Spiritual Direction of Eli to aid Samuel to encounter God, the same holds for the Gospel reading of today. It took John to reveal Jesus to his followers for “As he watched Jesus walked by, he exclaimed, “Look here is the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard this and they followed Jesus” (John 1:36-37). As Spiritual Directors; as parents, it is our duty to point those placed under our care to Jesus. Let us not assume the role of Christ; let us not ascribe to ourselves the glory for all glory belongs to God.
Parents should not be surprised, much less concerned, when the Lord establishes a relationship with their children: on the contrary, they should be the first, like the Baptist, to point him out to them and encourage them to follow him. Nor should they be surprised, or upset, if a priest, sister or lay person in whom the heart of Christ beats, is alerts them about their vocation " as the Lord himself was and invites a young person to consider following him more closely in the priesthood or consecrated life.
When we have been led to Christ, it is our duty too to lead others to Christ. For when John led Andrew to Jesus and having encountered Jesus, Andrew could not hide the joy in his heart. “He first found his brother Simon and said to him “We have found the Messiah which is translated Anointed” (John 1:41). The same Andrew brought the lad with the loaves and fish to Jesus (John 6:8. None of the writings of the Gospels is attributed to Andrew. But he certainly preached great sermons by his actions as a personal soul winner. When we sincerely encounter Christ, we cannot but witness to him. Have you encountered Christ? Whom have you led to him?
Our vocation is always beset with anxieties and fear. Do not be afraid to follow the Lord. His invitation does not end: Invitation – response – new invitation – new response, and so on, and so on … ‘till we reach the fullness of our calling. Just say “Here I am Lord.
In conclusion, we must remember that the grace of God can change the sinner’s life. It is wonderful how faith in Christ makes a sinner into a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17, 21). It is important that we live like those who are part of God’s new creation. We are not our own. We belong to the Father who made us; the Son who redeemed us; and the Holy Spirit who indwells in us. We also belong to the people of God, the Church and our sins can weakened the testimony and infect the fellowship. Therefore, “Be holy as the Lord is holy” (1Peter 1:16). We pray always that God’s grace will renew all the love and mercies we have wasted so that we can use our bodies to glorify him.
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