2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – B

It would be understandable for us to focus our reflection on the scripture readings this weekend on the people who would appear to be the main characters in these readings: Samuel in the first reading, the first Christians of Corinth in the second, and the apostle Peter in the gospel. But it might also be helpful for us today to focus our attention on the people we might call the “supporting actors” in these readings: Eli, the priest in the Temple , Paul, the unseen author of the letter to the Corinthians, and Andrew, the faithful disciple of John and Jesus who steps aside to make way for his brother to take a more prominent position among the followers of Jesus.

At first glance, the scripture readings today understandably appear to focus our attention on the calling or vocation of Samuel, the Corinthians, and the apostle Peter. On the other hand, there also appears to be an important focus on the people who play an significant role in leading others to a deeper knowledge of God.

In Baptism, we were all given a vocation or calling to live a holy life in this world so that we might joy eternal salvation in the next. That calling is specified for every individual in the Church as a calling to be holy in the single life, in marriage, in the religious life, or in the priesthood.

We have all received the universal call to holiness, and each of us has discerned or is discerning our own individual call to holiness in our own particular vocation in life.

Like Samuel, the Corinthians, and Peter, each one of us has heard a calling from God or is seeking to know God's will in the way that will enable us in this life to live the vocation that will lead us to eternal happiness and life.

Like Samuel, the Corinthians, and Peter, we have also been helped in understanding the calling God has given to us with the assistance of others: parents, teachers, relatives, friends, mentors, guides, perhaps even priests and religious brothers or sisters we have known in our lives. These are the people who like Eli, Paul, and Andrew have served the important role of leading us and others to a deeper knowledge and love of God.

As I think of my own vocation to the priesthood, it is easy for me to remember how my own parents, grandparents, relatives, friends, teachers, and priests, including our former pastor here at St. Thomas à Becket, Father Pat, have helped me to know God and God's plan for my life in a way that has brought me here today. And I am sure that each and every one of us can think of many people who have been like Eli, Paul, and Andrew for us.

Perhaps today, as our nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this weekend, we can remember as one of his great legacies to our country his ability to lead us and guide us to a deeper knowledge of God's plan for us, especially as that plan includes a commitment to ending all forms of prejudice and discrimination. Dr. Martin Luther King will always be remembered as a hero in our country's history when we remember that his dream of justice an equality for all people was not merely his own vision but rather a guide to us to point the way to how we might better know and put into practice God's plan for all of us to live in holiness and peace.

As we listen to the scriptures this weekend, let us give thanks to God for all of the people in our lives who like Eli, and Paul, and Andrew have led us and others to a deeper knowledge and love of God.

Let us also pray that somehow God may use each one of us to help bring others to a deeper knowledge and love of God through our prayers, our words, and our example.

Samuel, the Christians of Corinth, and the apostle Peter all did great things to give glory to God, but they came to know and love God only because of the generosity and faith of Eli, Paul, and Andrew.

In many ways we are truly like links in a chain – may we be grateful for the faith we have received from others, and may we also be generous in handing on that same faith ourselves.

Thomas P. Ferguson
January 15, 2006