Daily Retreat 01/15/06

2006 Jan 15 SUN: SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

1 Sm 3: 3b-10. 19/ Ps 39(40): 2. 4. 7-8. 8-9. 10 (8a. 9a)/ 1 Cor 6: 13c-15a. 17-20/ Jn 1: 35-42

From today’s readings: " Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening..... Here am I, Lord; I come to do Your will.... The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord.... What are you looking for?"

Listening and Looking

As the guarantor of our free will, God has made it very clear that He will never force us to come to Him. He calls us, and stands ready to lead us; He beckons, and offers to feed us, but ultimately, we can say "No" to all of this. Or, just as bad as saying "No," we can simply ignore His loving invitations.

You see, most people, even those least marked with love for God in their lives, will initially recoil in horror at the mere idea of saying "No" to God, because such a refusal is so clearly Satanic. And well does the Devil know that, even among the many whom he routinely drags into mortal sins, few of them will confess their dealings with demons, their friendship with the Fiend. Few people will confess an actual "No" to God, but many are they who are content to engage in selective hearing in regards to the Word of God, in order to better tune in the secular musings; many are they who are satisfied to spot God only in peripheral vision, in order to better focus on worldly things.

But what then of those of us ready this day to cast off such complacency? How can we follow more faithfully, to come and see, not just a peek, but the full revelation of all that Jesus wants to show us? How can we respond more readily, to come and hear, not just a peep, but the whole symphony of all that Jesus wants to conduct us in?

In his youth, Samuel was given this excellent advice by Eli the priest: "If you are called, reply, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’ " The priest who writes this can only emphasize and echo the soundness of such wisdom! For there are certainly still many among us whom the Lord has been patiently calling and repeating their names, and yet in the same mistaken way that Samuel initially responded, such people barely hear the first word of God, but then immediately start running in the wrong direction and talking altogether too much, when they need to stand still, be quiet, and pray, "Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening." So indeed, does the psalm prescribe patience, that we too at last can say, "I have waited, waited for the LORD, and He stooped toward me and heard my cry. And He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God!"

In their adulthood, Andrew and another of John’s disciples heard the Baptist’s voice pointing out the Lamb of God, and so they decided to take a closer look at this Lamb, Who then rewarded them with a personal invitation for an ever closer look: "Come and you will see!" were the simple words, but the full revelation was, "Come and follow Me! Come and remain with Me! Come and let Me lead you to My dwelling!" For there are certainly still many among us to whom the Lord has been patiently beckoning with His invitation, "Come, and you will see, come, for you still have much to learn about Me!" and yet in the same mistaken way that Peter initially stood aloof, such people hesitate to come any closer, perhaps out of pride, or shame, or lack of interest, or any number of excuses, but then finally a family member, a close friend, a zealous disciple brings them Jesus.

Listen to the Lord, and look for the Lord! Not listening just with selective hearing, but listening attentively with all our hearts to all He says, including the hard sayings, such as this found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: "Avoid sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body."

Listen to the Lord, and look for the Lord! Not looking just from afar or merely with peripheral vision, but looking intently with all our hearts to all He reveals, following the path of life where He leads us, and eating the Bread of Life which He feeds us, and making the holy choice with the noble resolution of our free will, to not refuse God’s invitation, to no longer ignore God’s call, but to say, in word and deed, "YES!" to our divine vocation.