2nd Sunday
of Ordinary Time
1 Sam 3:3-10, 19
Ps 40 2,4, 7-8, 8-9,10
John 1:35-42
Voco, vocare, vocatus.
To call.
To name.
To summon.
To call upon.
To invite.
To challenge.
There is overlap among the various translations. Each one has a distinct flavor and subtle variation that is unique.
Voco, vocare, vocatus.
This is the root of the word vocation. The first reading, the psalm and the gospel
are tied together by the idea of vocation.
Samuel’s vocation. The apostles’
vocations. And, thus by extension, our
vocations.
Voco, vocare, vocatus.
She heard the call the first time she went there. The sound
was faint. Perhaps it was easier to hear
when remembering the moment than it was when it happened. The invitation became more insistent over
time. The voice of God became more challenging. The urgency in the summons
became more easily discernible. Reflecting on it over 40 years later she wrote,
“Many people don't understand the
difference between a vocation and your own idea about something. A vocation is a call – one you don't
necessarily want. The only thing I ever wanted to be was an actress. But I was called by God.” The
woman is Mother Dolores Hart, of the Order of St. Benedict, former movie and
Broadway star and, for the past 51 years, a cloistered nun at the Abbey of
Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, CT.
A standard dictionary defines vocation as: "A regular occupation, especially one
for which a person is particularly suited. An inclination, as if in response to
a summons, to undertake a particular career." A vocation may be a call to a particular way
of living that is independent of one’s job, or it may define what other's call
one's job. The vocation to
marriage. The vocation to parenthood. The vocation to medicine. The vocation to the creative life. The vocation to teaching. The vocation to religious life in one of the orders
for men or women. We are all graced with
a vocation. We all receive a call from
God. The first challenge is to hear and
discern God’s voice over the clamor of daily life so as to learn what that
vocation is. The second, and greater, challenge is to accept and live out that
vocation.
The first reading is amusing. It took more than one call for Samuel and Eli
to realize that God was summoning Samuel.
Poor Eli. There he was sound
asleep when the kid wakes him up and says, “You called. I’m here.”
Eli eventually understood what was happening and instructed young Samuel
to reply “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” Samuel was obviously rattled when God called
him that third time. He replied, “Speak,
your servant is listening,” completely forgetting to address God as Lord. Samuel’s vocation was to be a prophet. Samuel was called to proclaim the Word of the
Lord fearlessly, even when he knew that those who heard him were not going to
like what he said. That is, in part, the
vocation to which we are all called as Christians. We are called to proclaim the Word of God even
if it makes us unpopular. Being
unpopular is the price of being a prophet.
It is time to become unpopular again.
The annual March for Life is this coming Thursday, 22
January, in Washington, D.C. Talk about being unpopular. Try proclaiming one's
support for life at a cocktail party in Cambridge, or in Manhattan or among the
glittery types in Hollywood. Those who proclaim moral opposition to abortion,
those who decry killing the inconveniently ill elderly, or even not so elderly,
or those who state opposition to a government that forces physicians, nurses,
hospitals and pharmacists to act against their moral convictions by
participating in these and other activities are derided, called names, and spat
upon. Such is the life of the
prophet. Such is the life of a disciple
of Jesus. Such was Jesus' life.
John’s Gospel describes the call of the first apostles. We hear Jesus give Simon a new name Cephas—or
Peter. Peter’s life changed at that
moment, just as our lives change the moment we realize and accept our
vocations.
Hearing the call to your vocation and acting on it is a
funny thing. There you are going about
your daily life, working, playing, relaxing, perhaps simply watching the
Patriots, and so on. And then something
changes. You realize that this is the
one I am called to marry. This is the
work I am called to do. It can be a very
unsettling experience. Recall Mother
Dolores' words, "A vocation is a
call – one you don't necessarily want."
Like Samuel we may need to be called more than once. But, God’s voice is insistent. The call to one's vocation does not and will
not go away no matter how much we, and sometimes those we love, wish we could
simply continue with things as usual. As
Christians we share the vocation to follow Christ. In the Gospel we heard that John said,
“Behold the Lamb of God.” And John's two disciples turned, followed Jesus, and
stayed with him for the rest of the day.
I suspect they remained with him for life.
“Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him . . . . “
When we receive our vocations be it to marriage, parenthood,
the single life, a life teaching or life in a religious order, the Lord will be
with us. He will give us the strength
necessary to live that vocation.
I made a special request for today’s offertory hymn at both
churches where I celebrated Mass. Here I
Am Lord. The hymn emerges from today’s
first reading. Listen carefully to the
dialogue between God and each one of us.
Will I choose to reply with the psalmist? Will I choose to say with Samuel?
Here I am,
Lord.
I have come to
do your will.
I have heard
you
calling in the
night.
I will go,
Lord.
Be assured that
the Lord will lead you.
