(1 Sm 1:1-8; Ps 116:12-19; Mk 1:14-20)
Welcome back to Ordinary Time as we bid farewell to the Christmas season and begin counting the days toward Lent.
And Welcome again to our website … which begs the question, why are you here?
When was your calling?
Oh, you’re not a priest or a religious? You don’t live in a monastery or work in a shelter?
And yet, you have been called. You wouldn’t be reading Scripture reflections here if something – or better yet, Someone – had not tapped you on the shoulder and told you to wake up … to take your life more seriously.
Perhaps, like me, you’ve had several calls … most of which you’ve ignored, or sent to voicemail.
When I was age 3, I survived a 2-story, head-first fall onto a sidewalk … and lived.
From childhood to my teen years, I had 7 surgeries to remove a tumor on my foot, which turned out to be non-cancerous.
I survived a horrible bike accident, a falling board with a nail that plunged into my forehead, a fall from an old swing set that tore off half my cheek.
And lived.
You could say I’ve had enough close scrapes with death and disaster that God must want me to hang around for some reason.
But my real call came when I began to take my faith more seriously. I had read a book, one of those fictional tales that brought the stories of the Bible to life. I placed the book down and wondered (aloud) if this was really a true story. At about that time a little hummingbird swooped down in front of my face – dangerously close for both of us – and simply floated there for what seemed like 5 minutes (but was probably more like 5 seconds).
I got the message.
What was your message?
In today’s reading, we begin to read about the birth of Samuel by first reading about his mother, Hannah, who desperately was seeking a sign that one day she might bear a child.
In the Gospel, the future apostles get their sign when a man they’d never met suddenly appeared, told them to drop their nets and come with Him to be “fishers of men.”
Imagine if Jesus suddenly called you to drop your nets and stop chasing after fish … stop chasing after silly dreams that won’t make you happy, truly happy.
But again, I believe you have already received that call.
Otherwise … why are you here?
Stop sending it to voicemail.
Answer the call and figure out what in the world God has in store for you.
Open your eyes to what God shows you today. Open your ears to what he has to say.
Open your heart … good things will come.
