My take on the Sermon of January 18, 2015, 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time; Blessed Christina Ciccarelli
I the Lord of sea and star I have heard my people cry. The 1st reading of today tells us about the call of Samuel. Samuel was a providential son, he was the product of a pledge made by his mum Hannah before he was born. Hannah was a barren wife of a man who had 2 wives. Hannah did not give up when her rival was teasing her of being barren. She continued to go to the temple to pray and hope on the Lord.
This practice continuous to happen today and we keep giving women pressure to give birth forgetting that child birth is a gift from God, we ridicule them. Hannah converted her difficulty and bitterness into prayer, she continued to pray and said to God, if it was God’s will I get my portion. She was in the temple weeping to God and calling to God.
It is me, it’s me oh Lord standing in the need of prayer, not my father not my mother but it is me on Lord standing in the need of prayer. This is the words of the hymnist who cries to God in prayer. Hannah dedicated the son even before she had him, she prayed and prayed that even the priest mistook her prayer for drunkenness.
People might mistake our cry to God as something else. Let not the wrong judgment of people dissuade us. Let not any priest or pastor discourage us from our cry onto God. Let’s also not misjudge others and discourage them. Hannah was strong in her faith in God and knew that only Him could deliver her from the disgrace and pain. She responded to Eli that if you know what I am going through, you would have known that I am crying to God. Note if others don’t understand you, God understands you – Amen.
Let’s not praise God because we have what we have asked for, lets not praise Him only in our plenty, but praise and thank Him even the more even when we are waiting and you don’t have what we are asking yet. God knows what is right for us and may His Kingdom come in our lives. So Hannah dedicated the son even before he was born and gave him to the service of God.
As soon as Samuel was born Hannah took him to Eli in fulfilment of her promise to God. We need to be faithful in little things and God will bless us with much more. When she gave the son to Eli, the priest did not give the boy a room to sleep send him but sent him off to the temple to sleep in there. This is despite that fact that his had sons who were not sleeping in the temple but were comfortable in the rooms he had.
Some of us mistreat our house helps that is not the doing of a Catholic Believer. We need to realize that these people, our house helps were also made in the likeness of God and they deserve better. But whiles Eli thought he was abandon and relegating him to the background. God had plans for Samuel within that space. Even when people disgrace you, God has not finished with you and He is there for you. Even when we go into the pit God is there.
It was there, in the temple, that Samuel heard God calling him. God will do His own thing no matter where you are, no matter where man puts you. Just hold on to Him. He is God and He will do His own thing. Be still and know that I am God; in you oh Lord I put my trust.
Samuel was just a boy, are we still baby Christians? He could not distinguish the voice of God, he mistook the voice of God for that of Eli and went to the priest. It happens to us too, to know God’s will of and do it is the greatest thing that can happen to us Christians. How do I discern from God voice? We need the Spirit of discernment. Will we today hear God voice and get up to our boss at midnight, will we be that diligent and obedient? Will the youth of today in apprenticeship do as Samuel did? Will our Seminarians of today so same?. We might do that once, but will we be like Samuel and do that 3 times, waking and going to the master after the 3rd calls. It was only after the 3rd time that it dawn on the High Priest Eli and he was given direction and what to say to God if He calls again.
We have to be diligent and persistent in prayer and obedience
In the Gospel we hear of the account of John the Baptist, 6 months older than Jesus Christ who has started the public ministry long before Christ and was gathering people and foretelling the coming of the Christ. He came to prepare the way for Christ and he was true to his calling and purpose. He see Christ passing and acknowledges Him and says behold the Son of God.
John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. His disciples leave him and follow Christ. This is John who was prophesied to be the greatest born of a woman. But he did not hold on to his greatness but true to his purpose points Christ as being the Lamb of God. Will our priest do same today competitive word, will we do the same. Will we and do we point Christ to others?
Andrew once he had encountered Christ also then points his brother to Christ and Peters name was changed. It was his brother whose name was changed but the Bible did not tell us that Andrew was bitter, when we encounter Jesus lets point Him to others. ~Lets have the abundance mentality and when we get a good thing lets offer it to others and God will make us great too.
The readings tell us of mistaken identity – Samuel mistook the identity of God. We do the same. We sometimes change Gods identity for man and we also mistake some men identity to be God. Mistaken identity gave Essu’s blessing to Jacob. Lets ask for the Spirit to discern
It is better to sleep in the Lord than in the world. Let’s not be comfortable in the world, no matter the comfort of today lets flee from the world into God.
Lets discern the voice of God. It a difficult thing, how do we know, it is him. Padre Pio received several mystical things in his life, but people thought it was the devil attacking him. But it was later that they found it was from God. Anything you do we should seek the voice of God. We should ask the Holy Spirit to help us and also seek others who can help us. Like Solomon let’s pray for discernment. In 1st Corinthians 12, one of gift of the spirit was that of discernment 1st Cor 12:10 “To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits to another divers tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues”
We should bear in mind that not all were called by God “I did not call you” – in the story of Job, we are told that when God called the sons of men, the devil to was there. God did not call the devil, but he was there. Let’s not take it for granted that all have been called, even in the house of God, lets discern the spirits- there are gate crushers.
One is not enough, sometimes we say I have tried once, go beyond 3, the perfect number. So let’s persevere, let’s try again. Samuel did not stop at the 2nd call or 3rd call. If he did he will have missed the call.
It is not enough to be in the temple alone. We must translate what happens in church outside the church. Our lives should shine for others to see.
Be familiar with Gods voice. Let’s spend the rest of the time knowing Gods voice. Discern Gods voice for others too not only for ourselves. Note that Eli did also know God voice from the 1st call, but after the 3rd call he recognized it and pointed Samuel to God. Lets also point others to God. John also recognized Christ and pointed Him to his disciples.
Grow in the Lord, we cannot remain as children in Christ but we must mature in Christ.
Learn to Do Gods will, Samuel was in the temple night and day pleasing God. Don’t pretend to what we are not, lets put o the nature of Christ and not be hypocrites. It will not please God. If we do His will he will bless us like He blessed Samuel “Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect”
Glorify God in Himself and also through others. Even though John was great he did not glorify himself but Christ. Don’t be selfish and self praise., but selfless and God praise.
Follow Jesus and not John. There are many Johns in our in lives but it is Christ we should follow. We have been pointed to Christ why are we following others, or signs and wonders when we have to follow Him that is the source of the signs and wonders.
Point to Jesus, show others Christ and not to ourselves. Our lives should be lived bringing and pointing others to Christ and not to ourselves. That is our purpose in this life.
God is calling us, just as He called Samuel and Andrew. Let us first respond and leave where we are and follow Him, lets find out where He lives and live there and when we are done let’s point to others.
Today we remember Blessed Christina. She lived in the sixteenth century. She was born in Abruzzi, Italy. Her baptismal name was Matthia. As she grew up, Matthia felt God calling her to a life of prayer and penance. She chose to become a cloistered nun. Matthia entered the convent of St. Augustine in Aquila. She was called Sister Christina.
Sister Christina’s life as a nun was hidden and silent. But the people of Aquila soon realized that she and the other nuns were bringing many blessings to them through their prayer and loving dedication. Even though Sister Christina never left her convent, she was very aware of the needs of the poor people of her area. She and the nuns provided whatever they could for them. Sister Christina also paid attention to the sufferings of others. She prayed and offered sacrifices for all those who suffered.
Jesus sometimes gave Sister Christina the ability to know the future. The Lord even used her to work miracles for the good of others. When she died on Janu-ary 18, 1543, a large crowd of people came to honor and thank her for the gift she had been for their city.
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There are many different ways to help others. Blessed Christina shows us how to help other people by praying for them and being attentive to their needs and sufferings.
FIRST READING – 1 Samuel 3:3b–10, 19
Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was. The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.” Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.” So he went back to sleep. Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “You called me.” But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM – Psalm 40:2, 4, 7–8, 8–9, 10 (8a and 9a)
- Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
- 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.
- Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, “Behold I come.”
- “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!”
- I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
SECOND READING – 1 Corinthians 6:13c–15a, 17–20
Brothers and sisters:
The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one Spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.
ALLELUIA – John 1:41, 17b
Alleluia, alleluia. – We have found the Messiah: Jesus Christ, who brings us truth and grace. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL – John 1:35–42
John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi”—which translated means Teacher—, “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where
Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” —which is translated Christ—. Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas”—which is translated Peter.
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