Second Sunday in Ordinary Time B
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
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." 1 Samuel 3:8-10
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. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
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." John 1:35-39a
Piety
Piety includes how we glorify God in our bodies. Our prayers, fasting and good works are how one recognizes the Temple of the Holy Spirit within each of us. Our sensitivity to the call of the Lord is what wakes us from our lethargy and allows us to ask the Lord to speak to us. “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” needs to be the cry of our hearts as the day goes on. The Corporal Works of Mercy are the actions that open the doors of heaven to us. What we do for the hungry, thirsty, sick, naked and imprisoned make up the work of our bodies as we listen to the Lord in the needs of our companions of life. What we do for the person who cannot thank us are the golden works of mercy that show a claim on heaven for each and every one of us. Piety wakes us up to the needs of the poor of the Lord. It allows us to make every word of the Lord to us to be with effect. It is how we say to the Lord “Here am I; I come to do your will.”
Study
Our study of the life of John teaches us how to point out the Lord to the others of our lives. We call attention to the Lord. The Lord is forever inviting us to come and see. Just like Andrew who showed the Lord to his brother, we are called to share with our family how the Lord is the fulfillment of our hearts’ desires. There is the cry of our hearts that we have found the Lord that is heard by those who see the good we do in the name of the Lord. Gradually we are awakened to the good we can do. Study is how we listen to the Lord. It makes us quicker to recognize the call of the Lord.
Action
Our actions speak louder than words. The Lord has a name for each of us. The good we intend is what the Lord is seeing. The Lord is not stuck on our production. He is focused on what we intend to do in his name. The work of the Lord is connected to the love of our hearts in what we do for those who need us. The call of the Lord is to love one another as he has loved us. Our actions give flesh and blood to the goodness of Christ. We are called to make Christ real by what we do and say. Each moment has the possibility of a thousand years of love if we bring the Lord into what we are doing. God sees us in Christ his son. Each of us has the uniqueness of Christ. God does not clone us to his son. God gives us our name in heaven by what we do for each other in the name of Christ. We give Christ his hands and his feet on earth by what we do in his name and where we go to make his love felt. Christ himself gives us a foothold in heaven in so far as the best of ourselves is already in heaven in Christ.
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