\u00a0\u201cTeacher, where are you staying? \u201c\u00a0 \u201cCome and see.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two disciples in today\u2019s gospel ask a simple, straight -forward question: \u201cTeacher, where are you staying?\u201d\u00a0 An answer to this question could be given in a moment, in a couple of words, but Jesus does not provide them. Instead he says, \u201cCome and see.\u201d\u00a0 The disciples come to Jesus with a question; he responds with an invitation.\u00a0 Instead of responding in words, he offers an opportunity for the disciples to travel with him, to walk with him, and perhaps to find what they are searching for.<\/p>\n
I do not know how frustrating it might have been for the disciples not to have their question answered, but it is very instructive for us.\u00a0 Because what Jesus is revealing in this short encounter with the two disciples, is the basic pattern by which God deals with humanity, the way that God interacts with us in our lives.<\/p>\n
We come to God with questions.\u00a0 God gives us invitations. The questions are many and can be drawn from a number of different circumstances.\u00a0 Why do the innocent suffer?\u00a0 Why is our world so violent?\u00a0 Why is someone that I love sick?\u00a0 Why can\u2019t I find a job?\u00a0 Why do our political and religious leaders fail us?\u00a0 How can I protect my family?\u00a0 Why am I so depressed and lonely?\u00a0 Where can I look for hope?\u00a0 Questions, real questions, that we place before God.\u00a0 But God doesn\u2019t answer them.\u00a0 God simply says, \u201cCome and see; come follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much easier it would be if God would simply explain things to us, if God would tell us what is going to happen, if God would tell us what we want to know.\u00a0 But God does not tell us.\u00a0 God says, \u201cCome and see.\u201d\u00a0 God responds in this way because on the deepest level, God knows that what we really need, what our life really requires, is not information, but trust.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God knows that we could never comprehend, we could never absorb the mysteries through which God is building the kingdom.\u00a0 God understands that we could never take in all the twists and turns by which God is saving us.\u00a0 So instead of trying to reveal this information to our limited minds, God asks us to trust.\u00a0 God says, \u201cCome and see.\u201d\u00a0 Live moment to moment, walk day to day, until gradually you begin to recognize the plan that is unfolding before your eyes.\u00a0 God invites us to trust, to believe that God is in charge, that there is a plan and that that plan will eventually lead us to life.<\/p>\n
The power of this truth is expressed beautifully in a passage from John Henry Cardinal Newman, which I\u2019d like to share with you this morning.<\/p>\n
Newman says, \u201cI am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. God has not created me for nothing.\u00a0 I shall do good.\u00a0 I shall do God\u2019s work.\u00a0 I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it\u2014if I do but keep God\u2019s commandments.\u00a0 Therefore, I will trust God, whatever, wherever I am.\u00a0 I can never be thrown away.\u00a0 If I am in sickness, my sickness may be a service, in perplexity, my perplexity may be of service.\u00a0 If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve God\u2019s kingdom. God does nothing in vain.\u00a0 God has a plan.\u00a0 God may take away my friends, throw me among strangers, make me feel desolate, make my spirit sink, hide my future from me. Still God has a plan and I will trust the One who guides me.\u201d<\/p>\n
We come to God with questions, God responds with invitations.\u00a0 We come looking for information, God invites us to trust.\u00a0 This is the challenge for every believer: to accept God as trustworthy.\u00a0 For we are asked not to be frustrated when instead of giving us an answer, God invites us to \u201cCome and see,\u201d when God invites us to walk for awhile until the truth emerges.\u00a0 For those of us who know our God, that invitation is not impossible.\u00a0 For as soon as we take up the journey, as soon as we begin to follow, it becomes clear that we will not travel alone.\u00a0 Step by step, day by day, God will walk with us until in time we come to a place where every question is answered and where all goodness comes to light.<\/p>\n
A man, who had a deep love of drama and the theater, heard of a new magazine to which he sincerely wanted to subscribe. It was called Theater<\/span> Arts<\/span> and it contained articles about the theater and reviews of most of the major productions throughout the country. He knew that it was published in New York City, but other than that he only had the name. So it occurred to him that he might be able to make contact with the magazine by calling information and finding the phone number. He called the information operator.<\/p>\n \u00a0She asked him: \u201cWhat city?\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0He said: \u201cNew York City.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat listing are you looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n He said: \u201cTheater Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a pause and then the operator said: \u201cI\u2019m sorry sir, but we have no listing for any person named Theodore Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n He said: \u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry, you misunderstood me. I\u2019m not looking for a person. I\u2019m looking for a magazine, Theater<\/span> Arts<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a pause and then the operator continued in a rather testy tone, \u201cI\u2019ve already said, sir, we don\u2019t have a listing for anyone named Theodore Arts.\u201d<\/p>\n The man took a deep breath and he said: \u201cMam, the word is Theater,<\/p>\n T-H-E-A-T-E-R,” to which the operator responded:<\/p>\n \u201cSir, that\u2019s no way to spell the name, Theodore.\u201d<\/p>\n If there is humor in this story, it is not humor in which the operator was able to participate. From her perspective, she was dealing with a difficult man who did not accept her expertise. She was certain that the information she was giving was correct and was frustrated that the man could not accept it. Now, in a certain sense she was correct. There was no listing for \u201cTheodore Arts,\u201d but the very certainty of what she knew blocked her ability to see something larger. She lacked openness to another perspective, to a new possibility that could have made all the difference.<\/p>\n Openness is a virtue that is sorely lacking in our culture. People are believing things with more and more certainty and are being more and more divided from one another because of it. Whether the discussion is the war in Iraq or health care or abortion or the latest nominee for the Supreme Court, more and more people are certain that they are right. Such rightness then defines them as enemies of those who think differently. In our time, truth is clothing itself in a religious perspective. People who believe in Israel, who believe in Jesus, who believe in Mohammad, believe that they are right. At least for some, that rightness seems to warrant doing terrible things in the name of Israel, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Mohammad.<\/p>\n Now, I am not saying that truth is up for grabs. All of us are called to find the truth and we are able to believe things deeply. But mature faith carries certainty with openness, an openness that there might be more to learn. Such openness understands that there may be something more which we do not see. Being open in this way can enlarge our truth and open new possibilities that we cannot imagine.<\/p>\n In this regard, Andrew is our model in today\u2019s Gospel. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and he was certain that John the Baptist was sent from God. Yet Andrew carried his certainty with openness. Therefore, when John pointed to Jesus and said, \u201cLook, there is the Lamb of God,\u201d Andrew did not respond, \u201cNo, He\u2019s not,\u201d or \u201cJohn, you must have lost your mind.\u201d He was open enough to hear what John said, to follow Jesus and explore for himself. He eventually became a disciple of the Lord. You and I are called to follow the example of Andrew, to hold what we believe with an openness that there might be more, to realize that the truth is always larger than the small clear piece which we are able to grasp.<\/p>\n So the next time that you are in a political conversation, try to see more than the truth that you believe and are trying to protect. Listen to see if there is a larger picture, a different angle that you might recognize. Will that listening change your political views? Probably not, but unless we\u2019re willing to listen to others, how do we ever expect to develop a wise social policy or a peaceful world?\u00a0The next time you encounter someone, who you find difficult to love, someone who annoys you or frustrates you, see if you can recognize a larger truth, something bigger than the hurts and the resentments which you carry. See if you can find some understanding or compassion that could change the relationship. Will that effort on your part mean that you will come to respect the person who frustrates you or become his or her close friend? Probably not, but unless we are willing to listen, to enlarge our thinking, how do we ever expect healing or reconciliation to happen? How can life move forward, if all we\u2019re willing to do is to hold on to the certainties of the past?<\/p>\n All of us are called to learn from our own experience. We need to make judgments about what is true and follow them. We need to determine what the truth is and let it guide our lives. But wise people understand that no one person possesses all of the truth; and the followers of Jesus recognize that we are most in tune with the will of God when we carry the truth which we can see, with an openness to the truth which is still hidden from us.<\/p>\n When we think of faith, we usually think of words.\u00a0 \u201cI believe in God, the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth.\u201d\u00a0 Or, \u201cHail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.\u201d\u00a0 Or, \u201cYou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.\u201d\u00a0 I suppose we associate faith with words because we associate faith with instruction, learning the catechism, preparing for first communion.\u00a0 But faith is not primarily a matter of words, it is a matter of experience.\u00a0 And we do not find God through instruction, we find God in the patterns of our lives.<\/p>\n The Jesuit theologian, John Powell, tells of a student that he had in the first course in Theology that he ever taught.\u00a0 The student\u2019s name was Tommy and the time was the 1960\u2019s.\u00a0 Tommy was a rebel with an attitude.\u00a0 He had hair down to his shoulders and he was the \u2018resident atheist\u2019 in the class, the one who kept objecting and criticizing and ridiculing all that Fr. Powell was trying to teach about a loving God.\u00a0 Despite this antagonism they made it through the semester. When Tommy came up with his final exam and turned it in he said in a cynical tone, \u201cFr. Powell, do you think that I will ever find God?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d said Fr. Powell.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think that you will ever find God.\u00a0 But I am certain that God will find you.\u201d<\/p>\n Years passed, and one day John Powell was told by a colleague that Tommy had contracted cancer and was terminal.\u00a0 Immediately Powell wanted to connect again with the boy.\u00a0 But before he could do that, Tommy showed up one day in his classroom.\u00a0 He was drastically changed; his body was wasted, his hair was gone because of chemotherapy; but his eye was still bright, and his voice was firm.\u00a0 \u201cTommy,\u201d Fr. Powell said, \u201cI\u2019ve thought of you often.\u00a0 I hear that you\u2019re very sick.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes Father,\u201d he said, \u201creally sick.\u00a0 It\u2019s a matter of weeks.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d said the priest.<\/p>\n \u201cAh Father, it could be worse,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI could be in my fifties without any purpose or ideal and without faith.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFaith?\u201d said the priest.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYes Father, faith. That\u2019s why I\u2019m here.\u00a0 Remember you told me how God was going to find me.\u00a0 I came to tell you that it was true.\u00a0 When you said that to me, I just brushed it off. I didn\u2019t think much more about it.\u00a0 But when they removed the tumor from my groin and told me it was malignant and had spread to my vital organs, I began to search for God.\u00a0 I read the bible, I prayed, I talked to a lot of people.\u00a0 But despite my efforts, I could not find God.\u00a0 I pounded against the bronze doors of heaven, but God would not come out.\u00a0 And after months of trying, I gave up.\u00a0 I decided \u2013 what\u2019s the use.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care about God or the after life.\u00a0 But then I remembered something you said in class.\u00a0 You said: \u2018The saddest thing in life is to have never loved.\u00a0 But the second saddest thing is to have loved and never told anyone about it.\u2019<\/p>\n That made sense to me and I decided I was going to spend the rest of the time I had talking to the people I love.\u00a0 And I began with my most difficult relationship, my Father.\u00a0 I always admired him, but we could never talk or communicate.\u00a0 So I pulled together my courage and one evening came into the room as he was reading the evening newspaper. \u2018Dad,\u2019 I said.\u00a0 \u2018Yeh.\u2019 he said, still reading the newspaper.\u00a0 \u2018Dad, I need to talk to you.\u2019\u00a0 \u2018Okay,\u2019 he said, still having his face buried in the pages.\u00a0 \u2018Dad, this is really important, I need your attention.\u2019 and the paper came down a few inches.\u00a0 \u2018I don\u2019t have much time left, and I just want you to know, I love you.\u2019\u00a0 The paper fell to the floor and my Dad did two things I never saw him do before, he cried, and he hugged me. Then we talked all night.<\/p>\n The other relationships in my life were easier, telling my mother, and my sister, and my friends.\u00a0 And I spent a good deal of time contacting all the people I cared about and telling them what they meant to me.\u00a0 But then one day Father, and this is why I\u2019m here, I turned around and God was there.\u00a0 God didn\u2019t come when I asked, but God came.\u00a0 When I couldn\u2019t find God, God found me.\u201d<\/p>\n John Powell took a deep breath.\u00a0 \u201cTommy\u201d he said, \u201cthat\u2019s one of the most beautiful descriptions of faith I\u2019ve ever heard.\u00a0 Do you think there\u2019s any way that you might come into my Theology class this year and tell your story?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOf course, Father,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d be happy to.\u201d\u00a0 The two of them set a date for Tommy to come in.\u00a0 The date came, but Tommy never made it.<\/p>\n Faith is not primarily a matter of words.\u00a0 Faith is allowing God to touch us in the experiences of our lives.\u00a0 When the disciples come to Jesus in today\u2019s gospel and ask for information, \u201cTeacher, where are you staying?\u201d\u00a0 Jesus does not answer them.\u00a0 He says, \u201cCome and see.\u201d\u00a0 He says, \u201cYou have to experience it.\u201d \u00a0Jesus knows that words can point to faith, but words are not faith.\u00a0 You can\u2019t find God in a catechism.\u00a0 You can only find God in the experiences of your lives.\u00a0 And you can find God in any experience.\u00a0 You can find God in the joyful experiences, in the love of a spouse, in success at work, in closeness with your friends.\u00a0 And you can find God in pain.\u00a0 You can find God working through problems in your marriage.\u00a0 You can find God worrying about your finances.\u00a0 You can find God like Tommy in sickness or even approaching death.<\/p>\n This is why we must be like the disciples.\u00a0 We must be willing to come and see:\u00a0 to look for God in both the joys and the sorrows of our lives.\u00a0 And if we examine our lives and our experiences, and God seems to be absent. If we look for God, but can\u2019t find God. It doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019ve made a mistake or that we\u2019ve looked in the wrong place.\u00a0 It is then that we as disciples know that we must be patient. When we are unable to find God, it is then that we believe that God will find us.<\/p>\n Either God is real or God is not. Either God cares or God doesn\u2019t. But this much is clear: if God is real and God cares, God will ask things of us. God will call us to do things that are a part of the Divine plan. Now those of you who have been following me so far might be thinking to yourselves, \u201cI know where he\u2019s going to go with this homily\u2014he is going to remind us that God calls us to serve, and that we should be ready to respond.\u201d And those of you who are high achievers might have even gone further and come to the conclusion, \u201cThat is a good idea. I should keep my ears and eyes open in case God calls me, so that I will be ready to say yes.\u201d<\/p>\n Now these thoughts could be used for a very good homily. But they are not the point of this one. Today, I do not intend to encourage you to be ready in case God calls you. Today I want to suggest that it is possible that God has already called you, but you have not noticed. This suggestion flows from today\u2019s first reading, the call of the prophet Samuel. God keeps calling Samuel but he does not understand. He thinks it is Eli who is calling him. God calls a second and a third time. Yet Samuel keeps missing the divine invitation.<\/p>\n The scriptures are suggesting that we may be in the very position of Samuel. God is calling us and perhaps has been calling us for some time, but we have been hearing that call as another voice. If this is the case, then the focus of this homily is not how to get ready in case God should call us but how we might find signs in our life that God has already called us. What might such signs be? What indications might we find in our own life that reveal that God has been calling us, but we have missed the invitation?<\/p>\n Another aspect of today\u2019s first reading can help. When God calls and Samuel does not hear, God does not give up. God calls again and again, creating a repetitious pattern in Samuel\u2019s life. This suggests to us that we should try to identify patterns in our lives which keep repeating. They could be signs that God is trying to get our attention.<\/p>\n When you look over the last number of weeks or months, perhaps a certain person keeps coming to mind. It could be someone who you love, or somebody with whom you had a disagreement. When you recognize this pattern, you might say \u201cIsn\u2019t it strange, that I keep thinking of that person? It probably isn\u2019t significant.\u201d You dismiss it. But perhaps you should not dismiss it. Perhaps that repeating pattern is a call of God for you to contact someone to express gratitude or to ask for forgiveness.<\/p>\n Perhaps, over the last number of weeks or months, there have been a number of times when you thought you were unhappy in your marriage or when you worried about one of your children. You may have dismissed the thoughts are random. But what if they were not. What if they were God calling you to address the issues in your marriage or help in the life of a son or daughter?<\/p>\n Perhaps repeatedly you have felt afraid. You have not been feeling right. You have begun to fear what will happen as you grow old. You may have said, \u201cThese thoughts keep coming to me. It seems silly to worry over them.\u201d But perhaps they are not thoughts to worry over but to listen to. What\u00a0 if God is asking you to call your doctor or begin to cope with your advancing age?<\/p>\n Because God is real and loves us, God does call us to act. But there is no guarantee that we will recognize that call at once. That is why, when we become serious about being disciples, the first thing we should do is look for patterns in our lives. When things keep repeating, we should not dismiss them. Of course, it is possible that a repeating pattern is just a fluke or arbitrary occurrence. But it is also possible that it carries a much deeper significance.\u00a0A repeating pattern could be the voice of God.<\/p>\n All in all, I think I was a rather average child. There were some things I could do rather well, but there were other times where I simply got stuck. An example of this happened just before I entered the first grade. My mother decided that it was time for me to learn how to tie my own shoes. So she carefully showed me how to make a loop with one of the laces, wrap the other one around it, tuck it underneath, and pull. I watched her do this and tried many times, but I just couldn\u2019t pull it off. I remember sitting for days on our front porch trying to tie my shoes but always ending up with two loose shoelaces in my hands.<\/p>\n It took Mrs. Peterson to save me. Mrs. Peterson rented the second floor of our house. Coming home from the supermarket one day, she found me on the front porch, hopelessly trying to tie my shoes. She stopped. \u201cTrouble?\u201d she said. \u201cI just can\u2019t do it,\u201d I said. Mrs. Peterson set down her groceries and knelt down in front of me, facing my untied shoe. She said, \u201cWell, you can also tie your shoe this way.\u201d She made two loops, one with each shoelace, crossed them, tucked one underneath, and pulled. I watched her, and on the second attempt I succeeded. \u201cThank you,\u201d I said, and I ran to tell my mother. Now, I think I could still be sitting there on my front porch today, trying to tie my shoes, if Mrs. Peterson had not come along. She had a piece of information that I needed in order to proceed with my life.<\/p>\n Something similar is happening in today\u2019s first reading from the Book of Samuel. Samuel would eventually become one of the great prophets of Israel: a spokesman for God. But in this story, Samuel is stuck. He simply cannot figure out who is calling him. Every time he hears the voice of the Lord, he runs to Eli and says, \u201cYou called me.\u201d Every time Eli sends him back. This happens over and over again. It is finally Eli who figures out what\u2019s going on. He tells Samuel that it is the Lord who is calling him and that he should respond and listen. Samuel accepts Eli\u2019s wisdom. The next time he hears the voice, he opens his heart to the Lord and begins a new life as God\u2019s prophet.<\/p>\n This story of Samuel is calling us to remember how much of our lives are dependent on people who, at key moments, showed us how to see. They might have showed us how to do something or understand something or believe in something. They might be examples of how to succeed or change or dream. They might be members of our own families or close friends, or simply people who step into our lives for a moment or two. But each one gives us something essential that allows our life to continue.<\/p>\n This story of Samuel, then, leads us to thankfulness and to generosity. It asks us to remember who are the people in our life that gave us a gift that allowed our life to develop. Who are the people who inspired us to enter a certain career or showed us how to love or how to believe in God? It asks us to remember those people and be thankful for them, for without them we would not be the people who we are.<\/p>\n The story of Samuel also calls us to generosity. Each person here today has something that they know and believe, that someone else is waiting to hear. We do not need to be perfect people to share those gifts. Eli, after all was not a perfect person. He was a corrupt priest whose ministry was about to come to an end. But he knew this\u2014he knew that it was the Lord who was calling Samuel. So he shared it, and his generosity made all the difference. All of us here have truths that we know and believe. We must be willing to share them with others just as others shared them with us.<\/p>\n Mrs. Peterson has been dead now for over thirty years, but I still remember her in the morning when I tie my shoes. Her simple act of generosity allowed my life to go forward. Remember the people in your lives who gave you the gifts that made you who you are. Be thankful for them. Allow their generosity to move you to share what you know and what you believe with others.<\/p>\n We have every reason to suppose that John the Baptist saw his ministry as a mission from God, that God was calling him to announce the coming of the kingdom. And if we can trust the gospels and other ancient sources, John\u2019s mission was a huge success. Thousands of people went out into the Judean desert to be baptized by John, and John was able to form a group of disciples who supported him and assisted him in his work. John took his mission seriously. This is what makes John\u2019s action in today\u2019s gospel so remarkable. When John sees Jesus passing by, he says to his disciples, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God,\u201d and his disciples leave him and follow Jesus. At the height of his influence and success, John did not try to hold on to his disciples but instead sent them to the Lord.<\/p>\n Now, John was able to do this because he was a man of faith. He believed that God had a plan, and his role was only part of that plan. So when he saw Jesus, he realized that his work was done. He had come to prepare the way of the Lord, and the Lord had now arrived. John had the freedom to let go of his mission and his disciples because he believed that the same God who had called him to preach would continue to be faithful to him. Even though John\u2019s work was finished, John believed that God was not finished with him. Trusting that God would not forget him, he was able to proclaim, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God,\u201d and step aside.<\/p>\n You and I need to follow the freedom and the faith of John the Baptist, as various callings in our lives come to an end. Parents need to do this. For years they give themselves to their children, providing, guiding, and protecting them. Then comes college, a job out of town, and someone they wish to marry. If we, like John the Baptist, believe that God has a plan for our children and we are only part of that plan, then we can find the freedom to let go of our children, even as we trust that God will not let go of us.<\/p>\n We have maybe worked for years building a career, serving other people through a job of which we are proud. Perhaps we have been attending a school where we are comfortable and have made a lot of friends. Then time comes for retirement or graduation, and we have to leave what we know and the people we know behind. If we, like John the Baptist, can be proud of the work that was done and now ended, we can also trust that God will lead our lives in a new direction and that direction will have blessings of its own.<\/p>\n Perhaps we\u2019ve been fortunate to have good health our whole lives, having energy and strength to play hard and to work hard and to help others when they are in need. But, as we grow older, we begin to realize we have less energy and less strength and that we will have to depend more on others. The witness of John the Baptist tells us that we should not lament the good things that have ended but trust that, even in our fragility and dependency, God can still bless us.<\/p>\n If we try to hold onto things that are finished, we will become angry and unhappy people. That is why we need the example of John the Baptist, the example of his freedom and his faith: the freedom to say, \u201cThis part of my work is now done,\u201d and the faith to believe that God will never be done with us.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s first reading describes the call of the young boy Samuel to be God prophet. But today I do not want to focus on Samuel. Instead, I want to examine another character of the story, Eli. Eli was the priest under whom Samuel apprenticed while he was in the temple. We know from other parts of the bible that at this time the Eli was eighty-eight years old and blind. In today\u2019s passage he performs his most important biblical action. He enables Samuel to recognize that God was calling him. When God calls Samuel, Samuel thinks that it is Eli calling him. Three times he runs to Eli and says, \u201cHere I am. You called me.\u201d But the third time Eli recognizes what is happening. He tells Samuel that if he hears the voice again, he should respond, \u201cSpeak LORD, for your servant is listening.\u2019\u201d So, when God calls Samuel the next time, he is ready. He responds and becomes the first great prophet of Israel.<\/p>\n The character of Eli reminds us that God may ask us to help someone understand their own calling. God may ask us to be an agent through whom another person recognizes God\u2019s will. This could happen in our own family, when a family member is stuck, unable to make the decisions that will allow life to move forward. It could happen with a close friend who is hurt by a person or a situation and now is unable to live because he or she cannot find the path to forgiveness. It could happen in our workplace or in our school when we see someone overwhelmed by their responsibilities, fighting to keep their head above the water and wondering whether their life has a future. In any one of these circumstances and in many others, God may be asking us to give that person a little push in the right direction. God might be calling us to be an Eli and help someone else recognize God\u2019s will.<\/p>\n Two other insights flow from this story. The first is this: You do not need to be a perfect fit to undertake this helping function. Eli was eighty-eight years old and blind, but he had enough knowledge and insight to show Samuel what was happening. We do not need to be a perfect fit to help others. We might think, \u201cI hardly know that person? Should not his or her family be the ones to give guidance?\u201d We might believe that we are too old or too young to speak out, that we are not as educated or outgoing as other people are. All of these things can be true, but God may be still calling us to help another person to find his or her way.<\/p>\n Secondly, we do not need to be successful on our first try. It took Eli three times before he figured out what Samuel needed to hear. Therefore, if we try to help someone else and there is no success, it does not mean we have failed. God may provide other opportunities, and one of those opportunities may prove effective.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s first reading is rightly named, \u201cThe Call of Samuel.\u201d But we could also see it as, \u201cThe Call of Eli.\u201d Eli\u2019s role was necessary, if Samuel was to understand his mission. So even if we are not a perfect fit, even if we tried before, God may still be asking us to reach out and help others, so that they may become the people that God wants them to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not an Answer, but an Invitation January 18, 2003 John 1:35-42 \u00a0\u201cTeacher, where are you staying? \u201c\u00a0 \u201cCome and see.\u201d The two disciples in today\u2019s gospel ask a simple, straight -forward question: \u201cTeacher, where are you staying?\u201d\u00a0 An answer to this question could be given in a moment, in a couple of words, but Jesus … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":0,"parent":585,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-2743","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"infinite-scroll-item"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5580,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2743\/revisions\/5580"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Faith Is not Instruction but Experience<\/b><\/h2>\n
January 18, 2009<\/h5>\n
John 1:35-42<\/h3>\n
When God Keeps Calling<\/b><\/h2>\n
January 15, 2012<\/h5>\n
1 Samuel 3:3b-10; 19<\/h3>\n
Thankfulness and Generosity<\/strong><\/h2>\n
January 18, 2015<\/h5>\n
John 1:35-42<\/h3>\n
The Freedom and Faith of John the Baptist<\/strong><\/h2>\n
January 14, 2018<\/h5>\n
John 1:35-42<\/h3>\n
The Call of Eli<\/strong><\/h2>\n
January 17, 2021<\/h5>\n
1 Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19<\/h3>\n