{"id":3095,"date":"2015-01-18T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T00:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/?p=3095"},"modified":"2016-10-10T13:11:11","modified_gmt":"2016-10-10T20:11:11","slug":"eli-john-and-andrew-homily-for-the-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/eli-john-and-andrew-homily-for-the-second-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b","title":{"rendered":"Eli, John and Andrew – Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GrandmotherIn the first reading we hear that \u201cSamuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD.\u201d
\nNow that doesn\u2019t mean you get to sleep here in church during the homily!
\nBut we do have something in common with Samuel: at one point, we, too, were not familiar with the Lord.
\nSamuel is called three times, but he does not recognize who is it is.
\nIt is the priest Eli who helps him understand that it is the Lord who is calling.
\nIn the gospel, too, Andrew and an unnamed disciple don\u2019t know Jesus.
\nIt is the prophet John the Baptist who points to the Lord and says, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God.\u201d
\nThere was even a time when Peter did not know Jesus, and it was his brother the apostle Andrew who brings him to the Messiah.<\/p>\n

As we stand at the beginning of another season of Ordinary Time, today\u2019s scripture shows us these three people at the beginning of their relationship with the Lord.
\nToday, then, is a good day to remember that there was a time in all of our lives when we did not know God, when we did not know Jesus, and it is a day to be grateful for those brothers and sisters who first brought us to the Messiah.
\nAt some point in the life of every Christian, we learned about Jesus from someone who loved us.
\nEach of us is gathered around the altar here today because someone introduced us to God.
\nThe priest Eli told Samuel about the Lord.
\nThe prophet John the Baptist told Andrew about the Lamb of God.
\nThe apostle Andrew told his brother Peter about the Messiah.
\nSomeone told you and me about Jesus.<\/p>\n

If John was writing the Good News of your life, who would take the place of the prophet John the Baptist in telling you, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God\u201d? Or who is your apostle Andrew, bringing you to Jesus for the first time? Who has been the priest Eli in your life, advising you to say, \u201cSpeak, Lord, your servant is listening\u201d?
\nIn other words, who introduced you to God? Who first told you about Jesus?
\nFor many of us, it was our parents, bringing us to the church for Baptism when we were infants. But that was so long ago we probably don\u2019t remember it.
\nWhat is your earliest memory of knowing that Jesus loved you?
\nImagine that moment in your life, hearing about Jesus for the first time.
\nMaybe you can\u2019t pinpoint one particular moment the way Samuel, Andrew, or Peter can. Maybe your introduction to Jesus was more gradual, over the course of your childhood. That\u2019s probably the experience of most people who come to know God.
\nAfter all, the reason Samuel was in the temple in the first place was because his mother Hannah had brought him there.
\nSo whether your first experience with God was a single moment in time, or a gradual process locked away somewhere in your memory, the important thing is that it came from people who loved Jesus and who loved you enough to bring you together.
\nThis is how we meet Jesus: through people we trust, through people who care for us and want what\u2019s best for us.<\/p>\n

They evangelize us.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we might wish that Jesus would speak to us directly, that we could hear his voice or see his face.
\nBut God has chosen a different way.
\nAnd as always, God\u2019s way is better.
\nThere\u2019s a bond that forms when you hear about Jesus from people who love you.
\nWhen parents share the gospel with their children, for example, or when friends pray with friends, then the Body of Christ is strengthened, the Church is built up.
\nWe become a closer, more interconnected, more loving community.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a dignity in knowing that God has entrusted us with spreading the Good News to the world.
\nWe received that dignity at our Baptism when we were anointed priest, prophet, and king.
\nAnd with that dignity comes a responsibility, the responsibility that Jesus gave to all of his disciples:<\/p>\n

\u201cGo, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
\nbaptizing them in the name of the Father,
\nand of the son, and of the Holy Spirit,
\nteaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.\u201d<\/p>\n

There’s someone in your life right now who trusts you just as much as you trusted the people who first introduced you to Jesus.
\nThere\u2019s someone you love, who loves you, waiting to hear the Good News that only you can give.<\/p>\n

Who is it? What is it they need to hear?<\/p>\n

We might hesitate, afraid that we don\u2019t know what to say, or how to say it.
\nGod has heard that before. When Moses was called to lead the Israelites he said, \u201cWhat if they don\u2019t believe me or listen to me? I\u2019m not eloquent.\u201d
\nWhen God called the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah said, \u201cI don\u2019t know how to speak, I\u2019m too young.\u201d<\/p>\n

But today\u2019s liturgy shows us how simple it really is to evangelize: a little conversation between Eli and Samuel; a brief recognition of Jesus\u2019 presence by John the Baptist to his two disciples; a brief but excited exchange between the two brothers Andrew and Peter.<\/p>\n

This is the kind of evangelization Pope Francis writes about in The Joy of the Gospel<\/em><\/a> where he says,<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026there is a kind of preaching which falls to each of us as a daily responsibility. It has to do with bringing the Gospel to the people we meet, whether they be our neighbors or complete strangers. This is the informal preaching which takes place in the middle of a conversation\u2026.Being a disciple means being constantly ready to bring the love of Jesus to others, and this can happen unexpectedly and in any place: on the street, in a city square, during work, on a journey.\u201d (#127<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In another part of The Joy of the Gospel<\/em>, Pope Francis writes,<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God\u2019s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.\u201d (#120<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Every Christian. Here and now. Daily. That is our challenge. To be Eli, John the Baptist, and Andrew to the people in our lives.<\/p>\n

And as Pope Francis concludes,<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of love would not feel the need to speak of the beloved, to point him out, to make him known? If we do not feel an intense desire to share this love, we need to pray insistently that he will once more touch our hearts. We need to implore his grace daily, asking him to open our cold hearts and shake up our lukewarm and superficial existence.\u201d (#264<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today we are grateful for all those in our lives who loved Jesus so much, and who loved us so much that they introduced him to us and continue to proclaim him to us.
\nAnd today we also recognize the dignity and responsibility we have been given to introduce others to Jesus.<\/p>\n

Through our baptism, we have been anointed priest, prophet, and king.
\nLike the priest Eli, we can help our loved ones recognize God and say, \u201cSpeak, Lord, your servant is listening.\u201d
\nLike the prophet John the Baptist, we can point to Jesus and say, \u201cBehold the Lamb of God.\u201d
\nLike the apostle Andrew, we can bring our brothers and sisters to the Messiah.<\/p>\n

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In the first reading we hear that \u201cSamuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD.\u201d Now that doesn\u2019t mean you get to sleep here in church during the homily! But we do have something in common with Samuel: at one point, we, too, were not familiar with the Lord. Samuel is called three times, but he does not recognize who is it is. It is the priest Eli who helps him understand that it is the Lord who is calling. In the gospel, too, Andrew and an...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[349],"tags":[572,354,488,472,401,574,503,573],"class_list":["post-3095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homily","tag-eli","tag-gospel-of-john","tag-john-the-baptist","tag-joy-of-the-gospel","tag-pope-francis","tag-saint-andrew","tag-saint-peter","tag-samuel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/f8b6a270c49b2194db4f19d8688371b2_have-you-been-playing-favorites-580x326_featuredImage.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pOucj-NV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3095"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3100,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions\/3100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}