Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
A world filled with noise, chaos, and confusion creates complexity. “It’s complicated” expresses perfectly how bewildered we have become. Lost even dazed, because of the many and varied possibilities and activities enticing us to explore and expand our potential; yet, which one satisfies?
Extreme sports, exotic vacations, and extra-curricular activities tempt us. We want it all. Yet, do we discern our calling or do we merely follow the flow. Discernment takes effort. It navigates, clearing a path. To discern the best path, not just a good path, discipline is necessary. It perfects our will and masters our skills so our true calling becomes evident.
Vocation, a word that literally means a calling, has a variety of applications. Vocational schools exist to help the young discern their abilities. Others reduce vocation to a career. Sadly, many feel abandoned and lost in their calling because they did not discern accurately, and the chosen path fails to fulfill.
Without proper discernment, our souls are empty. They lack meaning. We merely float rather than navigate the direction of our lives. Floating is dangerous because we merely follow the flow, never perceiving the direction the current is flowing. Easily seduced, we imbibe in worldly ways, not realizing they quench the Way of Spirit of the Lord.
Throughout the Scriptures, the Spirit of the Lord calls men and women. Abraham and Sarah were called. They left their homeland and wandered in the desert till they found their true home. Moses was taken out of the water by an Egyptian princess only to be nursed and raised by his own mother. God called Hannah, an obscure, hidden, and distraught woman. She was barren, a devasting curse for her. She came to the Temple to pray for a son, pouring out her soul.
Eli saw her praying. Thinking she was lewd, He berated her for her “drunken show.” Yet, God heard her prayer and granted her a son, Samuel. He became the prophet who anointed God’s chosen one, David.
We read of other callings too. The Rich Young Man who came to Jesus asking what I must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus invited him to give up his possessions and follow, offering him the treasures not of this world, but of the heavenly kingdom. He walked away sad. He rejected Jesus’ call. He had too many possessions. Judas too was called, personally and individually. Yet, eventually he lost his calling and betrayed his friend, despairing. If we do not hear and follow God’s call, our lives sadden.
The Scriptures speak not only of the characters called but also speak directly to our hearts. The Spirit calls each of us personally to an intimate and influential friendship with Jesus Himself. All are invited; yet, the Scriptures as well as history reveals individuals who reject the call, immediately or eventually. Today, our culture incites individuals to cancel their call. Why?
St. James preaching, answers poignantly, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God” (Jas 4:4). St. John states the same more thoroughly,
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever (1 Jn 2:15–17).
In a world turned inward, our lives are upside-down. Our passions control our souls. Our eyes explore the lure of the extreme, exotic, and extra-curricular, enticing us to be self-fulfilled. Our hearts churn, as these interests invite us to explore our own ways, never discerning if it is the right way.
The right way, as Jesus explains, is the narrow gate “and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt 7:13). Why is it hard? Why do so many not enter? To enter we have to humble ourselves, that is to make ourselves small as the gate is narrow.
Smallness does not mean weakness. It means meekness. Meekness is self-possession in the face of difficulties. It empowers us to do what is right especially when lust lures us to love the world. Meekness acts and confronts temptations. It keeps us calm when temptations and emotions run high. It tempers our desires which seek to exclude God. It keeps us focused on the narrow way, listening to God’s voice.
God comes calling. His voice, which hovered over the waters at the beginning, created, formed, and molded humanity into his divine image. He speaks to us in a whisper, in the silence. Elijah heard God in the silence. He ran away, after God displayed his power and authority over the false gods of Baal. He ran, finding safety in the cave. Winds, fires, and earthquakes came, but God was not in these. But “after the fire” Elijah heard, “a still small voice” (1 Ki 19:12). Elijah wrapped himself in his mantle for God was speaking to him. God speaks into the very void of our hearts when emptiness and desolation arise.
Only those who have ears to hear and eyes to see recognize God’s voice calling. His voice often a whisper or a paradox awakens us to embrace his call. Only those who attune their hearts see God’s way as the more excellent way (I Cor 12:31).
Excellence demands, usually more than what most are willing to give. Excellence intensifies our desires so that nothing impure or unclean would taint or impede our deepest desires. Excellence drives us, as it did Samuel, that “none of his (God’s) words fell to the ground” (I Sam 3:19). Grasped, understood, and then acted upon, Samuel did as the Word commanded.
Being called enjoys the fullness of life, but God is first. He commands. Jesus makes this clear: “Seek first the Kingdom and righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matt 6:33). God’s call comes first. His calling, as Samuel shows, listens for his voice, directing our lives.
The great Christian paradox directs our lives differently. It is a radical commitment not to some sport, career, or prize, but to a relationship with the living God. Centered on Christ, our souls expel anything that does not enhance our communion with the Divine. It directs all our desires. Extreme in its demands, our commitment to Christ centers our soul. He is the essence of our life. He gives us his Divine Life. When God speaks, we too say, “Speak Lord, Your servant hears” (I Sam 3:10).