{"id":2396,"date":"2018-01-14T12:20:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-14T17:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2396"},"modified":"2018-01-14T12:27:19","modified_gmt":"2018-01-14T17:27:19","slug":"2nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/2nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

2nd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\n1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19
\nPsalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10
\n1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
\nJohn 1:35-42
\nJanuary 14, 2018<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you looking for?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you looking for?<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 These are the very first recorded words of Jesus in John\u2019s gospel.\u00a0 Jesus directs these words to the two disciples that come to him from John the Baptist.<\/p>\n

If the question was \u201cwho are looking for?,\u201d the answer would be obvious, Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus knows they come to him because John the Baptist has pointed to him as the one he had been preparing them for.\u00a0 John does so as he points to Jesus with a short but profound proclamation, \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus knows what John has said to them.\u00a0 Jesus knows they have been waiting for a messiah.\u00a0 His question, \u201cWhat are you looking for<\/em>,?<\/em>\u201d is a much deeper question.\u00a0 Yes, Jesus is the Messiah.\u00a0 Yes, he is the Lamb of God but what do they expect from him.\u00a0 Jesus will bring them freedom but not freedom from the Romans.\u00a0 Jesus will bring them, as he brings us, freedom from our sins.<\/p>\n

Jesus offers us freedom.\u00a0 He offers us eternity in Heaven but I ask you as you come here today, \u201cWhat are you looking for?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Are you looking for something that makes you feel good for one hour (perhaps less)?\u00a0 For example, do you want music that makes you want to dance but as soon as it is over, you go right back to feeling the way you did when you came in or do you want music that draws you into a deeper relationship with Jesus?\u00a0 What makes us feel good for a few minutes is often not what we need to hear in the long haul?<\/p>\n

How about the readings and the homily?\u00a0 What are you looking for here?\u00a0 Is the most important thing to you that the readings and homily are short?\u00a0 Do you want readings and a homily that tell you the way you are living your life is okay?\u00a0 Or do you want readings and a homily that helps you become a better Catholic?<\/p>\n

The Lord called Samuel but Samuel assumed it must be Eli calling because he was the only one around.\u00a0 Samuel was not familiar with the Lord to recognize his voice.<\/p>\n

This should seem odd because Samuel was sleeping in the temple.\u00a0 How could he be sleeping in the temple, and not just for one night but regularly, and not be familiar with the Lord?<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be \u201cfamiliar with the Lord\u201d<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Now, I assume everyone here wants to end up in Heaven.\u00a0 Are we willing to do what it takes to enter Heaven?\u00a0 Do we come here thinking that the fact that we come to church makes us \u201cfamiliar with the Lord<\/em>\u201d and that is enough to get into Heaven?<\/p>\n

If sleeping in the temple is not enough for Samuel to be \u201cfamiliar with the Lord<\/em>,\u201d then we should realize that we need to do more than show up at church once in a while.<\/p>\n

The prayer that I will say over the gifts in a few minutes will begin, \u201cGrant us, O Lord, we pray, that we may participate worthily<\/strong> in these mysteries\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I put emphasis on the words \u201cwe\u201d and \u201cparticipate\u201d because we are not just here as spectators.\u00a0 You are not here just to listen to the words I say.\u00a0 I am not here just to say the proper words.\u00a0 We are here to participate<\/strong>.\u00a0 We need to actively engage ourselves in what is going on.\u00a0 In praying for the Lord to help us participate in these mysteries, we need to let the Lord change us.<\/p>\n

This begins in opening ourselves to God\u2019s words from scripture.\u00a0 Think about how once Samuel realizes it is the Lord speaking to him, he says in reply, \u201cSpeak, LORD, for your servant is listening<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 For me, this listening is not just with our ears.\u00a0 When I dismiss the RCIA group at the 8:15 Mass or the children at the 10:30 Mass, I offer a blessing that includes the words to ask the Lord to help them open their lips AND their hearts.<\/p>\n

If we want to be real disciples, when we listen to the Lord, we need to do the same thing.\u00a0 This requires some effort.\u00a0 For me, it means that my preparation to preach today began last Sunday afternoon when I spent about 30-40 minutes reflecting on the readings. Then, almost every day during the week I spend forty minutes to an hour looking at commentaries on the readings and thinking about what the words mean for us today.\u00a0 I don\u2019t expect you to spend as much time as I do but to help bring the readings alive in your own life I strongly encourage you to spend at least one time during the week, looking at the readings.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we give out books like the At Home With the Word <\/em>books.\u00a0 You can also go online to the USCCB website (www.usccb.org<\/a>) where you can click on the calendar on the right to see the readings each day.\u00a0 You can find video reflections on the readings there or in written reflections in booklets.<\/p>\n

Of course, there is more to Mass than sharing God\u2019s Word from scripture.\u00a0 We also celebrate the Eucharist.\u00a0 As we celebrate the Eucharist, we are to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross giving his life for us.\u00a0 This should lead us to be willing to make sacrifices in our lives for our relationship with God.<\/p>\n

I know that sacrificing for the Lord isn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 Part of the challenge is that we may not see the benefit of the sacrifice until we die.\u00a0 Meanwhile, things like the benefits of money are much more apparent.\u00a0 Likewise, there can be things going on at the same time church is that seem much more enjoyable in the moment but gain us nothing for eternity.<\/p>\n

Earthly things can bring immediate happiness but how long does it last?\u00a0 When we come to know the Lord, it is for eternity.\u00a0 It is worth the effort.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19 Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20 John 1:35-42 January 14, 2018 \u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d \u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d\u00a0 These are the very first recorded words of Jesus in John\u2019s gospel.\u00a0 Jesus directs these words to the two …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[113,82],"tags":[390,392,391],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-CE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2397,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2396\/revisions\/2397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}