Today is the second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Today’s first reading is the famous call of Samuel. You might recall that Samuel was the last of the Judges and a Prophet. His story is that of a boy who is dedicated to God by his parents (Hannah and Elkanah) and lives with Eli, the temple priest at Shiloh. Eli is a mentor to young Samuel. That’s where today’s reading comes in.
Samuel is being called by God but doesn’t realize what’s happening until Eli guides him. The line, “here I am” is a frequent one throughout scripture and is a good line for us to be ready to respond to God or His representative with when we’re addressed. The story of the call of Samuel is one of two stories that spoke to Dan Schutte when he wrote “Here I Am, Lord“, which you likely sang at Mass today. The other story is the call of Isaiah from Is 6. Here is John Michael Talbot’s version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xox5ZKz2haM
The story of Samuel, in both 1 Sam and 2 Sam, is the story of Israel’s transition to kingly rulers, which you might recall, was a turn away from God. The first two kings, Saul and David, were good to an extent, but flawed, as are all earthly rulers. I especially like the story of David. All of the two books of Samuel are worth getting to know and thinking about how they speak to us today.
One of the primary messages for us, I think, is to not put too much trust in men, regardless of how much we like them, as we are all ultimately sinners and make poor choices. Another way to think about it is that we all can love, but imperfectly. We mostly love ourselves first. A large part of living the Christian life is trying to overcome that tendency and love others as ourselves, and love in a self emptying way. That’s why we have to depend on God. Some things are only possible with Him.
The good news, though, is that God knows who and what we are and He loves us still and is here for us. We just have to continue to turn to Him and rely on Him less than on ourselves.
So, like Samuel, let us say Here I am Lord, but know it is God who has the ability to make things happen, even when He works through us.
By the way, one of my favorite lines of Scripture comes in 1 Sam, in a verse skipped in today’s reading, when God tells Samuel that “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel, at which the two ears of everyone that hears it will tingle.” (RSV) In the NAB it reads “The Lord said to Samuel: I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring.” Regardless of the translation you prefer it has an ominous sound to it doesn’t it? I wonder what God has planned for our country given everything that is happening.
Let’s pray for our country and for the world as we pray for our own intentions.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading.
I hope you have a great week.
Peace, Bob
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