2nd Sunday, year B,
I truly love the first
reading of today’s Mass: God talking to Samuel while he is dozing off. Only on
the third try did Samuel understand that it was God talking to him and not his
companion, Eli. What I love about this story is not only its anecdotal charm,
but because it shows how close God can be to a man, even in sleep. It reminds
me of the good
This level of familiarity of
God with a human being in Old Testament times was far surpassed in New
Testament. There, not only did God talk to men, but He became one of them, in
Jesus our Lord. As we say in our Angelus prayer at noontime: “The Word became
flesh and dwelt among us.” That ‘dwelling among us’
means that God had a home on this earth, a place to stay where He could be
visited and consulted. This closeness of Jesus to human creatures
has never been withdrawn–not even did His Ascension into heaven remove Him from
intimate contact with the human race. We Catholics know that particularly well
from the Divine Presence of the Blessed Sacrament. God still dwells among us,
inviting us to be on familiar terms with Him. It’s the great benefit and glory
of the Catholic Church, and you should be ever grateful for being a Catholic,
even if the Blessed Sacrament were the only advantage in being Catholic.
The Gospel passage for today
has its own way of indicating the nearness of Jesus to His disciples. The
disciples went and saw where He was ‘staying’. What will become evident later
is that these disciples will become regular companions of the Son of God,
following Him about, observing all He does and taking in His every word.
Certainly, this was a singular privilege for the people at the time who lived with Jesus and enjoyed His divine friendship. We
might like to imagine what would happen if Jesus stepped into our lives right
now and said to us: ‘Come, follow me, be my companion.’ Our course, of lives
would be radically changed. But, !how happy would we
be, and how uniquely honored!
If I may be so bold as to
presume your experiences to be similar to mine, there are many times in a day,
during the week, when our feeling of closeness with Jesus simply isn’t there.
When we enter the church and genuflect before the tabernacle, when we manage
some moments of quiet prayer, when we are recollected and can think of
religious matters, well, then everything is OK. But it doesn’t take long after
leaving the church or going back to our homes and resuming work, that we forget
about our union with Christ and that ‘warm glow’ (pardon the sentimental
expression) begins to fade. Now, you can use any other terms you like for this
experience, but I’ll bet that if you’re honest you’ll admit that this
‘religiosity’ (let’s call it) doesn’t long last, and we have to throw some logs
on the pile lest the fire go out. With that in mind, I’m astonished how some
saints–the Little Flower, Saint Therese, comes to mind–managed to keep God in
their minds nearly all the time, in whatever they happened to be doing! That is
not only the fruit of a lot of hard practice, but it’s a God-given grace as
well. If only we could carry about in us the constant thought of Jesus, how
wonderful our lives would be!
The portion of the Imitation
today is entitled, “On Loving Jesus above all Things”. Of the many chapters in
this revered book, this one, and the chapter following, stands apart as one of
my favorites, and I have reprinted it in prayer books of my own making. I find
that it’s hard to select a few sentences from it for you, because the whole is
so inspiring and perfectly crafted. If you’ll allow me, I want to read to you
chapter 7 of Book 2. It’s not very long, but it is big on inspiring content and
it relates so perfectly well to today’s Scriptures.
Blessed is he who understands
what it is to love Jesus, and to despise himself for Jesus’ sake. You must
surrender all other love for His love, for Jesus desires to be loved alone, and
above all things. The love of creatures is deceptive and unstable; the love of
Jesus is faithful and enduring. .. Love Him,
therefore, and keep Him as your friend; for when all others desert you, He will
not abandon you, nor allow you to perish at the last. ... Hold fast to Jesus..for He alone can aid you
when all others fail... He desires your heart for Himself alone. Whatever trust
you place in men rather than in Jesus is almost totally wasted. .. If you seek
comfort or gain from others, you will often meet with loss. If you seek Jesus
in all things, you will surely find Jesus. And if you seek yourself, you
will find yourself, but only to your ruin. For a man who does not seek Jesus
does himself greater harm than the whole world and all his enemies could ever
do to him.
It’s tempting to read on to
the next chapter–written in the same vein–but then, I have to spare some good
material for next week’s sermon!
I’m afraid that a lot of our
Catholics are becoming dissatisfied with the rather cold kind of Catholic religion
that’s often being dished-out to them, where the Mass is a free-wheeling ‘happy
hour’, where there is no spiritual depth to the proceedings, and such little
attention is paid to the holy presence of God. This experience leaves the soul
as arid as the desert sand, and as soon as the people realize how dry and empty
it all is, they begin to look about elsewhere, looking for a deep relationship
with Jesus. Truly a tragic circumstance! The very Lord they seek is there in
His holy Church, in the Blessed Sacrament, where He is often ignored, little
adored, if not out-and-out dishonored.
Love the Lord! love the Lord! you to whom He has
given Himself. He is near to you in the church, and He is close to your heart.
Jesus is the greatest possession of the Church, and He is the possession of
anyone who desires Him above all other things.