I recently visited a home where one of the youngest members was working on a school assignment. The assignment was a familiar one: to connect the dots that were numbered from 1-100. By the end, that is, by the time this student got to #100, the face of Jesus would be obvious to her & to all seeing it. It seems to me that “connecting the dots” is a worthwhile metaphor for us to use, to make connections from today’s 1st reading in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament to the Gospel, which shows us the face of Jesus at the start of his public ministry of service to all nations.
At the start, Samuel learns to attune his ears, his mind, & his heart to the voice of God who calls him. & no matter how old we are, it’s still a process of listening to & learning from God who has the Wisdom. For how can I know what the Lord is asking of me unless I hear and understand my personal message from him? For it’s clear we’re all hearing different personal messages from God, who is trying to direct each of us homeward to heaven. & while God is offering us the relationship of a lifetime: it’s clearly a choice to listen to God’s direction, just as we choose to listen OR not to listen to others.
In the Gospel, God’s loving offer leads us directly into the presence of Jesus, the Lamb of God, God’s Shepherd. This Shepherd is ready & willing to mentor and shape those disciples, whom he calls to himself today. From our Catholic tradition, we know that by OUR baptism, we are LINKED to Jesus’ holiness. Jesus truly wants to heal the broken and flawed parts of ourselves. & Jesus, whose name means “God saves us,” is prepared to MAXIMIZE our best efforts going forward. And did you notice how Jesus is looking ahead, changing Simon’s name to Peter, which means “rock?” Jesus knows He will choose Peter to be the chief apostle, the one who will lead Christ’s faith community into the future. And God knows the same about all of US, too: God has plans for us. If we submit ourselves to the DIRECTION of Jesus, He can PREPARE us to SURPASS our past deeds.
The question I continue to think about has to do with the amount and the quality of the LISTENING and HEARING I do in my relationship with Jesus? Remember how, when Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, & He answered: love the Lord your God with your WHOLE heart, whole soul, whole mind, & whole strength. JESUS emphasized the word WHOLE, as opposed to half-hearted. So I ask myself: can I grow some more in my commitment to walk more completely with Jesus, in my words, attitudes, & actions? Maybe this is a question on which we can all reflect going forward. Let today’s Holy Communion OPEN us more fully to Jesus, the Lamb of God. Blessed be God forever.
Love, Fr. Chris
