Scriptures: 1 Samuel 3: 3-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6: 13-15; 17-20 John 1: 35-42
There’s a story today about an only child, a 3 year old girl, whose mother was pregnant. The girl could not wait until the baby was born. Soon after the parents brought the baby boy home from the hospital, she excitedly made a request: could she be alone with her new born brother in his room all by herself for just a few minutes.
Her parents were a bit uneasy about the idea, but since they had installed an intercom system, they reluctantly granted her wish. So, once the daughter went into the baby’s room and shut the door; they raced to the intercom to listen to what she was doing. What they heard was their 3 year old whisper to her newborn brother, “tell me about God – I have almost forgotten.”
This story may make us smile, but just maybe there is a bit (or maybe a lot) of truth in the 3 year old girl’s request… “Tell me about God, I have almost forgotten.”
The story suggests that when we are young we clearly know that we came from God. But in the process of growing up, we start to forget. We forget from whom we came and in whom we live.
St. Paul today in our second reading reminds us that when a person decides to follow Jesus, we become one Spirit with Jesus. Following Jesus, truly being his Disciple, calls us to glorify God in all that we do!
Following Jesus, truly being his Disciple, calls us to live a life of grace, a life of grace that is centered in the Sacraments – especially the Eucharist, each week. That special hour, each week, when we “listen” to the Lord who speaks to us in the Scriptures of that week. The Lord who invites us to the table to be fed with his Body and Blood (The Eucharist), food for the journey of life and faith.
And having listened to the Lord and having been nourished by our God, we go out into the world to witness to God’s love, God’s caring, God’s forgiveness, and so much more in the week ahead. In that week ahead, in the lives we live, we pray that others may know of God’s goodness and love because of all that we do to glorify God in our daily living.
I heard about the music group Maroon 5, who last month took a Saturday to crash several area weddings. What they did, and it was a surprise to everyone, was set up a curtained stage at the reception and at the appropriate moment the couple was invited to come forward to the closed curtain. As they did, the curtain opened and Adam Levine’s – Maroon 5 sang for the couple and guests. Talk about using your talent for another.
We may not be Adam Levine, but we are all capable of bringing some joy, some life, some love into the lives of another, of others.
In the United States Bishop’s Pastoral Letter entitled, “A Disciple’s Response,” the Bishop’s speak of the “Choice,” the “Challenge,” and the “Vision.”
The “Choice” is to develop a mature discipleship that responds to the call of Christ, no matter the cost.
The “Challenge” is to make this discipleship a lifestyle, not just a series of volunteer actions.
And then the “Vision” is that disciples are transformed into stewards eager to follow Christ, cultivate their gifts, and share them with the community.
This is the Faith to which we are called.
This is the call of Jesus for his disciples of yesterday, today and tomorrow.