Second Sunday in Ordinary Time B.  January 15, 2006.  Our Lady of Grace, 7:30, 11:30 and 6PM.  1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19.  I Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20.

One of the memories of Christmas in my home as a child was a magnificent dinner with a huge baked ham, fresh bread, more vegetables that I knew existed, and a very special chocolate desert.  My mother was busy for several days putting everything together.  We were in a panic to get back from Mass so that the preparations for Christmas dinner could continue.  Finally, my parents and their six children gathered around the table for the wonderful meal that we had smelled cooking for hours.  Our mouths were watering and we could hardly wait.  As soon as we got the last piece of desert in our mouths my mother would get up from the table and begin clearing away the dishes.   A few moments later we would all join her, because helping with the dishes seemed like what we were expected to do.  When we got a little older, one of my brothers said, “Mother, why don’t you stay at the table and talk awhile?”  When my mother made it clear that washing the dishes immediately was the family tradition we got brave.  We decided to sit at the table and just talk even though we felt guilty about not helping.  One of the sad things in my life is that there are many things about my mother that we do not know.  We don’t know what Christmas was like on the farm when she was a little girl.  We would have sat spell bound listening to her talk about the cows and the pigs in the barn, the bitter cold with only a wood burning stove in the old farm house, and Christmas Mass in the little country church.  I missed my mother a lot this Christmas, the first one without her.  Even more I miss the stories we never heard her tell and never will. 

This past week I had the privilege of spending five days in silence on retreat at St. John’s Abby in Collegeville.  It was the first time that I lived in the monastery with the monks, sharing in their life and their prayers.  Most of all I shared in the deep and powerful silence of the monastery where I could listen to God’s Word, be attentive to God’s voice, hear my own heart, and experience God in the beauty of creation and the people around me.  Some would say that monasteries are worthless and that monks are wasting their time praying in silence when they should be doing something worthwhile by helping people in need.  During the Protestant Reformation monasteries were almost completely abolished in countries controlled by the reformers.  What do monks and monasteries do anyway?   The first words of the Rule of St. Benedict for monks say, “Listen, my children to the teaching of the Master and incline the ear of your heart.”  Monks give their whole lives to listening to God, to God’s grace in their hearts, and to God’s presence in the world.  A monastery witnesses to the fact that there is nothing more important than listening to the presence of God in all things, in all events and in all people.   Not to listen to God is to miss the greatest story ever told and the greatest life that was ever lived, the story of Jesus and God’s love for the world. Some people listen only a little and they hear only a little and they change a little. Other people listen to God with their whole heart and mind and soul, and their entire lives are changed and transformed by what they hear. 

Our first reading says, “At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord, because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet… The Lord called Samuel for the third time…  Eli understood that the Lord was calling the young man.  So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.' "  When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the Lord came and revealed his presence, calling out … ‘Samuel, Samuel.   Samuel answered, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”   Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him.”

At the beginning of every deep and vibrant Christian life and in of every vocation in the Church lies a decision to listen to the Lord.  When John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to some of his followers they began to walk behind Jesus.  When Jesus turned around and saw them walking behind him he said to them, “Well, what are you looking for?”   Their answer to Jesus’ question may seem to make little sense at first – but they are right on.  They said to Jesus, “Rabbi, where do you live?”   Jesus said to them, “Come and see.”  They then went to stay with Jesus that day.  Following Jesus and becoming a Christians demands that we seek Jesus out, that we listen to him, and that we go and stay at his house. If we have never listened to Jesus and stayed in his house we still do not know him face to face and heart to heart. 

Samuel had to learn to say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”   Many of us turn things around.  When we pray we say, “Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking” In fact we may be saying, “Sorry, Lord, but I am too busy to listen to you or to stay in your house, but I need to tell you some things I want done.” Getting to know and love the Lord demands that we spend time with him without working or talking.  We must learn to sit still and listen to the voice of the Lord.  If God seems distant from us it may be because we are not responding to his presence or we are talking so much about ourselves and our needs that we do not take time to hear his voice speaking softly, yet powerfully in every moment of our lives.

If I had listened to my mother much earlier in my life I believe that she would have touched my life even more deeply.  It is sad that she was often too busy caring for us to encourage us to listen to her and to one another.  Sadly, this is also true of my relationship with God. I am often too busy doing things for God to listen to God’s voice.

The wisdom given to us in today’s readings is very simple. If we want to get closer to our own hearts, to one another, and closer to all the experiences that make life rich and deep we have to manage our day so that we have time to listen.  If we want to get closer to God we must schedule time to listen to God’s voice.   I believe that the time after communion is a very sacred time to listen to God’s voice.  If we hurry out of church after communion we may be missing the most powerful part of the Mass – the part where we listen to God in the silence of our hearts.  I am very pleased at the response Eucharistic Adoration has received in our parish.  I recognize that Eucharistic Adoration is not the only way to schedule time for listening to God, to our own hearts and to the people and events in our lives.  Yet, for many of us, scheduling a full hour of silence each week to listen to the Lord’s voice is a great gift.   We must all learn to say: “Speak Lord for your servant is listening.”   For hearts eager to listen we give God thanks and praise.