13 January 2024 – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) (Sunset Mass)

by Fr Joachim Robert

Dear friends,

Today’s reading reminds us of the call, the invitation that God gives each and every one of us.
If I may ask, are you called? Each one of you, are you called?
And what will be your response be? Yes? Or here I am, Lord, I come to do your will? 
And I am sure, dear friends, in every stage of our lives, God prepares us for a particular mission. God prepares us for a particular way of how we can give glory to God with all our lives.

If you take a look at the First Reading of today, from the book of Samuel, we see how Samuel, a young person, continues to hear this voice and response to that voice, going to Eli and asking him: Did you call me?  And this happened three times. But as he gradually came to a realisation, Eli came to acknowledge that that voice was a voice of God. But for Samuel, he thought it was just a human voice that was calling him. And he responded.

And sometimes, dear friends, we need to allow ourselves to be guided, to be directed, to see where is God’s mission and God’s purposes for us. And each time we take that step forward in wanting to seek the will of God and the plan of God in our lives, we must come to a deeper realization that there are people who can, will and also will support and guide us in the way and the matters of God. Perhaps because of their own experiences of life and because of what they have grown in the awareness of God in their life.

And sometimes, dear friends, as young people or young in our faith, we need to embrace those guidance, these corrections that God gives us through people and events of life. In the same way of how Eli tells Samuel to say: Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

And here, dear friends, we need to remember that when we seek the will and the plan of God in our lives, we must be willing to stay with Him and listen. Only when we listen to that promptings of God, only when we listen to the word of God, only when we listen to the experiences of God in and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are we able to discern and see how the Lord draws us closer to Himself and how the Lord leads us into His will.

If we take a look at the Gospel of today, we see this familiar story of how John points towards Jesus to two of his disciples and say: That is the Messiah. And after encountering that we see that Andrew goes and stays together with Jesus and as they were following Jesus, Jesus turns to them and say: Come and see.

And very often, dear friends, you and I seek God’s will, God’s purposes in our lives. And very often we have people who guide us in our own journey to see where the Lord is leading us. But ultimately, we need to spend that time together with God to come into His presence, to remain in His love and to acknowledge after we have come, after the invitation that is given to us and to see the ways of God, the way Jesus sees, then we are able to move forward and to go and spread the Good News, the Good News of God’s mission to everyone.

Andrew encountered the Lord and he came to share that Good News with his brother. And we know, after sharing the Good News to Simon, Jesus names Peter – The Rock. And very often, dear friends, we may feel that we are inadequate. Very often we may feel that we are unable to respond to this invitation that God gives us. But we always have to remember that God qualifies us in each and every moment.

Every one of us, dear friends, are called to conversion.
Every one of us are called to holiness.
Every one of us are called to responsibility. And
Every one of us are called to action, to do God’s will in our lives and to give glory and praise to Him.

And how we respond to that invitation and that call is what we need to discern and what we need to discover.

So today as we celebrate the Eucharist, and as we come and see and encounter God in the Eucharist, allow the Lord to open your eyes, to come into God’s dwelling, to remain in God’s love and to be able to see in the way God sees you and where He’s inviting you.

And like Eli, if He comes and calls you, once, twice, three times, what will be your response? Will it be:
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening?
Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will?
Or I want to go back to sleep.

So I leave you with this question, dear friends.  Even though we respond at the invitation of God the fourth time, or we respond to the invitation of God the first time, we know that God loves us and God calls us into His mission and wants us to be part of His mission of salvation, in building God’s kingdom.

Click below to listen to the homily and watch the video:-

Click to live-stream Mass on 13 January 2024