2nd. Sunday of Year (B)
(1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19; 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20; John 1:35-42)
Let me begin by giving some background on Eli, the high
priest who received the boy Samuel into the service of the Temple.
A man of God had
recently come to Eli and said to him:
Thus says the LORD: “Did I
not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt as
slaves in Pharaoh's house? Did I not
choose them out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priests, to offer upon My
altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to
the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by
fire? Why do you kick at My sacrifice
and at My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honour your
sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of
Israel My people?” (1 Sam. 2:27-29)
Eli was a failure as high priest, and for that he was under
threat, as the messenger from the Lord went on to make clear (v. 31):
Behold, the days are coming
that I will cut off your (arm) strength and the strength of your father's
house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
However, that sword hanging over his head did not express
the full horror of his situation, for the man of God had yet more words of the
Lord for Eli:
Any of your men whom I do not
cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all
the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. Now this shall be a sign to you that will
come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die,
both of them. Then I will raise up for
Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in
My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed
forever.
Eli’s two sons would soon die together, along with many of
Israel’s defeated army; and those of his descendants who remained would only
blind his eyes with tears and burden his heart with grief before they too died
in the prime of life. What a terrible
punishment for Eli! It was, indeed, one
given to match the magnitude of his sins: both as high priest who dishonoured
the Lord in his service at the altar, and as father who – loving his sons more
than the Lord – pandered not only to their desires but also to their sins.
Today, parents so often think they are good parents because
-- choosing to follow the most popular and least troublesome way -- they seek
to make their children happy here and now, as they themselves want to be happy:
they want to be surrounded by a sunny atmosphere, full of childish laughter, giggles
and kisses, an atmosphere that engenders warm feelings about themselves and
confidence in their standing in other peoples’ eyes, for surely everyone will
see that their children are happy and have plenty. Eli was a good father according to such
standards: his sons would have said that they were very happy; after all, they got
plenty of what they wanted and they were sharing their father’s honour as
priests in Israel. However, unknown to
themselves, they were walking to their death and would never -- to his dying
days -- afford him any comfort or consolation, let alone true joy or deep
gratitude.
However, that is enough about Eli for the moment, People of
God, for now I want to bring something else to the forefront of your attention,
hopefully for your guidance and consolation.
Recall what you heard in the Gospel reading:
The next day John was there
again with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two
disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
One of those two disciples, Andrew by name, went to tell
his brother about Jesus:
Andrew, the brother of Simon
Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and
told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked
at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Kephas”
(which is translated Peter).
What great blessings have been called down upon John the
Baptist because he guided those two disciples of his to Jesus! Likewise, what praise and thanksgiving has been
accorded to Andrew subsequently for bringing his brother Simon Peter to Jesus?
Now, who do you bring to the Lord? Perhaps you are thinking that you do not
have the words of the Lord in your mouth like John: very well then; but do you
have a brother or sister like Andrew?
You don’t have a brother or sister?
Neither do I. But that does not
mean that we are not to be zealous for the Lord, that we are not called -- not
able -- to help people to God. Look again
at Eli. He was a failure; indeed, one
might say, a disgrace: having betrayed the Lord as High Priest, having brought dishonour
on his father‘s house, and been found miserably wanting in true care for his
own children and grandchildren. Yet even
such a wretched failure as old Eli was still obliged, and therefore still able,
to help others to the Lord; and, in the event, he did ultimately manage to help
someone to God, the child who -- for Eli’s blessing -- grew to become the great
prophet Samuel. Listen again to that
story:
The lamp of God was not yet
extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark
of God was. The LORD called to Samuel,
who answered, “Here I am.” He ran to Eli
and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back
to sleep.” So, he went back to sleep.
Again, the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he
said. “You called me.” But he answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to
sleep.” 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 again, for the third time. Getting up and going to
Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was
calling the youth. 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 as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel
answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Now you can clearly see that no one can truthfully say that
they are unable to help another, some other, to the Lord. Unless we are irremediably dead before our
time -- spiritually dead though walking on our feet -- we can, by word or deed,
by prayer or advice, by teaching or example, still be of help to one sent us by
God. That is why we are called, that is
why we are able and obliged, at all times and in all circumstances, to help
spread the Kingdom of Jesus.
It is above all priests of the Lord, together with parents
of God-given children, who are at the focal point of our readings today. A priest must preach God’s truth for God‘s
people, not seek favour and approval for himself; he must guide those who hear
him in the way of Jesus as taught by Mother Church, not blindly follow the
presently prevailing, politically correct, attitudes of those whose mind and
heart are set upon the things of this world rather than those of heaven. Parents, too, are to look carefully at
themselves in their attitude to, and teaching of, their children. Sometimes it seems that parents are more
intent on enjoying themselves by delighting in their children, rather than
serving their children’s true good by guiding and teaching, correcting and
supporting, those entrusted to them by the Lord. Such parents must realise that they can
indeed, at times, be condemned in their children. And yet, on the other hand, they should not
condemn themselves prematurely: John the Baptist could not force his disciples
to follow Jesus, neither could Andrew force Simon to come back with him to
Jesus.
In like manner, parents are not always able to positively
guide their children when they are older: when adults they will go where they
want, while their parents can only watch, pray, and perhaps advise where advice
might be welcome. The example of Eli,
however, shows that there are some parents who can, indeed, be condemned in
their children for having seriously failed to guide, correct, and discipline,
them in their infancy, childhood, and early years; condemned, because they
failed, ultimately, to truly love those children. Eli gave his boys plenty of food, plenty of
freedom, and plenty of influence; those sons then went on to provide themselves
with plenty of pleasure, bringing upon themselves an even greater measure of
disgrace. Eli, however, was personally
involved in these later developments because he had neither taught nor
disciplined them as children, neither had he ever prevailed upon himself to
remonstrate with them as they grew older.
It was for that guilt that he suffered much, as you have heard; and
there are parents today who will likewise suffer much because of their guilty
indulgence of both themselves and their children.
Finally, let us turn to St. Paul’s teaching in the second
reading:
The body is not for
immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
Avoid immorality. Every other
sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against
his own body. Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, Whom you have from God, and
that you are not your own? For you have
been purchased at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body.
Women’s liberation
supporters can be heard saying a woman’s body is her own to do with as she
wills, and so they condone and promote abortion. Young men, and women too, think that life’s
pleasures are their direct birth-right, not the God-given concomitant of responsible
love. As a result, they can easily think
that getting married is too expensive, indeed perhaps a dangerous knot to tie
when still relatively young. They may, therefore, be inclined to live
together outside of marriage, with no promise of life-long love and no binding acceptance
of responsibility; and some will, indeed, then go on to use their baptized, God-given,
bodies -- intended to be shrines of life and Temples of the Holy Spirit -- to
promote death: the physical death of infants in the womb, and the spiritual
death of themselves.
People of God, you belong to God because you are members of
Jesus His Son Who died for you and Who lives in you by His Spirit. Bear witness to Jesus whoever you are,
wherever you are, however you can; even if all else seems to be lacking to you,
praise and serve Him in your body, with your body which is always present to
you, and always able and waiting to do good work. It has been given you as a means for the
physical expression and realization of your own unique personality and spiritual
calling. And though, at times, your mind
might be dull and your heart dry, with no penetrating thoughts or warm
inspirations, your body can and will still enable you to serve God by giving timely,
instinctive, warning for all ‘erring’ into sinful ways; and when put to its
proper and worthy use, help you express pure love, give true glory to God, and ultimately
find the salvation Jesus has won for all of us and wants, above all, to bestow upon each and every one of us.