Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
The readings today fit well in this first week after Christmas season as they give us an answer to the question, “well now what?” After all of the joy and wonder of the past few weeks, we have now entered ordinary time through the bookend of the Christmas season that is the Baptism of the Lord. It is through the waters of baptism that we enter a life of discipleship. Our discipleship can sometimes get lost in the day to day grind of living, our own “ordinary time”. Today’s reading is a guide of how to be alive in a way that leads us to serve the Lord faithfully.
In the first reading, we encounter a young Samuel. He is in the service of the Lord under Eli’s supervision. God keeps calling Samuel quietly during the night. Yet Samuel perceives the call as coming from his spiritual master Eli. Neither Samuel nor Eli recognizes the origin of the call immediately. Eli eventually realizes it is God speaking directly to Samuel. Ironically, Samuel’s response to Eli models the response we would do well to use with God. Eli wisely gives Samuel an answer to God’s call. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sm 3:9) When God calls us, how do we respond?
Today’s gospel shows us how Jesus models listening well to God’s will. After praying, Jesus entered Simon Peter’s house to find Simon’s mother-in-law sick. He healed her and many others that were brought to him that evening. Not only did Jesus heal various diseases, he also drove out demons. The next day, Jesus went out early to pray in a deserted place. When the apostles came to find him, they wanted Jesus to return to the village and continue his healing ministry. After his prayer, Jesus led the apostles throughout Galilee to preach and heal.
Although we know that Jesus was God, it is no small witness to us that even God’s Son needed to spend time in quiet conversation with God. Who among us would not want to have quiet time and place to pray? Time in prayer is important and gives our lives meaning and direction. A deeper reflection on the readings today helps us in see that prayer is listening with our whole being. In our noisy world, prayer as listening seems to be a radical departure. The readings remind us that Jesus, Eli and Samuel understood the need to take time to pray and listen to God. It is from this foundation that we can model our own prayerful discipleship. As we go about the tasks of our day, let us take some quiet time to quiet ourselves and pray.
“Lord, we offer to You the busyness of our day. Open our ears, minds and our hearts; so that when You call we might respond using similar words of today’s psalm: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. Amen.”
-Michael Montgomery