Teach others to look and listen

My first memories of being part of a parish community date back to a time when I was a very young boy.  In fact, I cannot remember a time when my family and I would not get up on Sunday morning and head off to the church for Mass.  Most of the time, after Mass was done, we would visit with my grandparents and the other members of our extended family.  In fact, it was through the example of my parents and the other members of my family that I first learned about God, Jesus, Mary, and about the saints.  In time, as I grew, my faith also matured, but it was they who first taught me to recognize the voice of God, and it was through their example of faith that I learned how to respond to God’s invitation.

The story of Samuel that we have heard in the first reading today always reminds me of the precious gift that my parents and the other members of my family introduced to me.  Like me, Samuel was a young boy when he first heard the voice of God calling.  He had never heard this voice before so he mistook it for the voice of the elder man Eli.  He ran to him, thinking that Eli was in need of something, but twice Eli confirmed that he was not the one who had called (cf 1 Sam 3:3-6).  Like Samuel, I am convinced that there are many young boys, young girls who hear the voice of God calling to them even today, but if they do not know how to recognize it, if they have no one to help them to identify it, God’s voice will soon become lost in a sea of other voices that call out and demand attention.

Today’s gospel account also presents an example of those who needed to learn how to identify the voice of the Lord.  John the Baptist was standing with two of his disciples (Jn 1:35-36), and as they watched, Jesus walked by.  In this case, John (the teacher) was the one who identified Jesus: the Lamb of God.  The two disciples heard what he had said.  Perhaps they were intrigued to know more, so they left John and followed Jesus.  Each one of us who has heard the voice of God calling, each one of us who has already learned how to follow in his footsteps has a duty to point Jesus out to our children, to our grandchildren, to the students entrusted to our care, and to encourage them to be brave enough to set out in search of him, to follow him, to see for themselves where he is staying (cf Jn 1:39), what it’s like to follow in his footsteps.

Today’s scripture passages challenge us to become more like John the Baptist: to teach our children how to look for God (cf Jn 1:36) in their lives, to help others who are searching for God to learn how they too can recognize him.  We are also being challenged to become more like the elder man Eli, able to recognize the voice of God when it is calling and to teach others how to identify it (cf 1 Sam 3:3-10).

If more of us can learn how to look for Jesus, how to listen for his voice, and if we in turn can teach others how to do the same, we will be more and more aware of the fact that each of us is meant to spend our lives glorifying God, that we are all members of Christ’s body ... united in spirit with him (1 Cor 6:15, 17), and maybe in time, more of us will be willing to answer God’s call: Speak Lord, for your servant is listening (1 Sam 3:9).