Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 14 January 2024

The Calling of Peter and Andrew by Duccio di Buoni

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Be prudent

Perhaps the best way to reflect on our readings this Sunday is to take the first and second reading as two sections dealing with about the way in which we connect, find and hear God in our lives-in particular we can discover quite easily a simple way of approaching Christ Jesus, a way he himself teaches us. But first it is perhaps important for all of us who are faith people, Christians, Catholics of whatever style we might consider ourselves to be, to remember that from time to time we need to step back and look at what our faith life is like, to check that it isn't stuck in some backwater of our own making, or caught up far too much in areas, which though they might be important , are not necessarily helpful to our own growth, those concerns like the liturgy wars, or a narrow focus on moral issues. The recent declaration from the Dicastery For The Doctrine of The Faith, Fiducia Supplicans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings is a good case in point. The outcry by certain members of the Church against homosexual persons has not been universal, but it has been unforgiving in its unpleasantness, and it is also wrong because it misses the point of the declaration, as well as continues to freeze the understanding of gender issues in a time warp. I make this point not to cause offence, but to remind myself as much as anybody else, that I (and you) need to study and pray through the declaration, as we should with the `Word of God, and reflect on it, not pick the bits I feel I like, nor in prejudice, causing myself and others to sin against the commandment to love my neighbour as myself! We need the gift of prudence but also that of wisdom!

Reflect and think through things better

That is why our first reading from I Samuel is a good starting point to consider how our relationship with the Lord is at this moment in time. It places us in the context of institutional religion, the structure we embrace in faith, those elements that we believe make us a Catholic, but as Eli and `Samuel discover, just because you are immersed in the heart of that experience does not mean you know God's will, way, or call any better! In fact as we see through Eli, the trappings of our faith, those issues I referred to earlier, can blind us to what we are called to do now and in the future. It takes several attempts by the Lord to break through into the understanding of Eli, so that Samuel may learn the ways of God : "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.'" (I Sam 3: 8,9). It is at this point that Eli reflects on the message and the persistence of Samuel and recognises the Divine One calling Samuel. For many of us this is also a necessary stage, not to step back when new things challenge us, not to retreat into well worn platitudes or habit of piety, but really think through what is being asked of us, become as Samuel , open to the new!

The teaching of Jesus

In the Gospel John gives us a structure which is obviously learnt from Jesus , a way if you like, of learning again how we can come closer to the Christ and the Spirit, and through them know the Father to embrace the Holiness of God in our lives. The best way is to look at this short extract and extract from it a simple way for ourselves :

'…he ( John the Baptist) said,
"Behold, the Lamb of God."
The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,
"What are you looking for?"
They said to him, "Rabbi" - which translated means Teacher -,
"where are you staying?"
He said to them, "Come, and you will see."'(Jn 1: 35-39)

The first thing we might note is that somebody, John is drawing the attention of the disciples to Jesus which they then hear, that is the first and second steps. Reflecting on this event then wakes in them a curiosity to know more, a third step. They then follow Jesus but presumably are not quite sure what the term John uses means, nor in fact who Jesus actually is, but they trust the words of invitation, and go on further in an encounter, that is their fourth step, because they hear, question, receive an invitation and in truth follow Jesus as both Rabbi and Teacher. The fifth step is a time of closeness, they listen and learn with Jesus, which is an essential in our own faith experience, to make time, be still, listen! Then there is a sixth step, when they (and we) go out to bring others to know him, who they now call the Messiah, and in sharing this encounter, as we see in the case of Simon, we are changed, for we like him also receive a new name, a name known only to God, which is our true name and will reveal our uniqueness and closeness to God at the end of time!

5. A new way of being

Let us reflect on our two readings in terms of where each of us, as well as the Church, is being called today-what work of mission and encounter are we being invited to share with others? That little structure found in John might be helpful way for us to use as a kind of guide, but so too is the lesson from I Samuel, a reminder that faith is not just for church or religious events but is in every aspect of our lives and that it is through others we will also come to know the living God. The presence of the Holy One in Jesus is certainly with us every day, in prayer, particularly the Lords prayer, in loving service, in forgiveness, in getting on with things as best we can, but it is very much in living beings.

However just to shake us up a bit, our second reading from I Corinthians reminds us God is also part of the intimacy of our lives, particularly in that interaction of closeness and deepness with others. Paul reminds us we are temples of the Holy spirit, disciples of Christ whose body we belong to, and in answer to the Corinthians questions he reminds them and us that relationships matter. I found this explanation to the passage helpful, so I make no bones about sharing it: ' Far from being a terrain that is morally indifferent, the area of sexuality is one in which our relationship with God (and his Christ and his Spirit) is very intimately expressed: he is either highly glorified or deeply offended'.( https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/6/19) but lest we all become Mrs Grundy's might we also remind ourselves that sexuality, love, intimacy is not simply one act, but a way of living and loving with and through others. This is what Paul means when he writes: '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.' (ICor 6: 19,20) There is plenty to think about from the Word of `God this week, may we receive it as a gift to use! Amen

Lectio

Words of Aelred of Rievaulx:

"The day before yesterday as I was walking around the monastery with the brothers sitting in a most loving circle, I marvelled at the leaves, blossoms, and fruits of each single tree as if I were in the fragrant bowers of paradise. Finding not one soul whom I did not love and, I was sure, not one soul by whom I was not loved, I was filled with a joy that surpassed all the delights of the world. Indeed, as I felt my spirit flowing into them all and the affection of all coursing through me, I could say with the prophet, 'Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers and sister to live in unity'"

Words of Dom Bede Griffiths 1979

"Perhaps the most important change in the understanding of theology since the second Vatican Council has been the recognition of the historical character of all dogmas. Dogmas are no longer regarded as fixed and final. A dogma is the expression of the mystery of faith in human language which always remains inadequate and is always culturally conditioned. A dogma points towards a mystery, which it can never properly define, and it is always possible to find new ways of expressing the mystery, which may be more adequate and meaningful. Thus we are always being driven to go beyond the dogma to the mystery which it seeks to safeguard. In the same way we are always being urged to go beyond moral laws, which can never be adequate to the concrete human situation, and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which transcends all laws and penetrates into the heart".