Are we excited to share the Good News?
Are we excited to share the Good News?
We live in a noisy world. We hear calls from so many different directions: radio, TV, internet, cell phone, billboards, and so on. Cell phones are handy, we can receive calls almost anywhere. There are so many options on a cell phone. If we have saved someone’s name and/or picture and number of the person, when they call you, it will show us the name and picture of the person calling. So, you can recognize the person, and it makes it easy to respond. God loves to speak to us. He spoke to his people through the prophets. In the fullness of time, God sent his Son.
Last Monday, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, the inauguration of the new exodus, the heaven was torn open, and heard the Father’s voice, “You are my beloved Son; with you, I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Do we listen to his voice?
This Sunday’s reading has three parts: listening to God’s call, helping others to recognize Jesus, and evangelizing through friendship and invitation.
Today, the second Sunday in Ordinary time, in the Gospel of John (1:35-42), John the Baptist with two of his disciples told them, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” John the Baptist helped two of his disciples to recognize Jesus. In the next scene, we see Andrew and other disciple, John, following Jesus. We see a beautiful interaction between Jesus and the two. Jesus asked them, “What are you looking for?” Their answer was the question, “Where are you staying?” Jesus told them “Come and you will see.” Through our baptism, we became the disciple of Christ. Through the reception of the Eucharist and Confirmation, study of scripture, and prayer we mature in our discipleship.
The two disciples of John followed Jesus. One of them was Andrew (1:40) and the other should be John, the Evangelist. Right away Andrew started evangelization. He was excited to share the good news with his brother Simon and to bring him to Jesus. Jesus said to Simon, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” — which is translated, Peter.” Cephas in Aramaic means rock. Jesus called Peter to be the rock on which he was going to build the Church. It's a way of calling him to the fullness of his identity, to fulfill the mission he was called for. Jesus spoke to his heart. Peter became the head of the evangelization team.
The first reading from the first book of Samuel presents to us the progress of listening to God’s voice. One night, God called Samuel, and Samuel thought it was his master, Eli. When for the third time, Samuel went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, you called me” Eli realized what was going on and told Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” It's so real, so human, so personalized, that Samuel keeps thinking that Eli is the one who's calling him. Eli is someone who knows Samuel, someone Samuel knows, a close companion in life. In Hebrew ‘Shema’ is the word for hearing and listening. Listening is much more than hearing. Samuel listened to God and grew up, and the LORD was with him.
In these readings, we can see at first someone to help to recognize God’s voice. For Samuel, it was a high priest, Eli, who trained him. It was John the Baptist for Andrew and John, and for Peter, it was his brother Andrew. They listened to God’s voice and shared the Good News with many. And we are one of them.
We are in Eucharistic Revival and Maintenance to Mission Years. We are a Eucharistic Community. At the Last Supper, Jesus commanded us to “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). After the resurrection Jesus commanded his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:20). At every Mass, we receive the “Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity” and we are sent out to live the gift we received and share the Good News with others.
In the Pastoral Letter, Bishop Powers gives us four simple tasks to help us to evangelize: 1. Pray every day: Intimacy with God; 2. Invest in Christian friendship: reach out to peers or neighbors which could lead to faith sharing. 3. Invest in a relationship in your spheres of influence: through the guidance of the Holy Spirit listen to the people we interact with every day. 4: When someone opens up to you, respond: Offer to pray for them - if you are comfortable offer a prayer with them.