The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate how we might need to improve our communication with God and people and how we apply our contemplation to the decisions we make in our day to day actions.
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| Listening for guidance |
The passage from the First Letter of Samuel describes calling leading to the prophetic activity of Samuel.
* [3:2–18] The call of Samuel: This section may be divided as follows: 1. the triple summons (vv. 2–9); 2. God’s revelation (vv. 10–14); 3. Samuel informs Eli (vv. 15–18).1
Psalm 40 describes rescue in spatial terms—being raised up from the swampy underworld to firm earth where one can praise God. All who trust God will experience like protection.
* [Psalm 40] A thanksgiving (Ps 40:2–13) has been combined with a lament (Ps 40:14–17) that appears also in Ps 70. The psalmist describes the rescue in spatial terms—being raised up from the swampy underworld to firm earth where one can praise God (Ps 40:2–4). All who trust God will experience like protection (Ps 40:5–6)! The Psalm stipulates the precise mode of thanksgiving: not animal sacrifice but open and enthusiastic proclamation of the salvation just experienced (Ps 40:7–11). A prayer for protection concludes (Ps 40:12–17).2
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus heals many at Simon’s House and prays before beginning a preaching tour in Galilee.
* [1:21–45] The account of a single day’s ministry of Jesus on a sabbath in and outside the synagogue of Capernaum (Mk 1:21–31) combines teaching and miracles of exorcism and healing. Mention is not made of the content of the teaching but of the effect of astonishment and alarm on the people. Jesus’ teaching with authority, making an absolute claim on the hearer, was in the best tradition of the ancient prophets, not of the scribes. The narrative continues with events that evening (Mk 1:32–34; see notes on Mt 8:14–17) and the next day (Mk 1:35–39). The cleansing in Mk 1:40–45 stands as an isolated story.3
Joan Blandin Howard, guided by Ignaitian spirituality, enters into the scene in the Gospel for the purpose of opening up to the intimacy of Jesus. Jesus wants us to experience him lovingly and intimately. Her reflection resonates with the portrayal of Jesus in the movie “The Shack”, a 2017 American Christian drama film directed by Stuart Hazeldine and written by John Fusco, Andrew Lanham and Destin Cretton, based on the 2007 novel of the same name by William P. Young.
Reflecting on my prayer, I begin to realize that I was the ill mother-in-law. Jesus gently took my hand, whispered, assisted me to stand and to resume serving. I was one of those raucous children. As Jesus knelt to scoop them lovingly in his strong arms and in a rough and tumble nature that children love held them close. Held me close. They playfully struggled to get loose, I too was struggling, but Jesus held us firmly in his arms. In their exhaustion the children eventually crumpled at his knees. I was one of those children who Uncle Jesus loved, played with, listened to and nurtured. I too crumpled at Jesus’ knees. I was there in “the room where it happens”.
In my prayer I experienced Jesus in a delightfully new way. Uncle Jesus! Imagine that. Jesus was a very special man in this family’s daily life. Jesus wants to be a very special part of our daily lives.
For me, it gives new meaning to the Eucharistic prayer: “Do this in memory of me”: Invite Me in. Welcome Me in. Into your daily life.I want to be with Jesus in the “room where it happens”.4
Don Schwager quotes “The habit of prayer,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer when he might have done so without prayer. If so, who among us would neglect to pray? Mark says that 'in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed' (Mark 1:35). And Luke says, 'He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray,"' (Luke 11:1) and elsewhere, 'And all night he continued in prayer to God' (Luke 6:12). And John records his prayer, saying, 'When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you"' (John 17:1). The same Evangelist writes that the Lord said that he knew 'you hear me always' (John 11:42). All this shows that the one who prays always is always heard." (excerpt from ON PRAYER 13.1)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20 notes that we see Eli mistaking young Samuel’s story of voices in the dark for nothing more than dreams coming from the boy’s vivid imagination. In the stories, yesterday and today, Eli learns a vital lesson about listening—both to other people and, ultimately, to God.
In his book How to Speak, How to Listen, philosopher Mortimer J. Adler explains what it means to approach a conversation with our ears ready to really hear. He points to a common tendency to not pay close attention because we think we already know what the other person is about to say. Instead, we focus mostly on what we’ll say in response...
This story has so many memorable elements—a tired, old man; his eager young charge; and a case of mistaken identity—that we might miss the spiritual truth behind it. By telling us that even Eli got it wrong sometimes, it offers us a word of encouragement to learn to listen carefully to God. It tells us that the more we practice, the better we become at identifying God’s voice and his messages to us. But it also tells us that no matter how experienced we are in the spiritual life, we won’t always get it right. At least not on the first try. Only by spending time in prayer each day can we sharpen our spiritual “hearing,” while at the same time growing in the humility we’ll need when we make a mistake.
So take Adler’s advice: listen carefully, especially in your prayer and when you read Scripture. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you already know what is coming. God might just surprise you.6
Friar Jude Winkler shares the backstory of Samuel being dedicated to the Lord at the shrine where Eli was priest. In prayer, we voice to God and listen in return participating in dialog. Friar Jude lists some everyday opportunities to make the authority and love of Jesus present to those who need it.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that the individual zealot tries to rise above “the rotten, decadent system,” [2] as Dorothy Day called it, by attempting solutions that usually attack the symptoms. This lack of recognition of the root causes of evil is the source of much of the moral powerlessness of most Christian nations, institutions, and individuals. Because we thought we had God on our side, we believed all the things we did were good or even God-blessed!
Think of the policies that led the United States to build a wall at the border instead of honestly asking why people want to come to begin with. Why was a wall terrible in Berlin but salvific in Juarez, San Diego, and the present state of Israel? We criminalize the actions of desperate individuals, but rarely question the global economic systems and untouchable corporations that keep such unequal circumstances in place for their own gain.
Frankly, addressing root causes and taking appropriate action require a lot more work and spiritual intelligence. Our egos will always be on the lookout for a quick fix and immediate satisfaction, which too often leads to a deeply flawed solution. But the gift of contemplative practice is the ability to remain humble and hold the tension between the rightness and wrongness on each side of the issue until the Spirit moves in and offers us a wiser course of action.7
The ability to hold in tension those competing calls for action while considering consequence and origin, is opening ourselves to the Wisdom of the Spirit in our decisions.
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