These past few days, we have been hearing the story of Samuel, of how his mother came to the Lord in her shame and in her agony of being barren, of his mother's promise of her son to serve the Lord for his entire life if God would give her the gift of a son. We now see Samuel as a boy in his service to the Lord as an apprentice to the priest Eli. God calls out to Samuel twice in the silence of the night, but both Eli and Samuel are not able to recognize the special presence of the Lord that is with them. On the third call, Samuel is able to answer to the Lord’s call, telling the Lord that he is his servant and that he is indeed listening. The Lord consecrates Samuel as his specially chosen prophet who is able to transmit the Lord’s word to his people.
We receive God’s call in our lives in different ways. Sometimes we want to hear the word of the Lord in the same way Samuel heard it, speaking to us in very clear words in the silence of the night. Often, time God’s word in her in the silence of our hearts. We do not hear the words, but we know in our heart that God is calling us to do something. However, we can easily mistake God’s call for something else. Through the people in our lives and through our experiences, God is calling us to his love and to his service. He is calling us to come close to him.
We also must remember that in our baptism, we were anointed in the line of Jesus as priest, prophet, and king. By our baptismal calling, we are called to bring God’s prophetic message to the world through our words and our actions.
However, we often cannot hear God’s call on our own. Just as Eli helped Samuel discern God’s call, we have spiritual directors to help us discern God’s will and God’s call for us. Even we priests have spiritual directors to discern his call for us in our service as priests. May we be open to God’s call for us, no matter what it may be.
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