HOMILY FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR B

HOMILY FOR THE 2ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME OF YEAR B

THEME : We are called to be Guides to our fellow brothers and sisters.

BY: Fr Deotacious Chikontwe SMA

READINGS OF THE DAY
1 Samuel 3:3-10,19
Psalm 39:2,4,7-10
1 Corint 6:13-15,17-20

LITURGICAL COLOUR
GREEN

INTRODUCTION
Good morning my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time of liturgical calendar Year B.
Today’s readings put before us a number of people who were good guides to others.

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FROM OUR FIRST READING
In our first reading today, Eli was such a personal guide for Samuel. The boy Samuel knew he was being called but he had no idea who was calling him. The elderly Eli came to realize that it was God who was calling Samuel and he helped Samuel to make an appropriate response to God’s call. Here is a good example of an older man serving as a guide to a young boy at a crucial moment in the boy’s life. Because of Eli’s timely intervention, Samuel went on to become one of the great leaders of the people of Israel. The older generation often have a great deal to offer the younger generation, especially when it comes to discerning what might be the best path to take in life, which path God may be calling us to take. Those who have lived most of their earthly life can often see more clearly than those at the beginning of their lives. Grandparents can be a hugely influential presence for good in the lives of children, as we know.

FROM OUR GOSPEL READING
The gospel reading presents us with another such guide in the person of John the Baptist. The age difference between John the Baptist and his disciples would have been much less than that between Samuel and Eli. It might have been more akin to the age difference between a parent and a child, or perhaps closer to the age gap between a teacher and his or her pupil. When John saw Jesus passing, he pointed his disciples in the direction of Jesus with the words, ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God’. No doubt John had built up a relationship with his disciples, yet, clearly, it was in so sense a possessive relationship. John was prepared to part with his disciples when someone came along whom John knew to be his better. As John would later say of Jesus, ‘he must increase but I must decrease’. We might have known a John the Baptist in our own lives, a teacher or a mentor of some kind who, rather than holding on to us, helped us to move on, directed us to someone who had more to offer us than they themselves could possibly offer us. There is a real self-emptying in performing that kind of service for someone. Letting go can sometimes be the most eloquent expression of love.

FROM THE SECOND PART OF OUR GOSPEL READING
In our second part of the Gospel, there is a second person who shows himself to be a true guide to someone else. Andrew left his teacher John the Baptist and went to Jesus. As a result of his initial encounter with Jesus, Andrew in turn went to his brother Simon and brought Simon to Jesus. The age difference between Andrew and Simon would have been very slight. They were siblings, equals in terms of their experience of life. Yet, what John had been for Andrew, Andrew was for Simon. Good guides do not always have to be older than us; neither do they always have to be people who know more than we do or have lived more than we have. Andrew found someone wonderful and he wanted to share that person with his brother. We often hear about sibling rivalry. There is no evidence of such rivalry in the case of these two brothers. Today’s society can encourage us to see our peers as our competitors. The gospel encourages us to see them as fellow travellers. Sharing some treasure with someone who is our peer will never result in any loss to ourselves. It is in giving that we receive.

FROM OUR SECOND READING
In our second reading today, the Apostle is reminding all of us the faithful, that we are all the holy people of God, consecrated and dedicated to Him, and our whole beings, our bodies, hearts, minds and souls are all sacred, having been dedicated to God. Through baptism, all of us have been made members of the Church of God, partakers of the Most Holy Eucharist, the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of Christ, and hence, we are all truly the Temples of the Lord’s Holy Presence just as St. Paul the Apostle had reminded all of us. This is because God Himself dwells in us and amongst us, and all of us are truly like His holy Tabernacles, the Living Church.

CONCLUSION
In spite of their age difference, Eli, John the Baptist and Andrew all had one thing in common. They enabled others to grow spiritually. They helped others to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Later on in John’s gospel, the Samaritan woman did the same for her townspeople. We are all called to perform this same service for each other. We do not journey to God on our own. We need each other’s generous witness if we are to find and take the path God is calling us to take. Today’s readings invite us to become an Eli or a John the Baptist or an Andrew for others.

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