October 9, 2011 HERE I AM, LORD
The call of Samuel to serve the Lord under Eli the High Priest in the book of Samuel is quite revealing. Personally I have been fascinated by the account of the invitation of the young Samuel to devote his life to the service of the Lord. The story stuck to me and frankly it was one of the earliest stories about vocation to the priesthood that I heard about growing up.
My pastor at that time was a missionary from the Netherlands who was a member of the Society for the African Mission (SMA). I can still hear him narrating how the young Samuel hears the voice of the Lord in his sleep. He thinks it is his master Eli calling him. He wakes up, goes to Eli in response to the call only to be told by Eli, “No, Son, I have not called you”. A second time he hears the voice and again he hastens to Eli who insists, “I have not called you”. When it happens a third time Eli discerns that it is the Lord calling Samuel to ministry. He then tells the young lad, if you hear the voice again, respond, Speak Lord, your servant is listening. And so begins the beautiful, powerful prophetic/priestly ministry of the young man Samuel.
For myself, this story has been as inviting as it is intriguing. How does God’s voice sound, especially to a young lad. Perhaps for many of us we would still be sitting put, wishing like Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” for God to catch up with us. God calls us in a number of ways to dedicate our lives to Him.
• Through the good example of the Catholic home
• The thirst to know more and more about God and the spiritual life
• The sense of compassion to reach out and serve others in need
• The attraction to the Church’s liturgical life
• The motivation to entrust one’s life to a reality (God?) larger than oneself
• The passion to commit one’s energies to make goodness shine in spite of our sinfulness and human limitations and weakness
And many more.
As we celebrate Vocations Awareness Sunday let us give vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life a thought and help guide our young ones discern which way God is calling them to commit their precious lives.
Young Samuel may have enjoyed the extraordinary circumstances of hearing God’s voice (viva voce), but for many of us the attraction to the ministry comes in a million other ways.
Let us open ourselves up to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Who knows, friend, God may be calling you.
~~Fr. Francis