Jan. 18, 2015: 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

Click to hear Audio Homily
What do you think is one of the greatest joys that a child can experience? Think of all the toys that we have given our children over the years; our experience is that a child’s joy from having a toy is so fleeting that they move on to wanting and begging for another toy -- (and don’t we, adults, do that too?) Have you ever pondered that perhaps pointing or introducing a child to Jesus would bring lasting and the greatest joy in the child’s life?

Some parents told me they took their child to the Perpetual Adoration Chapel on a regular basis. They taught him to come to the chapel to speak to Jesus whenever he was having a difficult time or needed guidance. Throughout high school, their son came to the chapel on his own to speak to Jesus about challenges and the stress he was facing. You know the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

The young man’s parents did something invaluable for their child. First, the parents pointed their son to follow Jesus. There are many voices to follow in this world--voices enticing worldly success, comfort, and selfishness. Yet only one person can bring true fulfillment in a soul--Jesus. Our souls are restless until it follows and rests in Our Lord. In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist in essence said, ‘look, there is the one whom we’ve been waiting for. Follow him, not me!’  Second, the parents taught their son that in the silence of the heart is where he will hear the voice of Jesus. Most of us are afraid of silence and so when we turn off our smartphones, TV’s, and radios, we begin to feel anxiety that we are disconnected from others. We forget that God created us to connect to him, not just on Sundays but from every moment since our birth to our natural death. The anxiety we feel from disconnecting from technology is really an invitation from God for us to seek silence and speak to him.

In our First Reading, Eli taught the young Samuel to pay attention in the silence of the night and be ready to respond to God with, “Speak,  Lord, for your servant is listening.”

We know we cannot give what we do not have. Do our children ever see us on our knees seeking guidance from Jesus? Do we know Jesus well enough personally to introduce Jesus to others? In this new year, what can we do to be a better disciple of Jesus as were John the Baptist and Andrew?