Jan. 17, 2021: 2nd Week Ordinary B

 Jan. 17, 2021: 2nd Week Ordinary B
Click to Hear Audio Homily

Many of us may be familiar with the sign that reads, “End of Construction. Thank you for your patience.” For those of us who have to endure miles of road construction on occasion, that sign is a relief. One woman drove along a highway through a construction site and had to weave through detours, machinery and equipment. At the end of the construction site was the sign, “End of Construction. Thank you for your patience.” A flash of a smile shone upon her face as she thought how wonderful it would be to engrave her gravestone with that phrase. So, Ruth Bell Graham, the late wife of Evangelist Billy Graham, had her gravestone engraved with that phrase from a construction sign. Ruth realized the phrase described the journey of a Christian. 

A Christian’s journey begins with baptism. Some of us are baptized as infants and some are baptized much later in life. Relationship with Jesus begins from the moment of our baptism and deepens throughout our lives. At certain moments of our lives we feel intense closeness with Jesus; at other times, we feel distant from him, and we walk away from him. Yet God calls us into relationship with himself on a daily basis, in ordinary moments of our lives. Samuel, for example, was sleeping when he heard someone call him by name in the middle of the night. Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist was standing beside John when Jesus walked by. John simply remarked, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)  John’s words, “the Lamb of God,” were words pointing to Jesus as the Messiah upon which Andrew was inspired to leave John’s side and follow Jesus. Andrew then invited his brother Simon Peter to meet Jesus saying, “We have found the Messiah.” 

God takes the first step toward calling us. However, each of us has to make the decision to accept the calling and act accordingly. Samuel was instructed by his mentor Prophet Eli to respond to God in a specific way, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.” Listening means more than hearing. To listen is to obey in faith; “to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself.” (CCC, No. 144) To listen in other words is to declare, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” Like Fiat of Blessed Mother, we have to consciously submit ourselves to God, to be formed by Him as He desires us to be. When we pray, often the content of prayer is what we have in mind; genuine prayer is submitting our desires and waiting to hear what God desires for us. This struggle between what we want for our lives versus desiring what God desires for us is a life-long construction project. 

Ruth Bell’s life was full of constructions, detours, and challenges. Ruth was born near Shanghai, China in 1920 to medical missionary parents. Her childhood was spent in China’s mission field with her parents and siblings. At age 13, she was sent to a boarding school in Pyongyang, North Korea by herself for three years. Before the Korean War, North Korea was known as the “Jerusalem of the East,” for it had more Christians than South Korea. While in North Korea without her family, she endured loneliness and homesickness. Yet Ruth learned to overcome loneliness and homesickness by taking care of the needs of others. As she observed suffering, disease, despair around her, she sensed that Jesus was calling her to abandon all for the sake of following him and making him known. She saw with her own eyes mankind’s need for the Savior. Until she met Billy Graham, she dreamed of serving as a single missionary in a far corner of the mountainous nation of Tibet. 

You don’t have to be a missionary like Ruth and Billy Graham, a priest, or a nun to respond to the calling of God. We all have received a high calling, to be like Christ whatever our station of life and wherever we are placed to live and work.  We all have been called to be a missionary; being a mother, father, grandparents, teacher, doctor, attorney, salesperson, construction worker--are all opportunities to share our faith. Every day God forms and reforms us like a clay in the hands of the potter. At times we resist the gentle hands of God forming and directing us, and we take numerous detours before we relent and allow His will to be accomplished. Each day, let us strive to live up to the standard of love and truth set by Jesus. At the end of our lives, God’s construction project will be accomplished and we will thank God for being so patient with us.