Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 3:1-10.19-20; Mark 1:29-39)
Today’s first reading presents a classic Old Testament
text. It will again be heard in Sunday’s
Eucharist. The story provides a template
for how the Lord calls people to work in His service.
Two features stand out in this reading. First, the child Samuel is made aware that he
is being called. He hears a voice.
Whether the voice comes in a dream or is external to Samuel the reading does
not say. Anyway, Samuel is made
conscious that someone wants something from him. Second, Samuel consults his master, the
priest Eli, about what he hears. Indeed,
at first he thinks that Eli might have called him. Eli knows the ways of God so that he could
help Samuel discern what the voice is asking from Samuel.
We should understand the story as the way God may be calling
us. In our time, as it was in Eli’s and
Samuel’s, a revelation of the Lord seems uncommon. Nevertheless, God may use a dream or an
intuitive sense that He wants us to do something for Him. We might, like Samuel, confer with a person
known for holiness to help us discern what we are being called to do. When we figure out what God wants, again with
the assistance of a wise person, we should readily embrace the mission. We need not worry. God is like a father who always wants what is
best for his children.
