Friends,
Today’s readings conclude the feast of Christmas and begin the new season of Ordinary Time. The scripture texts of today’s liturgy depict stories of call and response. In the first reading, we hear the Lord’s dramatic call of Samuel and how Samuel fails to hear and discern it properly at first. The young Samuel might have grown up praying with words like those in today’s Psalm. We can easily imagine him in the Temple, offering a prayer of commitment to follow the Lord’s will.
In the second reading, St. Paul, writing to the Church at Corinth, reminds the people that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. All that they have and all that they are is a gift, a gift purchased at a great price.
The Gospel continues the story of Jesus’s Baptism. Having recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God, John the Baptist points two followers to Jesus.
During the coming week, let’s ponder God’s call in our lives and reflect on the level of our attentiveness and the depth of our response.
Joy and peace.
