A homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jan. 17, 2021
1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19, 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20, Jn 1:35-42
In Matthew 22:14 — not among today’s selections from Scripture but relevant — Jesus ends a parable with
Many are invited, but few are chosen.
A more familiar translation is “Many are called, but few are chosen,” but “invited” does make it clearer that an outstretched hand is welcoming the many to a Big Event.
Today, our first reading and our Gospel interweave Choice and Call: of the prophet and of the first Apostles. And of us.
Because many more than a handful can be chosen if they choose to be chosen, if they choose to answer the call that God casts as a wide net.
Being chosen and called by God qualifies as a Big Event, and whenever we have a Big Event, we should ask the Big Questions, the who-what-when-where-how-why questions in an attempt to understand the scope and impact of the Big Event.
The “who” seems simple enough: Our Triune God, our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. God chooses us and God calls us.
Except there is another “who” involved: Us. It’s our job to hear God’s call and choose to accept it. Or not. Because, you know, free will.
What is the call? We are called to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, to spread the word about God’s Word, to protect and share all of God’s creation as grateful stewards, to care for the least among us because we see Christ in them. To care for everyone we meet, and those we have yet to meet.
Likewise, that’s simple.
Yet it’s also so, so complex. Identifying this “what” loops us through all the other questions. Because now we have everyone else in the whole world as part of the “who,” which gives us far more questions to answer.
The “when” is now, because our world is divided and our brothers and sisters are in pain.
The “when” is also “since we were conceived until we go to our eternal rewards.” We were chosen and called before we were born, and God equipped each of us with unique tools to answer and fulfill the call. Our assignments were waiting for us as soon as we were ready — another “when.”
“Where” is everywhere. That answer really is simple, fortunately.
“How” brings us back to our individual gifts and talents, the intelligence and wisdom and skills God gave us intrinsically and which our parents, family, friends, teachers and other mentors helped shape within us.
How we actively and enthusiastically answer God’s call is shaped by who we are, how we work, how we perceive, how we love. No one is standing precisely where we are at the same time; no one else can see precisely what we see and think and feel. So how we answer God’s call is uniquely ours, and as the Father told the Son at his baptism in the Jordan River, God is well pleased with our individual answers.
“How” is nature and nurture, our genetic makeup determined at our conception and the makeup of our life’s journey determined by all sorts of experiences.
Why were we chosen? Why were we called?
Jesus no longer walks among us as a Galilean teacher. He needs us to be his eyes to see people’s needs and his hands and hearts to heal and uplift. He needs us to express the love that is his essence.
God is love. God loves. God calls us to do no less.
The call from God is the biggest Big Event in any of our lives.
The call requires a lifetime commitment.
The call requires regular active reaffirmation of that commitment. We have to say “Here I am” often and sincerely.
We have the Eucharist and the Word to nourish and sustain that reaffirmation.
The call requires every talent, skill, insight and unique aspect of ourselves to fully achieve what God’s call demands of us.
Thank God: God has given us everything we need to answer the call.
Do we have the right answer?
