[1]December was a busy month for the
Diaconate office. Besides the normal seasonal liturgical calisthenics, we
scheduled a team of deacons to conduct five diaconate information nights.
Thanks to those of you who we're able to attend and engage with the inquirers. One of the regular comments we heard during
the introductions was something to this effect: “I heard/felt, what I believed,
to be God's call earlier in my life but because of, you name it — job, young kids, kids activities, someone
told me to wait — ‘I pushed the calling aside’ figuring it wasn't my time. Now that I've taken care of — you add the situation
— ‘I feel’ it's my time.”
Do you hear it? "I pushed the calling aside…," "I
feel it’s my time…" "I", where is God in these 'I's? In our first reading
we heard about God’s call of Samuel. Did
you catch Samuel's response? “Here I am.
You called me.” (1Sam 3:4, 5, 6, 8).
With the help of Eli, Samuel is given a better response, “Speak, for
your servant is listening.” (1Sam 3:9). What are you listening too?
I'm reading a book called Mid
Life Celebration, rethink · reprioritize · recommit, by Joel Knoll. It contains short reflections, this is a
short excerpt for the one that caught my attention entitled, “There's a Quiet Movement
Underway.” The movement is called authenticity. We cherish it in others. We long for it in ourselves. But humans are afraid. I am afraid. You are afraid. So, we all put up a good front. You should never allow yourself to appear
vulnerable or appear weak right? Not a
good career move. So, we become someone
we are not. Unintentionally. And this becomes a habit. And this habit, over time, becomes what we
think and do, without thinking. Going
through the motions. We pollute our soul
so slowly we never notice. We become the
person we set out to become.” It's a
vicious cycle where the voices in our head become muddled together. Somehow the secular voices and callings of family,
career goals & expectations, peers and friends drown out the soft whispers of God's voice and calling.
But that is all about those guys,
right? Not us, we're here, following
God's calling. We're the ones who've heard his voice and are convinced we're the ones who will
be the deacons, right?!
As we leave the Christmas season
to enter Ordinary Time we need to remember and ponder in our hearts the key
characters of the season (Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist, and Jesus) who, like
Samuel heard and responded to God's voice and call, fully and authentically. We've spent the Advent and Christmas season marveling at their piety, courage and obedience to God's will and plan for our
salvation. We reflect on them and say,
now there’s a role model to emulate.
Do people point at you and say,
“behold, a follower of Christ”? Do they
follow you? If they do, do you ask them
why they're following you and invite them to follow Jesus more closely?
We are beginning to learn, from
the Corinthians, that listening to God’s voice and following Jesus Christ means
how we treat one another, care for ourselves, make decisions, and care for
creation looks different than how we’d live without being members of his body. Listening for God’s voice is a beginning, we
also need to reflect on what we hear.
Then we need to respond by living differently because of what we’ve
heard.
Listen - Reflect - Respond
The structure of the Mass is a
reflection of this formula. We hear the
Word of God, reflect in the homily, receive food for the journey, and are
dismissed to live differently on account of what we’ve heard and received. Even more intimately, we are here because we’re
listening for God’s affirming voice that we’ve been called to ordained ministry
within His Church. In five short months,
some of our brothers will be fully vested as a deacon and kneeling before the
Bishop who will hand you the book of the Gospels and say, “Receive the Gospel
of Christ, whose herald you now are.
Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you
teach.”
Listen - Reflect - Receive - Respond
According to St. Francis de
Sales, we carry the Lord on our tongues, recounting his deeds and praising
him. We carry him in our hearts with
tender love and affection. But these two
ways do not amount to much unless we carry the Lord in our arms by living the ways
of God clearly and concretely.
Listen for God’s voice,
contemplate what you hear, then share the fruits of your contemplation by
living Jesus so clearly that others point to you and say, “Behold, a follower
of Christ, the Lamb of God!”[2]
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