Notes on 2nd Sunday readings

People often wonder about how priests do what they do. When I'm not too absorbed actually doing it, I do like to write about these things on this blog. Last year I found a little more time to do so; God willing, I will find still more in 2024.

Here is a window.

Today -- Friday -- I finally got around to looking at the readings for Sunday. I'd have liked to have done so earlier in the week, but alas! 

One of my methods is to put fingers to keyboard, and type out thoughts about the readings. Thankfully, I can type reasonably fast (not as fast as a professional, but faster than many), so I can generate a lot of written thoughts in not too much time.

The next step is to reflect a bit on what I came up with, and out of it, draw some ideas or connections to develop further. The ultimate homily doesn't necessarily look a lot like the notes; it's a step toward the homily, which needs to be briefer, and in my judgment, more focused on what the hearer might conclude, or do, as a result of reflecting on God's Word. I have found a little exegesis goes a long way.

So here are the notes I generated this morning, over the course of about 75 minutes. Now I have to do the next step. You'll see the homily and you can draw your conclusions.

Notes on the readings…

1. What does it mean to say, “Samuel was not familiar with the Lord…the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet”? This could be a commentary on Eli’s witness and example; yet I think it is saying something more. While we certainly do learn about God from other people, both those who are poor witnesses and those who are faithful ones, nevertheless, each of us must come to know God directly. You can’t be someone’s friend through a third party; you become a friend directly.

2. There’s something amusing about how both Samuel and Eli react to God’s prompting on Samuel’s heart. Notice Samuel springs to action, just like a teenager or young man might. Eli is slowing him down, just as an older man might. But also: Eli is an experienced priest of God – yet it takes him a while to figure out what’s going on! Again, is this a commentary on his spiritual life (which would fit with other details in the rest of the book)? We might hope that Samuel, by his zeal, helps awaken Eli to his identity, parallel to the opportunity that arose when Samuel’s mother met Eli.

3. Eli gave Samuel excellent advice: be still. There is a time for action, but also a time for inaction. If you and I know ourselves, we will realize which way we tend to go. If you are more of a sit-still-and-reflect sort of person, you may need to stir yourself to more action. Getting out of your head, and out of the house, could be the best thing for you. Go volunteer. Turn off the TV or the Internet and all the talkers who don’t know nearly as much as they want you to think they know. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked. However, some of us tend the opposite way: we are all action, not so much contemplation. Follow Eli’s advice and sit still and face the silence. God will speak, although he may make you wait.

4. Notice what the text concludes about Samuel: the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect. What a strong statement! If you were a salesperson, wouldn’t you like every single pitch you make to bring a sale? How is it that Samuel’s word was so powerful? The answer does not lie in Samuel’s merit. While Samuel is an exemplary individual, he like everyone else is a beneficiary of God’s grace. You and I are always tempted to think, it is up to us to win God’s favor, to gain God’s help. Wrong! We start with God’s favor; God’s help precedes every possible move any of us make toward God. 

5. So why does God give Samuel this strong endorsement? I suggest two answers. First, because Samuel stayed close to God. Think of our Lady. She is utterly trustworthy as an example and guide solely and precisely because she is so intimately united to her Son, and thereby, to the Holy Trinity. Maybe the reason Samuel’s words were always effective is because he only repeated what God himself said. Look at our Savior in his temptation: note he merely quotes Scripture. Jesus is the Word Incarnate: anything he says, even, “good morning” is the Word of God! Yet in humility and as an example to us, and as a way to deny the enemy any information he is not entitled to, Jesus simply quotes the written word. If the Incarnate Son would take that approach, then you and I would do well to take note. 

6. The second possible reason for Samuel’s word to be always efficacious is the need of God’s People. This reminds us of how God operates with the Church and her sacraments. The pope, and the pope with the bishops, have the charism of teaching infallibly. The sacraments are intrinsically powerful and efficacious. This is for the benefit of the faithful. God does not need the Church to be infallible – we do.

7. Psalm 40 and its refrain are an obvious match to the first reading. But we might note something in the text about sacrifice and oblation: “Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; then said I, ‘Behold I come.’” People point to this and other passages in order to argue sacrifice has no place, and sometimes they argue there’s a contradiction at work in Scripture. But St. Paul, who called us to present ourselves as a “living sacrifice,” and our Lord, who can be seen both relativizing sacrifice, and yet offering himself as the supreme sacrifice, surely knew these Scriptures better than those who make these arguments against sacrifice! So let’s resolve it.

8. The right answer is this: God indeed commanded sacrifice -- for our benefit. God doesn’t need sacrifice; but human beings need to offer it. Further, the sacrifices instituted in the Old Testament were a preparation for the sacrifice of the Cross, which is made present for all humanity, in all time, through the Holy Mass. 

9. And yet, the sacrifice itself – whether of lambs or the Lamb of God – is not an end in itself. Jesus offered himself on the Cross not because some “law” forced him. God could forgive and reconcile humanity any way he chose. St. Thomas Aquinas taught that because of the infinite worth of the Son, any suffering of his, however slight, would have been sufficient to atone for all sins. So, a scraped knee! All sacrifice, including THE Sacrifice, are in service of the great goal of healing the breach between God and Creation. In God’s judgment, it was the best way.

10. Subordinate to that: our offering of sacrifices, our penances and self-denial, likewise are not ends in themselves. They are worthwhile only to the extent they are truly united to Christ in his supreme obedience. So we might recall the words of Samuel, later in this same book: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to the LORD’s command? Obedience is better than sacrifice, to listen, better than the fat of rams.”

11. Saint Paul’s words in 1st Corinthians point to many realities. First, we can make an easy and obvious connection: the best way you and I can “glorify” God in our bodies is precisely to “offer” ourselves as a living sacrifice. God understands that our penances help us, but above all, he asks obedience. 

12. Saint Paul is emphasizing here that our bodies are just as much a part of our response as our souls and our wills. There has always been a temptation to treat our bodies as merely “shells” and that how we use our bodies isn’t all that important. So we might misuse our bodies, not such a big deal; it’s the “spiritual” sins or virtues that matter more. But you and I are kidding ourselves if we think we can be physically lax yet be spiritually sharp. God created us as a union of spirit and body; both are “us.” In the end, we get our bodies back, new and improved. That’s the Resurrection. Note that we don’t escape our bodies to live eternally as disembodied souls. That will be our existence for a while, but the goal is the complete restoration and glorification of Creation, including us, as body-spirits.

13. Yes, it is likely Paul is referring particularly to sexual immorality; still, Paul would shake his head if anyone thought his points pertained solely to that. It is all of a piece. If we do not obey God when it comes to our sexual capacity, how does that help us obey God when it comes to any other capacity of ours? Chastity teaches us to put others first, to be generous, and to know how to set our own desires, even the strongest ones, aside for true love: which is seeking the best for others. Some people want to say, oh I’m fine with all “the Church’s” teachings about morality in general, but on sex it’s just all so outdated and not relevant! It’s all of a piece, and it all originates from the Creator, not the Church; and the Creator never gets outdated or irrelevant!

14. The truly startling thing that Paul says is so frequently missed: he tells us that your body, my body, is Christ’s Body! We are all one body. Again, we want to marginalize this as merely a metaphor but Paul couldn’t be more insistent, and rightly understood, more LITERAL. Recall again the great project: to restore Creation; and now let’s note the difference the Incarnation makes: God (while still being uniquely God) has become – in the Son – part of Creation! “One Body.” Every time you and I choose either vice or virtue, Jesus is included!

15. Now we come to the Gospel, and how many interesting connections we can make! John the Baptist has the briefest cameo, fitting because he is the Voice who proclaims the Word, and then recedes, the servant having fulfilled his mission faithfully and to the full. He is another Samuel: was any word of John’s without effect? Samuel had the unhappy mission of instituting a flawed, doomed kingdom, with Saul. John has the happy mission of ushering in the true King! 

16. And of course, don’t miss John’s effective word: “the Lamb of God.” He could have called him king or prophet or priest; yet he summarized who Jesus is as “Lamb of God.”

17. His followers get the point; they immediately follow Jesus, which John wanted to have happen.

18. Their response to Jesus asking, “what are you looking for,” is comical: “Where are you staying?” I wonder if they were just perplexed and didn’t know what to say, and this is what comes out. And yet they lurched unwittingly into a profound insight: their question is actually the best one of all!

19. Consider what they might have asked: “What is your teaching?” Or, “Who are you?” Or, “What will it cost to follow you?” But in fact, their question really is the best. If you and I seek where Jesus is – we stay with him – we will learn all we need. We will discover who he is. We will recognize not only the cost, but what we are prepared to give; and either depart as some do, or see it through to the end, as Peter and all (but one) Apostle did. How did Samuel always have effective words to give; perhaps because he stayed where the Lord was, and absorbed his words. How happy would you and I be if, at the end of our lives, people said of us: all Martin – or Susan or Tom – was about was the Lord!