|
Today’s
readings caused me to think about our young people. They all look ahead
to their futures with eyes are wide open. They envision all sorts of
possibilities about what they might do and accomplish in the days that
lay ahead. I did wonder, however, how many of our young people—like
Samuel—are familiar with the Lord’s ways and are contemplating what God
wants them to do with their lives.
So, my
reflections today are directed specifically at our young people. I want you to consider not what you want to do and
to accomplish in your lives, but to consider instead what our faith has to
say about the question that stirs in your souls, just as it stirred in
Samuel’s soul, “What does God want me to do with my life?”
At the outset,
however, remember that
Samuel didn’t ask
God directly. No,
Samuel asked Eli the
Chief High Priest what God wanted Samuel to do with his life. So, a bit
of caution is necessary, because frequently you might find yourselves
spending lots of time thinking about and worrying about what you want to
do with your lives and asking other people what they think you should do
with your lives. Listen to the question Jesus raises in today’s
gospel. “What are you looking for?”, Jesus
asks.
So, what are you
looking for? Why exactly did you come here today? Did you come to
fulfill some sort of obligation, like pleasing your parents or getting
your card punched so that one day you’ll get into heaven? Even though
you are here, are going through the motions because you’re
really looking for the “good life” as it’s portrayed on the television
and in the media? Or, maybe, have you discovered that the good life
isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and you’re
feeling an emptiness deep inside of you that, no matter how hard you
try, you cannot fill? Are there still longings you can’t satisfy,
no matter how hard you try? Perhaps you’ve grown tired of looking for
love in all the wrong places and aren’t
sure that “true love” is possible?
“What are you
looking for?” That’s what Jesus wants to know.
So, today, let’s
reflect upon Samuel and use him as our model to answer that question
from a perspective informed by our faith.
Remember, just
like you, Samuel was a teenager and he was concerned about his future.
But, thinking about his future from a perspective informed by faith,
Samuel didn’t ask “What do I want to do when I grow up?”
Nor did Samuel ask “What do I want to be when I grow up?”
Instead, Samuel asked: “Who do I want to be when I grow
up?” By asking that question, Samuel is reminding young people that it’s
the quality of their character—who one is—that is of
infinitely greater value than what one does (e.g., the job
you hope to have) or what one is (e.g., the career you
might desire).
And so, Jesus
asks our young people today: “What are you looking for?” meaning “Who is
it—the quality of your character—that you want to be?”
You might think
about Jesus’ question this way. Although it’s a long time off, what would you like to be able to say about yourself if you live
to be 70 years old? I didn’t ask, “What you will have accomplished?”
What I really want to know is, “Who do you want to be able to say you
truly are and have truly been?” Another way to think about this is to
write the epithet you want to appear on your tombstone. “Here lies
_____. She (or he) was ______.
Our faith offers
some wonderful possibilities for responding to Jesus’ question, that is, if
you want to become more familiar with the Lord’s ways and for your life
to make all the difference in the world. Remember that Samuel went
three times (not once) to the Chief Priest, Eli, to find out what God
was asking Samuel to do with his life. It took three times because
Samuel, we are told, was “not yet familiar with the Lord’s ways.”
God was already present with and speaking to Samuel. The problem
was that Samuel was unfamiliar with the Lord’s
ways and, hence, looking for God in all of the wrong places.
In order to
become familiar with the Lord’s ways, Samuel had to learn three lessons.
The first lesson
Samuel had to learn was that God breathed His divine life into Samuel.
Samuel was able to live and move and breathe not through his own power
but because God had given Samuel life. Therefore, it was not Samuel’s
life to live but God’s life to be lived through Samuel.
That’s a very
tough lesson for young people to learn. It’s not
“not
what I want to do”
or “what
I want to be in my life”
that will bring about the sense of abiding happiness and fulfillment
that the soul of every young person craves to experience. No,
abiding happiness and fulfillment will be yours only as you
become the person God is calling you to be. Tragically, too many young
people never learn this and, thus, never become familiar with the Lord’s
ways. And, because of this, these people spend their entire lives
desperately searching for abiding happiness and fulfillment and never
find it because they’re looking for it everywhere but in God who gave
them life in the first place.
The second lesson
Samuel had to learn was that God placed His divine spirit into Samuel.
Samuel’s happiness and fulfillment would not be found as Samuel defined
it, but as Samuel discerned where God’s divine spirit within Samuel was
directing him. Therefore, what Samuel had to do and the person Samuel
had to become in his life was something God had already defined for
Samuel. It isn’t something Samuel had to define for himself.
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within
you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” St. Paul
asked the Corinthians and asks you as well.
This, too, is a
very tough lesson for young people because it requires learning where God is directing
you. Oftentimes, that direction is one many
young people find themselves resisting. It’s also a direction many
young people build all sorts of barriers to protect themselves from
thinking about. At the heart of this resistance is the desire on
the part of many young people to “go where I want to go,” as if “it’s my
life to live” not “God’s gift to me to live for Him.” Sadly, many young
people never learn this lesson and, thus, never become familiar with the
Lord’s ways. So, they single-mindedly and tirelessly prepare themselves
for the jobs and careers they want so desperately, only to discover
after many years that it was only a job and a career and, ultimately,
their lives didn’t make much, if any difference in the world.
The third lesson
Samuel had to learn was that God had a specific purpose—a personal
vocation—in mind for Samuel. What Samuel was to do in his life and the
person Samuel was to become was not as important as that Samuel make his
decisions based on God’s purpose not Samuel’s preference.
Therefore, Samuel had to discern what his personal vocation was and,
through what he would do and by becoming the kind of person God called
Samuel to be, to make the kind of difference in the world that God had
created Samuel to make.
Once again, this is
an extremely tough lesson for young people to learn. It’s so easy for
young people to put themselves first—to define for themselves their
purpose in life. “What I want to do” and “What I
want to be” are more important than “What I need
to do” and “What I need to be.” But, if young people
are to be familiar with the Lord’s ways and, then, to respond
wholehearted to God’s
personal call, what I need is more important that what I
want.
And let’s also not
forget that, like many young people today, Samuel believed God was the
“Great Absent One.” Evidently, Samuel wanted God to speak directly to
him, so Samuel slept in the Temple where Samuel was sure God would be.
However, God was already very near to Samuel, in fact, God was within
Samuel, he just didn’t know the Lord’s
ways. God was present in the stirrings in Samuel’s soul and in Samuel’s
dreams as well. God was actively breathing in Samuel and nurturing His
divine spirit in Samuel. And, God was actively unveiling His personal
vocation to Samuel.
And so it is with
all of our young people as you look forward to the unfolding of your
lives over the next five decades or so. God is very near to you,
present in the stirrings of your souls and dreams, actively breathing in
you and nurturing His divine spirit in you, and actively unveiling His
personal vocation to you.
And so, Jesus
asks you, “What are you looking for?”
Samuel’s
experience reminds young people that the answer to Jesus’ question
will not be found until you learn that God is breathing in you, that God
is nurturing His divine spirit in you, and that God is unveiling His
purpose to you in your souls, in your hearts, and in your dreams. Once
Samuel learned this, he became familiar with the Lord’s ways and uttered
a beautiful prayer: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening. You have
the words of everlasting life.”
To our young
people, our faith says that when you become familiar with the Lord’s
ways—learning that God breathes in you, nurtures His divine spirit in
you, and is unveiling His purpose for you—you, too, can pray with
Samuel, “Speak Lord, I am listening to your words.”
By imitating Samuel,
you too will “give glory to God in your bodies, using them as God
intended them to be used, not for sin and enslavement, but for virtue
and freedom.” You will know this with certainty because it’s not “my
life”—as in “my job” and “my career”—but “God’s life in me, alive and at
work,” as St. Paul told the Corinthians, people who lived in a world very similar to our
own.
Corinth as a very
busy cosmopolitan seaport in Greece. Like all big cities, I guess,
Corinth was imbued with immorality, corruption, and sin of every type.
Sexual immorality, in particular, had overtaken the Corinthian to such
an extent that they didn’t believe that such behavior was sinful. Sound
familiar?
The
“impure”—those who refuse to repent of their sins—St. Paul says, will
not be allowed entry into heaven. And he says the same thing to young
people today, warning you clearly and
firmly about the dangers of sins against chastity and purity. It is
very difficult, if not impossible, St. Paul says, to follow Christ if
you allow immorality to take over your lives and it will be impossible
to enter heaven if you do. Always remember, St. Paul says, “the body is
not for immorality, but for the Lord.”
Yes, I agree with
you, this is
easier said than done, especially in a world where sex is a
commodity that comes with the very high price tag of disease, were
promiscuity—like Girls Gone Wild—is celebrated, and our culture’s
heroes and heroines are people who earlier generations would have pitied
for their infantile lack of self-control. But—like Samuel—when young
people learn the three lessons that will familiarize you with the Lord’s
ways, like St. Paul, you will know that your lives are God’s not your
own, you will accept your personal vocations, and your lives will make
all the difference in the world.
All of us long to
be spiritual, that is, aware of something holy in our lives, of doing
something important with our lives, and of making a difference in our
world. St. Augustine wrote that we could not even begin to seek God
unless God had already found us so that we could seek Him. It is God—not us—who makes the first
move in forming a spiritual relationship.
So, since God is already present within you, I have a little spiritual homework assignment for all of our young
people: This week, read the Book of Samuel, put yourself in his place,
and find out what God has planned not only for Samuel but, more
importantly, for you. Then, pray along with Samuel, “Speak, Lord, your
servant is listening. You have the words of everlasting life.”
I also have a
task for parents and grandparents: This week, pray for your kids and
grandkids. In a world filled with contrary lights, they need your
prayers interceding on their behalf because you are familiar with the
Lord’s ways. Also, use your words to emphasize to your kids and
grandkids who they are as children of God; avoid
emphasizing what you want them to do or what you want them
to be.
To our young people:
Like Samuel, realize that God is already present and allow God to
fulfill that spiritual longing present in your souls.
Because you will
know what you are looking for, let God make the “ordinary
extra-ordinary” and the “extra-ordinary believable” in your bodies so
that your lives
will make all of the difference in the world, not only today and
tomorrow, but for all ensuing generations as well.
And, always remember
what St. Paul teaches, “The body is not for immorality, but for the
Lord....Therefore, glorify God in your body.”
Then, the Lord
will be with you, as he was with Samuel, “not permitting any word of
yours to be without effect.”
|
HOMILY
