Meditation for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: 1 Samuel 3:3-10
Psalm:40:2, 4-7
Second Reading: Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20
Gospel: John1:35-42

This weeks' readings speak about the mystery of God's call--hearing His voice-- and responding to it. In the first reading, God calls to Samuel in the night, waking him up repeatedly. Samuel is confused and thinks that it is Eli calling him. Eventually, Eli realizes that God is speaking to Samuel and tells him just that, directing him how to respond to the voice of God.

In the Gospel, it is John the Baptist who recognizes God and influences his friends to follow Jesus.

How can we hear the voice of God in our lives and discern what He is asking of each one of us?

We must first spend time with Him in silence. One of the best ways of doing this is to go to Eucharistic Adoration. If this is not available where you live, you can make a visit to Church and sit before the Blessed Sacrament. If you are homebound, find a prayer closet -- a prayer space -- a private, quiet area of your home where you can speak to God and listen to Him.

God typically does not speak to us in an audible voice but communicates with us through subtle leadings and promptings. He may speak to us through: circumstances, other people, Scriptures or an ‘inner voice'. His voice may be an idea we receive while praying or reflecting on Scriptures or sitting in His peaceful presence before the Blessed Sacrament.

To prepare ourselves to listen to Him, we need to do the following:
1. Have a sincere desire to do His will, putting it above our own desires.
2. Be open to all the possibilities He presents to us.
3. Know Him through Scriputures, the Catholic Catechism, frequent reception of the sacraments, and daily prayer.
4. Pray. Talk to Jesus as you would to an intimate friend and develop that personal relationship with Him. Commit yourself to spending a certain amount of time each day with Him at regular times throughout the day.

These are the very basic prerequisites for seeking out His Truth in our lives.

When we look at the second reading, we receive a strong message from the Lord about how we are to use our bodies. We are told that our bodies are not meant for immorality -- they are temples of the Holy Spirit. Christ tells us that our body is a member of the body of Christ. As such, it is meant to be respected and treated with dignity. The message that is being conveyed in this passage is that our bodies are pure and holy. They are sacred temples of the Lord and are meant to be cared for properly. Our bodies are holy vessels which carry the Body of Christ -- they are tabernacles for His body.

Today, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of the secular society's false ownership of the body. You are not your own. You do not have the right to show disrespect for your body, to abuse it, or use it for immoral purposes, such as gluttony, drugs, multiple body piercings, adultery, immodesty, debauchery, and abortion. The battle cry of our “pro-choice” culture is this is “my body, my life, my decision.” "I have a right to excercise control over my body". "I can do what I want ...it's my body." The power to destroy and control life and to exercise control over death are what the pro-choicers claim. They claim to be mini-gods, by having control over something that is not theirs to begin with -- their bodies.

They claim to be captains over their own ships. But, as we all know ships can get off course. The fog sets in and sometimes deadly collisions occur. Or a storm rolls in and the ship sails off-course and people are killed. Christians realize that God is in control of the ship-- He sets the course and when the ship is endangered in any way, He guides it along a safe path and He calms the waters.

Those who make themselves the captain -- the god over their own lives--are helplessly lost in this world and are headed for disaster. They have no one to turn to when the circumstances which they have created backfire on them. When they experience the pain of sin, where are they to go for mercy, for healing, for forgiveness if they do not admit they are children of God, are made in His image and likeness, and belong to Him?

Christianity gives us hope. Christianity changes and challenges the pro-choice persepctive. Because of what Jesus Christ did, we are no longer our own. He owns us – yet not to oppress or enslave us, but to incorporate us into His Body. And what a glorious privillege this is! Nobody owns himself, and nobody owns anyone else.

In Christ, we go beyond merely the natural concept of the “common good.” Rather we enter into a new humanity and a level of love and unity with one another that could never be achieved by human effort alone. We love and respect both the mother and the unborn child. We recognize both as gifts from God. We recognize that only God has control over life and death because He is our Creator and we are His children. We respect the person who is suffering and dying of a terminal illness because that suffering has meaning as it is offered up in union with the sufferings of Our Lord on the cross. The suffering of that body is benefiting the other members of the Body of Christ.

Let us pray today that Scripture's teaching that our lives and bodies belong to the Lord may increase our reverence for all human life, and our awareness that only God can give it or take it away.