The story from the Hebrew Scriptures that we hear today introduces us to one of the most important characters of the Bible, Samuel. The first two chapters of the First Book of Samuel tell us the story of his conception and birth. His mother Hannah was a woman past the years of childbearing and had been considered sterile or barren. In her old age, she conceived and bore a son. In chapter two, she sings a canticle of praise and give thanks because God had heard her prayer. The story is what scholars would call proleptic because it anticipates another story, a story with which we are all familiar having just celebrated the Nativity of Our Lord. Hannah bears remarkable similarity to Elizabeth and to Mary. Mary’s song of praise in the second chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke is very similar to the song that Hannah sings.
The part of the story that we hear today tells us that Samuel was sleeping in the area of the Temple where the Ark of the Covenant rested. He was charged with the responsibility of keeping the lamp burning before the Ark. This incident is not only a story of Samuel’s call, but a it is also a theophany as we are told that God’s presence is revealed to Samuel once he responds that he is listening. So like the first story, this story is also proleptic as it anticipates the story we hear in the Gospel today. Not only are the first disciples of Jesus called to follow him, but Jesus’ real nature is revealed to them as well. God in the flesh is present to Andrew and Simon.
The Gospel story is also John’s way of teaching us how to evangelize, how to spread the Good News. He illustrates the process in five steps.
First, a believer in Jesus, in this case John the Baptist, points another person or persons towards Jesus. Second, he calls Jesus by a special title, in this case, “the Lamb of God.” Third, the evangelizer leads the convert, in this case Andrew, to Jesus. Fourth, Jesus sees the newcomer and confirms his decision to follow him. Finally, the conversion is sealed and the new disciple stays with Jesus.
To make sure that we understand what we have just heard, John repeats the process and has Andrew do the same thing to his brother Simon. Andrew points Simon towards Jesus and calls him “Messiah.” Jesus confirms Simon’s conversion by calling him Cephas.
If we were to read a little further, John actually repeats the process two more times with Philip and Nathanael as the converts who are evangelized and whose discipleship is confirmed by Jesus.
This process is not used by happenstance. John is instructing us in our responsibility as evangelizers. He is asking us to point people toward Jesus and to name him as our Savior. Indeed, Jesus himself asked us to do this in the final chapter the Gospels as he sent us to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christians are called to be evangelizers. Parents, teachers, people in every walk of life who are themselves believers are called to point others toward Jesus.
The people of the Eastern culture, the culture in which the Gospels were written, would have no problem doing this. However, we are not people of the Eastern culture. The Western world has come to look at faith in Jesus differently. It has become a private matter. Talking about our faith and about our relationship with God is very personal. We have been taught not to wear our religion on our sleeve. As a result, the secular world has overshadowed the world of faith in the Western World. When asked about religious affiliation, the largest group in our society is those who say that they have no religious affiliation, the “nones” as they have come to be known. This is precisely why Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have been calling for a “new evangelization.” It isn’t new in its content. It is new in its urgency. If we are looking for a return to civility and courtesy in our world, if we desire an end to the senseless violence in our neighborhoods, if we desire to live in a world where virtue triumphs over evil, then we must all become evangelizers. It simply isn’t enough to attend Mass every Sunday and to put our faith on a shelf for the other six days of the week. The presence of God is disappearing from our world, not because God is no longer with us but because we have failed to point God out to others.
When Samuel finally responded that he was listening, God’s presence stood before him. Let us all make his words our own, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator