Second Sunday in ordinary time
Also Read: Mass Readings for 17 Jan 2021
First Reading: First Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19
We read today, how Samuel is called by God, and Eli guides the boy on how to go about it! But, let us also look at how Samuel got there in the first place! It’s through his mother Hannah!
If we go back just a bit further in the same book of First Samuel: 1 and 2, we learn about Hannah being barren. She had been praying and weeping to the Lord (1 Sam 1:10) and how she made and honored her vow of consecrating the male child; when the LORD had Blessed her with Samuel. The prayer, perseverance, and sacrifice stemming from an abounding faith of the simple woman are commendable and imitable!
May we adults respect and accept with grace, the responsibility of guiding and nurturing the young people in our care; towards the LORD’S Will! Amen!
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 40: 2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10 (8a, 9a)
(v.2) “The LORD drew me up from the desolate pit out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock making my steps secure.”
Like Hannah, The LORD secures our steps; provided we place our faith in the Word of God as our Rock!
Second Reading: First Corinthians 6: 13c-15a, 17-20
(v.20) “You were bought with a price, therefore glorify GOD in your body.”
Those very words must be enough for us to turn away from any sins we commit through our bodies! If we ever attend the Holy Eucharist with faith, then we ask the Dear LORD himself to dwell in us! How is it then alright for us to mistreat this vessel which carries the Saviour himself?
We could start our introspection by responding to St. Paul’s questions: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? (v.15)
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from GOD and that you are not your own?” (v.19)
Therefore, then what is our Reply? St. Paul gives us a simple antidote! “Shun fornication!” (v.18) All things that we do with our bodies, must glorify GOD! But what have we ended up doing? Beginning with gluttony and drunkenness, sloth and slumbering, tattooing and piercing(disfiguring our bodies), greed and avarice, we have let ourselves walk into the premises for evil to take up space in us! Leading us onto sexual immoralities beginning with porn and so on! A little slip here, a little slide there, and soon there is an addiction to pleasure ourselves in ways that lead us further into the traps of sin.
Agreed, in a world mired with all the possible nonsense to drive us down this road to hell; it can be quite difficult to stand out from the crowd and make a choice! “But Take Courage I have conquered the world.” John 16:33 – Christ’s words to his apostles before his passion and crucifixion! Christ JESUS won us or bought us at the dearest price of all, once and for all! We needn’t be deceived!
“Little Children, you are from GOD and have conquered them. For the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4
Believe and Be Blest! Amen!
Gospel: John 1: 35-42
“The First Disciples”
St. John the Baptist points out JESUS, to two of his own disciples. They in turn follow Christ and ask to see where he lives. One of them, Andrew than in turn goes and gets his brother Simon Peter to JESUS. On seeing him, Christ calls him “Cephas” upon which HE would build his church! John1:42 – Amazing, isn’t it, the turn of events? Almost like a domino effect!
One lightly wonders then, what if St. John the Baptist were to not point his disciples to JESUS! Well, God would bring those very disciples to Christ anyhow! But the greatness of the man is measured in his humility and how true this holds here! “I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.” Ps 40:10 – Active and lived words of the Bible through John the Baptist, that day. On a parting note: How blessed and privileged are we, who are called as members of the same church of Christ; where St. John Baptist, St. Andrew, and St Peter belong! – A profound, soul-churning, and deeply strengthening thought! Words fail here! Praise GOD! Amen!
