2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19, Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10, 1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20, Gospel: Jn 1:35-42
How did the World’s tallest Japanese Deacon end up at St. Michael’s? I bet this morning, when you were driving over here to Mass, you were wondering “How did the world’s tallest Japanese Deacon end up at St. Michaels?” Ok, probably not - but just in case you are wondering how that happened, all I can say is that the Lord works in mysterious ways…
Oh, that is me!
In case you are wondering who is the World’s tallest Japanese Deacon, it’s me. I am Deacon Paul Zajac, and I was born in Sasebo, Japan - a town just outside of Nagasaki. I am a single Dad with 5 kids, 4 boys and 1 girl who range in age from 18 to 30. As a child I grew up all over the world, Japan, Nebraska, Maryland and England. As a young adult I lived in California, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida and finally I moved to Colorado where there are awesome mountains, lots of Sun and no Humidity. I was hooked.
Speak Lord, your Servant is Listening
The next question that might have crossed your mind is “How did you come to be a Deacon? How did you come to know the Lord?”
TEC - Waking up in a state of prayer and praise.
When I was 22 or 23 years old I was fresh out of the Navy and had moved to Colorado and I attended a Teens Encounter Christ retreat. This was a 3-day retreat that focused on living out the mystery of Easter - Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Pentecost. On the third day of that retreat I remember waking up in a state of prayer - praising God. It was mind-blowing. I remember driving home from the retreat and it was like being in a different country. Encountering the Lord just changes you, fundamentally.
Samuel - Hearing God in his Sleep
We see this with Samuel in the first reading today. He is not yet familiar with God, and as he is sleeping the Lord calls to him - “Samuel, Samuel”... Of course, Samuel is confused and goes to Eli and asks him what he needs. Eli sends him back to bed. This happens 2 more times before Eli figures out that it is God who is calling to Samuel - and so he responds - “The next time God calls you, respond - Speak Lord, your servant is listening”...
How do we listen to God?
So - you might be thinking - I have never heard the Lord speak to me in such a direct way. How do I get to know the Lord? And, if I hear the Lord, how do I know that it is God speaking to me and not my own imagination? Those are great questions, and we should all strive to encounter God more fully in our lives.
Peace Huts - Learning to listen in silence
After encountering Christ on the retreat I met up with a good friend of mine who had been a missionary in Kenya. She came back from Kenya with a desire to bring the Kenyan openness to the Holy Spirit back to Colorado. To do this she was planning on creating a retreat center out near Akron, Colorado. That’s right - in the middle of no-where. You might wonder - why build a retreat center in the middle of the prairie? It is windy, and visually quiet. I think that the Holy Spirit inspired my friend to start there because God needs us to learn to listen to Him, and in a place that is visually and physically quiet you are confronted with the silence, and that helps us to begin to listen to God.
I think that until we become comfortable with the silence, with being alone with God it is difficult to listen to Him. At first we want to occupy ourselves with something to do - or we talk to ourselves - but what God seeks in an encounter with us - simple, quiet, still, at peace. It was in being a volunteer at a retreat center that I learned to start listening to God, and opened myself up to being formed by him.
Encountering God - Unique, Distinct, Undeniable, Holy
All I can say from my experience is that when we are able to settle down our lives, our souls and truly listen for the Lord He will come to us, and when He does we recognize Him - because He is other, distinct, unique, undeniable and Holy. It is an awesome experience.
Andrew and Philip - “Behold the Lamb of God”
I am sure we are going to get to know one another over the time we have here together. Our journey to a deeper relationship with Christ begins with a desire to know God - a desire to be in relationship with God. This is what led Andrew and Philip to follow John the Baptist because they heard his preaching and were drawn into learning from John how to be Holy. Andrew and Philip encounter Christ almost in passing - they are with John when Jesus walks by and they hear John say “Behold the Lamb of God”... Whenever I read this scripture I love to play this scene back in my own imagination - in my mind John says this under his breath, and Andrew and Philip hear it - almost as if they observed John praying in secret - and so they are drawn into the mystery of Christ - so they start following Him.
“What are you looking for?” - Reflect on this act Communion
Jesus figures out that He is being followed and so He turns around and asks them - “What are you looking for?”
Approval? [PAUSE]
Peace? [PAUSE]
Security? [PAUSE]
Understanding? [PAUSE]
Love? [PAUSE]
Acceptance? [PAUSE]
Healing? [PAUSE]
Purpose? [PAUSE]
To be right with God? [PAUSE]
What word popped into your mind when I asked the question. Make note of it and after you receive Holy Communion let that be the heart of your prayer to the Lord. Lord, you know I desire - righteousness, healing, an experience of your love - whatever the answer is - place that petition before God this week.
Where are you staying? = How can we enter the mystery
Andrew and Phillip respond with “Master, where are you staying?” It is their way of saying - we want to see how you live so we can learn more about God from you. We want to see the fullness of your life so we can be immersed in your relationship with God the Father.
Come and you will see - Encountering the Messiah
And with that Jesus invites them into the mystery of the life of God - he says “Come and you will see”... It is clear that day was transformational for both Andrew and Phillip - like my first retreat, or when I came to know Christ in retreat ministry. We know this because at the end of that day Andrew tells his brother Peter, and Phillip his friend Nathaniel “We have found the Messiah”. Their lives are forever changed because they are willing to accept Christ’s invitation to be with Him.
Sharing in the Mission of Christ
When talking to the Corinthians St. Paul reminds us of what we share in this invitation of Christ. He says…
“Brothers and sisters: The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;... Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?”
Invited to be a physical member of Christ
Christ invites us to be members of His Body this week - that means we are called to be the ones through which others will encounter the Love of God. This is the mission of the Church - to provide those in the world who do not know Christ the opportunity to encounter God’s love through us.
Being intentional about your Christianity
It is not by accident that you are here at St. Michaels this morning - you are here because God has called you to be here. He did this in your baptism. In Baptism God chooses to place dwell in our souls - that is why St. Paul reminds us that our bodies are not our own - but that we belong to Christ - Why? So that others can encounter Christ when they encounter us.
Make Time for some extra prayer this week
The second way that we encounter the Word of God this week is to take our prayer and then act upon it. Whatever our prayer is today and Communion - what we are looking for is the way that we are called to be a witness of Christ’s love to others. In this way we become intentional about our Christianity. I want to invite you to spend some time in prayerful listening this week. That is the heart of the prayer of Samuel, the Psalm, Andrew and Philip - “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”. One way we can live this out is to make some space for Listening to Christ this week. Give up some Netflix or social media and instead sit in the silence and pray. See if you can find 5-7 minutes, either prior to going to bed or when you get up in the morning and pray with either.
Scripture to meditate on
“Speak Lord, your Servant is Listening”
Or the Response from the Psalm - “Here am I Lord, I come to do your will”.
and unite it to your answer to Christ’s question in prayer - “What are you looking for?”
Pray about the day to come
And then either reflect over your day to come - who is it that you know that needs an encounter with the Love of Christ this day? Your spouse? Your children? A Co-worker? Someone you see on the street or in the store? How is it that the Lord is calling you to be their encounter with Him?
Pray about the day just lived
Or if it is at the end of the day - then reflect over the day past - Where / who did you encounter who needed to know Christ? How did you respond? How was Christ inviting you to respond? Give thanks for the times when you encountered Christ in others, and for the times when Christ encountered others through your actions.
This is how we begin to become familiar with the ways of the Lord. This is how we let our lives enter more deeply into a relationship with Christ.
Come and you will see…
No comments:
Post a Comment