God in Christ Calling Us, and We Listen and Respond Not Only with Our Hearts and Minds but also with Our Bodies – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, B

 We started liturgical year on the First Sunday of Advent and prepared for the coming of the incarnated Christ throughout Advent Season. We remained vigilant and worked diligently in our preparation for the way of the incarnated Christ to come, as we listened to John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare for the coming of the incarnated Christ in public. During our Advent preparation, we were also reminded that Christ was incarnated in the womb of Mary the Blessed Virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit.  So, the incarnated Christ made his first theophany in newborn baby Jesus, coming out of Mary’s womb, in Bethlehem, witnessed by the shepherds, who vigilantly kept their night watch for their sheep. And we started Christmas Season. Throughout Christmas Season, we reflected on some milestones in the incarnated Christ’s growth, from his infancy into childhood into young adulthood, such as his Presentation in the Temple and the Magi from east making homage to him, known as Epiphany, until he made his first public appearance on the banks of the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist, while repentant sinners were being baptized by John. The Baptism of the incarnated Christ at age 30 was to initiate his public ministry, making the critical transition into his public ministry, as we moved from Christmas Season to Ordinary Time. Now, we are in the early part of Ordinary Time until Ash Wednesday to start Lenten Season, followed by Paschal Triduum and Paschal Season. Then, after Pentecost to conclude Paschal Season, we resume Ordinary Time until we end liturgical year in the week of Christ the King Sunday.

During the early part Ordinary Time, between Baptism of the Lord Sunday until Ash Wednesday, we reflect on early public ministry of Jesus in Galilee. And, after Pentecost, in the latter Ordinary Time, we reflect the rest of his public ministry towards his Passion, in our preparation for his Parousia (second coming or return of Christ).

On this Sunday after the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, on Cycle B, known as Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, B, we reflect on how Jesus, the incarnated Christ, began his public ministry, calling the first batch of his disciples in the Gospel Reading (John 1:35-42).

It was John the Baptist, who recognized the incarnated Christ in Jesus, as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29, 36), and the Son of God (John 1:34). When Andrew and the other disciples of John the Baptist heard John saying of Jesus as the Lamb of God again, upon his second encounter with Jesus, they left John the Baptist and started following Jesus. And Jesus recognized Andrew and the other disciple of John following him. So, he asked them, “What do you want?”(John 1:38a). And, they replied, asking Jesus, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”(John 1:38b). Then, Jesus said to them, “Come, and you will see”(John 1:39).

What can we learn from this small interaction between Jesus and the two disciples of John the Baptist? Their verbal exchanges are: “What do you want?”, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”, and “Come, and you will see”.

What is noteworthy is that the departure of Andrew and the other disciples of John the Baptist from John to follow Jesus upon his Baptism reflects the start of Ordinary Time to focus on Jesus’ public ministry, while the fact that these disciples of John left him also signals the completion of John’s mission to prepare the way for Jesus to come and start his public ministry.  Andrew and the other disciples of John the Baptist have become the first two disciples of Baptized Jesus, according to John’s Gospel. As Jesus starts his public ministry as the Lamb of God, as well as the Son of God, then, John the Baptist can now retire.

The fact that Jesus asked Andrew and the other disciple, “What do you want?”, teaches us that Jesus prefers us to make our intention to seek him specific and explicit, though he sure knows what is in your heart, even though you may not necessarily express it verbally well. The response of Andrew and the other disciples seems rather awkward, saying, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”  But, this indicates their desire to know where Jesus bases himself in his public ministry operation. It is also important to note that they recognized Jesus as a teacher (rabbi), though they just met him and heard of him as the “Lamb of God”. To this, Jesus invites them by saying, “Come, and you will see”. Obviously, these two men, making transition from discipleship of John the Baptist to discipleship of Jesus were search something deeper, beyond being baptized by John for their penance. In fact, their discipleship of John was to prepare themselves to become discipleship of Jesus. They just “graduated” from their discipleship of John and “enrolled” themselves into discipleship of Jesus.

After these verbal exchanges, Andrew and the other disciple continued to follow Jesus and spend pretty much of that day with him.

Then, later on that day, at about tenth hour, Andrew told his older brother, Simon, “We have found the Messiah (Christ)!” (John 1:41) and introduced him to Jesus (John 1:42a). Then, Jesus called Simon with a new name, Peter (Cephas) (John 1:42b), indicating that Jesus was already eying on Simon to make him the chief presbytery figure of his Church, when he baptizes his disciples with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33) and fire (Matthew 3:11) on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4).

We have spent Advent Season to prepare ourselves to welcome the incarnated Christ into our hearts – to encounter him intimately. During Christmas Season, we continued to witness him at his theophanies, starting with his Nativity to his Baptism. All these throughout Advent Season and Christmas Season are to do the will of God, as reflected in the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10), with its refrain: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. In fact, the spirit of this Psalm is: I come with delight to do the will of God.

I have waited, waited for the Lord, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God (Psalm 40:2,4).

These verses reflect that we now have received a call from Christ after preparing ourselves to encounter him through Advent Season and Christmas Season to follow him to do God’s will through his example. A new song, a hymn to God, into our mouths is Christ’s teaching to spread his Gospel, while giving thanks and praises to God.

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. We stand ready to listen to God, His will for us to be done in His call on us. So, God the Father has sent His only begotten Son, Christ in incarnating through Mary the Immaculate Conception, Blessed Virgin, the Theotokos, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And now, here he comes to call us to follow him, as here we are to listen to him.

Here am I. This is what Samuel when he was a child, living in the temple in Siloh with the priest, Eli, when God called him, as the First Reading (1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19) describes. The temple at that time was rather a prototypal to the Temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon later. It was more like a large tent that housed the Ark of the Covenant, then, located in Siloh. It was before the Ark was taken away by the Philistines (1 Samuel 4) and before David, as King of Israel, brought the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).

At that time, when God called him three times, Samuel was not mature enough to recognize the calls as coming from God in His revelation. Samuel was thinking these calls were from Eli, until he was told to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9), next time he hears the call. And God called Samuel again, and then, Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening”(1 Samuel 3:11), as he began to recognize God in His revelation through his call. And, Samuel received a message of his vocation to help God’s will on Israel be done (1 Samuel 3:11-14).

We have been called by God the Father through the Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit ever since we received the Sacrament of Baptism. If you were baptized when you are a baby, probably you did not recognize God’s calling at least until you received the Sacrament of the Eucharist as the First Communion. If this was the case with you, until you recognize God’s call on you with your faith matured, then, you were probably like little Samuel, thinking God’s calls on him as calls from Eli. However, by the time you received the Sacrament of Confirmation, you began to realize God’s calling on you, because you have decided at your own volition to follow Jesus as his disciple to receive Confirmation and being anointed by a bishop. If you joined the Church as a adult through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), receiving the three Sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation, at once, you have been able to recognize God’s call on you since the moment you become a part of the ecclesiastical communion.

In the Second Reading (1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20), Paul reminds us that God created us in the fleshly bodies, for a good reason. God desires us to serve His will, using our bodies, upon receiving calls, for His glory – for His greater glory – Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!  For this reason, we must keep our bodies holy, maintaining them fitting to be members of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15) and the temple of the Holy Spirit with us (1 Corinthians 6:19).  This is one aspect of the prototype of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Our bodies are not for our own pleasure and disposition but to serve the will of God upon receiving calls from God, following Christ, in whom we become one body and with one another (John 17:21; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

Upon his Baptism, Christ has started calling, calling us to become his disciples, to follow his way, to do the will of God the Father. And upon our Baptism, we have been called by God in Christ. But, perhaps, we were not mature enough to recognize these calls as from God, just as it was case with Samuel, until being advised by Eli. But, upon Confirmation on, we must recognize and listen to calls from God, as Samuel did with these words, “Here I am. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”. And, let us remember to keep our bodies holy so that we can serve God, upon our calls, with our bodies, even offering as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1), as Christ himself did on the Cross.

Let our service in following Christ, upon receiving and listening to God’s calls, be holy and pleasing to God!