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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 16, 2000
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am." He ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." "I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep." So he went back to sleep. Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "You called me." But he answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep." At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me." Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."
Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.
Second Reading--(1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20)
The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.
Gospel Reading--(John 1:35-42)
John was with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them,"Come, and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Kephas" (which is translated Peter).
Pastor's Message: Perfect Happiness
The British author, Somerset Maugham, has observed that American women expect to find, in their husbands, a perfection that English women only hope to find in their butlers. And seemingly, the husband who expects his wife to be perfect also expects her to understand why he isn't. A perfect husband is a man whose wife doesn't start to reform right away. Actually, the more perfect a man is, the more women who try to alter him. So could it be that none of the men who would make perfect husbands are married yet? But surely, it is only the perfect fool who will not marry until he finds the perfect woman. So God help the man who won't marry until he finds the perfect woman, and God help the woman if he ever finds her. No question, the only perfect people are those we don't know, and, thus, perfection is truly a very mixed blessing -- for an imperfect friend is surely far preferable to a perfect stranger.
THE PERFECT TRIBUTE (1991) starred Jason Robards, Lukas Haas, and Jeanne Tripplehorn, and tells the intriguing story of a teenage boy from the South during the American Civil War, who is searching for his older brother who is dying from war wounds in a Washington, D.C. hospital. The young man inadvertently meets President Abraham Lincoln, who is wandering alone around the nation's capital, feeling very dispirited because he believes his Gettysburg Address has been totally misunderstood. This film is very heartwarming and engrossing historical fiction.
It's been said that the only real happiness in this world comes to those who serve others -- to those who do good that proves beneficial to other people. So could it be that this is why God is always perfectlyhappy? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are always living and always doing for one another. And, after creation took place, the Holy Trinity has always been doing for us. That is why God is perfectly happy. That is why God is perfect happiness personified. Jesus has called us to experience God's happiness by urging us to live and to do for others. So not only are we to look-out for the good of others during our lives on earth, but we shall also be doing so in the heavenly hereafter. Never does happiness come from being served, but always from serving. Being served can be quite enjoyable for awhile. But only those among the rich and famous who actually do what is needed and necessary for the true benefit of others can actually feel useful and thus truly enjoy any real happiness. The self-indulgent, greedy, avaricious, grasping, close-fisted, miserly persons only pretend to be happy and satisfied. Deep down they feel useless, insecure and miserable.
So, in answer to Jesus' question, "What are you looking for?" in this Sunday's gospel, our response can only be, "Perfect happiness!" And because we desire perfect happiness, we must further ask Jesus, "Lord, where do you stay?" He will respond, "Come and see." Most probably, the way to perfect happiness will be somewhat different for each one of us. But if we follow Jesus to where He wants us to go with our lifetime, we will obtain the perfect happiness we are deeply longing for.
Fr. George Griffin