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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Rev. James A. Wallace, C.Ss.R.

Listening for God

The story of the future prophet Samuel begins by telling us that the voice of  the Lord was rarely heard and visions were uncommon. God seemed to have  broken off communication, given Israel’s spotty record of keeping the Lord’s com mandments. Or perhaps no one was giving attention to God’s voice? One night  when Eli the priest and young Samuel were sleeping in the temple, God called  Samuel by name. Three times God called, and each time Samuel went in to where  Eli was sleeping to see what he wanted. Finally, Eli realized it was the Lord and  told Samuel what to say. 

When Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized, John the Baptist pointed him  out to those who would be his first disciples. They “heard what he said and fol lowed Jesus.” One of them, Andrew, then went and got his brother Peter. Peter  listened and followed his brother to meet Jesus. 

Sometimes God speaks in the silence of the night, sometimes in the bustle  of everyday life. I loved the TV series Joan of Arcadia, in which God would show up  in various guises—a street performer, an eccentric elderly lady, a child. Scripture  reminds us to keep on our toes, lest God walk on by. Even a first recognition of  Jesus did not totally reveal all that he was. The disciples called him Rabbi and  Messiah, but only John the Baptist knew him for the Lamb of God who would take  away the sins of the world. 

Consider/Discuss

  • In a popular hymn we sing that we have heard God calling in the  night. Have you heard God calling lately—night or day? 
  • Has your response to God’s call been more like Samuel’s or Andrew’s,  needing some assistance, or immediate? 

Responding to the Word

God who has spoken in times past, help us individually and as a community  to listen for your voice in our day. Send us mentors and friends who will help us  to know it is your voice, and give us the courage to respond to your call. Amen.

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A Feast for Searchers

“If there weren’t any Wise Men, there should have been,” a spiritual mentor once told me. This was at a time when a story’s truth was equated with its being  factual. The story of the Wise Men is true, whether it is factual in its details or  not. From the beginning of time, there have been those who have been searching for “truth” or “light” or other divine signals. This journey often begins when  something in our world catches the attention of those looking up or out from  themselves, glimpsing a “star” beckoning. 

The truth behind the story of the Wise Men affirms that God sends out signals  for searchers to pick up on and move further down the road that will take them to  God. Sometimes we might get lost for a while, our internal GPS ceasing to function because we have made a sudden turn or gone past a suggested turn-off. But,  then, in a moment of grace, we hear a welcome “recalculating,” and we are off on our way once again. 

Even when “darkness covers the earth and thick clouds cover the peoples,”  the One we are searching for is present, and will not let us go off the trail completely—at least not for long, and eventually, in “God’s good time,” we will find  our way. The light will return and the Lord’s glory will shine upon all seekers and  searchers—even some not much interested in seeking or searching. These, especially, are the ones the Son of Man came to save. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Are you a searcher, a seeker after “something”? Can you name it?
  • Have you had any experience of “finding God,” or “coming to Christ”?
  • Have you ever been a “star” for another? 

Responding to the Word

Jesus, send the guiding light we all need to find you. Sometimes there is only  darkness and we grow tired, frightened, even hopeless. Be with us then and bring  us to that place where you can be found. We pray with St. John Henry Newman:  “Lead, kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom. Lead thou me on!” Amen.

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A New Time of Hope

What do you seek in a new year? What blessing do you ask of God, who has  revealed the depth of divine love in the birth of Jesus? Consider the blessing  the Lord ordered Moses to give to Aaron and his sons to speak to the people of  Israel. God offered them a blessing that brings divine protection through God’s  gracious presence, revealing a God who intends to look kindly upon and give  peace to the chosen people. 

Our annual celebration of Christmas extends these same blessings into God’s  plan that we become adopted into the family of God by our birth in Christ  through baptism. We are given not only the freedom that comes from being made  children of God, taken up into a relationship allowing us to call God Abba (Father),  but also to consider ourselves as heirs and inheritors of our God’s kingdom when  we pass from this life to eternal life.

The name Jesus means “God saves.” This is the message of this season: God  became one of us to save us, to seek us out and bring us into communion with  the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are invited to think of ourselves  as part of the family of the Trinity. Mary is set before us every first day of the new  year as the woman who ponders this wonderful mystery of God-become-human  from the beginning. She gently extends to us an invitation to quiet reflection,  prayer, and praise. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Why do you think this feast of Mary was chosen for New Year’s Day?
  • Have you spent time “pondering” God’s gift of divine life to you,  given in baptism? 

Responding to the Word

Mary, mother of Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, you were ever attentive to  what God was asking of you, keeping the law of Moses, but also open to hearing  and obeying God’s ongoing call in your life. Pray for us to be attentive to what  God will say and ask of us during this new year of grace. Amen.

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God’s Christmas Card

The beautiful feet of Isaiah’s messengers announcing peace and bringing glad  tidings can seem distant from our lives. Living in the digital age can diminish  any excitement at receiving a message, since they pour in all the time. E-mail,  cell phones, and digital intersections like Facebook and LinkedIn bring instantaneous connection, obliterating time and space barriers once crossed by such  “antiquated” forms as snail mail, the telegram, and . . . does anyone remember  the rotary phone? 

But still, at the heart of all communication is the word, and that is the image  today’s readings present to us in speaking of the mystery of the Incarnation, our  God becoming human. Luke’s baby of Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes  and laid in a manger, is first presented in John’s Gospel as the eternal Word of  creation, as life, as light shining in the darkness, as the Father’s only Son, full of  grace and truth, and finally, as the Word become flesh who dwelled among us,  true God and true man.

Give yourself time over these days to ponder (a good Christmas word) not only  the babe in the crèche but also the profound mystery of the Word of God in  whom and through whom all things were made, this Word who became human,  revealing the image of the invisible God. The human warmth Luke presents in his  Bethlehem story is matched by John’s image of Jesus as the only Son, standing (as  the New English Bible translation has it) “nearest to the Father’s heart.” 

Consider/Discuss

  • Do you think about Jesus as the Word of God, the Son “nearest to the  Father’s heart”? What do these expressions say to you? 
  • How does the opening prologue of John’s Gospel speak to your life? 

Responding to the Word

Eternal Word of the Father, you became human so we might become divine.  Let your message penetrate deeply into our minds and hearts, and move us to  bring your light and life into a world often threatened by darkness and death.  Love us today into a new birth. Amen.

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The Best Dwelling Place

In today’s first reading King David is settled in his cedar palace, no upcoming  battles on the horizon, feeling quite content, glass of wine in hand, chatting with  Nathan the prophet about how good life is, when he gets this inspiration: “God  should have a house! Certainly more than that old tent we have been dragging  around. And I will build it!” Nathan approves. 

But that night, God weighs in: “Tell David, ‘Thanks, but no thanks. I like the  tent.’ ” We don’t know why God said no to David. But it seems that God wanted  to make clear not only who was building God’s dwelling place but also who really  was in charge of everything. God was the kingdom builder and God chose to work  with very simple material, like a tent. But this was nothing compared to God’s  decision a millennium later, on the day when the angel Gabriel was sent to a town  of Galilee called Nazareth. 

God’s plan from the beginning was to take up residence among us closer than  any building could be, whether it was as magnificent as Solomon’s temple or as  humble as the simplest parish church. What God intended was to dwell with us as  one of us, taking on human flesh and blood. And in the fullness of time God came  asking if one of us would be willing. We don’t know how long it took for Mary to  answer. We only remember the important thing: she said yes. 

Consider/Discuss

  • What difference does it make that God chose to dwell among us as  one of us? 
  • Do you think of yourself as a dwelling place of God, as a temple of  the Holy Spirit? 
  • What effect does that have in daily living? 

Responding to the Word

O come, O come, Emmanuel. Make your dwelling place in us this day. Let the  world recognize that we are a people chosen to be a sign of your loving, merciful,  justice-seeking, reconciling presence in the world. Thank you for the many ways  you continue to do the impossible in us, through us. Amen.

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