The Power of Example
Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 17, 2021
In what has become a classic in a very short time, the Disney film Frozen focuses on two sisters, Elsa and Anna, when they are young children. Elsa is sound asleep when her younger sister, Anna, tries to wake her up because she wants to play. Elsa groggily pushes her sister away and says, “Anna, go back to sleep.”
I’ll bet that any of you who are mothers or fathers have had similar experiences, when you are awakened by the call of a child in the middle of the night, asking for a drink of water, or insisting that you take care of the monsters that are hiding under the child’s bed. Maybe some of you instinctively replied, “Go back to sleep.”
This is the situation we find in our first reading. The young boy Samuel has been dedicated for service of the Lord in the temple. Our reading says that the Lord called Samuel, but the boy thought it was the old High Priest, Eli, calling. The boy wakes up the old man and says, “You called me. What did you want?” Eli replies (you guessed it): “Go back to sleep.”
Now, the important thing to remember is that Eli is a father figure, a role model and a mentor for the young Samuel. He finally figures out that it must really be God calling, even though that would be rare, and so he gives the boy advice: “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
We need to remember that throughout the Bible God finds ways of communicating with people. Consider the stories of the Christmas season, for example: Mary is visited by an angel, as are the shepherds; Joseph receives messages from God in dreams; when the infant Jesus is presented in the temple, the old man Simeon and the elderly Anna, who were extremely prayerful people, immediately recognize the child as the promised Savior and sing his praises to anyone who would listen.
Our Scripture readings today remind us that there is a more humble, but very important, way in which God teaches and speaks to us: through those who are older and wiser, parents and grandparents, teachers and mentors. In the first reading we have encountered the young Samuel, gradually learning his way under the guidance of Eli. In the gospel reading we read about John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to two of his disciples, and they in turn become disciples of Jesus, who serves as their Master and mentor.
Pope Francis speaks often about the importance of the role of older people and the incredibly important part they play in the formation of the young. It reminded me of the words of a little pamphlet I found years ago: “When a child thrusts his or her small hand in yours, it may be smeared with ice cream or jelly, and there may be a wart under the right thumb, or a Band-Aid on a little finger. But the most important thing about this little hand is that it is a hand of the future. This hand someday may hold a Bible or a revolver; play the church organ or spin a gambling wheel; gently dress a wound or tremble wretchedly, grasping a drug needle. Right now, that hand is in yours. It represents a full-fledged personality in miniature, to be respected as a separate individual whose day-to-day growth into adulthood is your responsibility.”
In recent days our world has become a very frightening place—a world of violent demonstrations and terrorist threats, a world of such divisiveness that people wonder who they can trust, a fragile world that requires the protection of thousands of armed National Guard troops.
Our nation, and indeed our world, are in desperate need of mentors and role models who can inspire us and show us the way to a safer, happier and more life-giving world. This weekend we honor one such mentor, Martin Luther King, Jr. In one of the most beautiful speeches ever given in America Dr. King said:
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I believe that, even through the frightening nightmare we are experiencing, our God is calling to us, asking each of us in our own way, as limited as we may be, to be examples, role models and mentors of a better world, a better way. We know there is a better way because we have learned it from Jesus Christ, from the Bible, from the Church, from all those who have taught and mentored us, and from our own conscience where, if we listen, we can hear our God showing us the way. If God can call little boys like Samuel, he can surely call us to live with truth and honesty, compassion and reason, justice and respect, love and peace. He can ask us to stand up to bullies, demand more of our elected officials, stand with those whose rights are being trampled on, and insist that those who do evil be held accountable. As surely as God called young Samuel, I believe that God is calling to us today, through the events of our day, to build a civilization of love and respect, to love our neighbors, and to treat others as we want to be treated. Our God is calling and we have a choice. We can treat God’s call as “spam” or “junk mail”—or we can heed old Eli’s teaching: “If you are called, reply, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”