"Preparized"

In the 1^st book of Samuel (1 Sm 1: 24-28) we are whisked back to the generation immediately preceding the birth and kingship of David. There is no temple for Israel.  But there is a sanctuary for Israel’s worship at a place called Shiloh in the hill country some miles north of Jerusalem. 

The sanctuary was the resting place for the Ark of the Covenant which was the visible proof of God’s presence with His people. Eli was the chief priest of the sanctuary. Living in the sanctuary was a boy named Samuel whose birth was in answer to a special prayer of his childless mother, Hannah.  In gratitude to God for giving her a son she dedicated him to the exclusive service of God. 

(He was later to emerge as a key figure in the rise of King David and thus in the entire history of salvation.) 

In Shiloh he was raised by the priest Eli himself and prepared himself to be a follower of the most high God. Samuel assisted daily at the altar, he read and became familiar with the sacred writings, and he got the best religious formation available. Yet when the word of God came to him personally, he became confused, because his heart had not yet been made tender by a personal experience with God. He wasn’t Preparized   

Each time God called Samuel he thought that it was Eli. (1 Sm 3: 1-18) It was not until Eli directed him on what to do that he finally succeeded in establishing a connection with God. His heart was made tender so that he could hear God’s voice.  He was Preparized 
A Prepared mind and soul with a heart tenderized by God’s holy word. Preparized

However we must ask this question; why didn’t God just come to Samuel and say: “Samuel! Samuel! It is I the Lord, your God. Now listen up?” Why did God speak to Samuel in a voice that could be confused  for Eli’s? 

It seems as if God speaks to us in ways that often can be heard in our neighbors and friends, brothers and sisters, children and parents, husbands and wives. God’s voice can come to us in everyone if we listen closely enough, If we are Preparized. That is why we need one another. We need one another so that we can begin to be prepared by listening to and hearing God's voice in those we love and those we have yet to love.

The theme of preparation and listening to God is evident in Christ's call of the disciples. Andrew and John had followed John the Baptist as a way of preparing for the One who was to come. For years they had prayed and fasted and waited for the joy of meeting the Messiah. Yet when they finally came face to face with the Messiah himself, they could not recognize him. (Jn 1:35-40)

Again it took the guidance of the familiar voice of John for them to recognize the Messiah. These followers of John the Baptist had a divine call to become disciples of Jesus. But they could not discover what divine providence had in store for them until they had a change in their heart made tender by Christ, the word of God made flesh. There will always people in our community like Eli and prophets like John to point out Christ to us and to help us discern what God is saying to us in our lives as individuals and as a people.

It is not easy to be tender of heart, sometimes the truth that we hear is too hard to accept. The other day a person very close to me brought a DVD to our house to watch. But it was a bootleg copy. I could not watch it. If I did I would have been as wrong as the people who taped it, copied it, sold it, and bought it. That is the truth, and no justification that everyone does it will make it right.

“What are you looking for”?  This question reflects Jesus’ first words that He spoke in John’s gospel.  Jesus originally spoke these words to His disciples, but He also speaks these very words to us. What are you looking for? Generally we tend to think that we should be asking, what does God want from us, what is he looking for? But no, he also wants to know what we want. The answer to that question is less for his benefit than for ours. Our answer tells us what our real priorities are, both toward God and the people around the world. What do we really want from life and from God? It is not such an easy question to answer - it is easy to be superficial or flippant - but it tells us where we really are. And it is a question we will have to answer at different stages in our life as circumstances change. 

Another question by the disciples but also an answer to Jesus' query: "Teacher, where are you staying?". In other words they are asking, "Jesus, where are you to be found? Where are we to go to find you, to be with you? Where in our lives do we encounter you?" If that were to be OUR answer to Jesus' question, "What do you want?", or as Samuel said: “Speak Lord your servant is listening.” we would be doing very well

Now Jesus answers their question: "Come and see." Knowing Jesus and where he stays is not primarily a matter of intellectual knowledge. It is not a matter of information. It is not a question of knowing all theology, dogmatic and moral, nor is it a question of being an expert in all the teaching and the rules of the Church: Pharisees of all times are good at that. Knowing Jesus is a matter of experience. One could know the new Catechism of the Catholic Church, all 700 pages of it, by heart and still not know Jesus. To know him in the Gospel sense is to seek, find and respond to his loving presence in the fabric of our daily lives.

It comes from taking a plunge, trying out the teaching of Jesus even when it seems to go against what most people think to love unconditionally, to forgive, to turn the other cheek, to carry one's cross after Jesus, to suffer abuse and persecution for being his follower...

Come and see, that is the way to follow, there is no other way. The two disciples accept the invitation. They do go and stay where Jesus stays and do so for the rest of that day. And what was the result of staying with Jesus? One of the two, Andrew, became not only a committed follower but an evangelizer - the two cannot be separated. He immediately went in great excitement and found his brother, Simon, and told him, "We have found the Messiah!" And thus Simon became Peter and also a follower, an apostle and the leader of the new community.

It is important to note that Peter, in spite of his future important role, was not called directly by Jesus but through his brother. And that happens again and again. Everyone, including the greatest saints, were called by another, often lesser, person and brought to Christ.

Each one of us is led to the love of Jesus by other people. To me, all of us are looking for the one basic truth that only God can give us—love—true love--unconditional love. 
We want a love that will last forever and will never let us down.  We’re looking for a love that will never cheat on us or deceive us or frustrate us.  We want a love that will fulfill the deepest longings of our heart and mind and soul. That is what we are looking for.  That is what we all yearn for.  That is what every one of us, whether they are aware of it or not, needs. Love, true love, God-like love. It is only God’s love that can tenderize us.