20180110 BEING PROACTIVE REQUIRES LISTENING
10 JANUARY, 2018, Wednesday, 1st
Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
First
reading
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1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20 ©
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The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli;
it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon. One
day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning
to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and
Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when
the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ Then he ran to Eli
and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back
and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Once again the Lord called, ‘Samuel!
Samuel!’ Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called
me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down.’ Samuel had
as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been
revealed to him. Once again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went
to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli then understood that it
was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down,
and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel
went and lay down in his place.
The Lord then came and stood by,
calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Lord,
your servant is listening.’
Samuel grew up and the Lord was with
him and let no word of his fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan to Beersheba
came to know that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord.
The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli;
it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon. One
day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning
to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and
Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when
the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’ Then he ran to Eli
and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back
and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. Once again the Lord called, ‘Samuel!
Samuel!’ Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called
me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down.’ Samuel had
as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been
revealed to him. Once again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went
to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me.’ Eli then understood that it
was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down,
and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel
went and lay down in his place.
BEING PROACTIVE REQUIRES LISTENING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 SM
3:1-10, 19-20, MK 1, 40-45 ]
BEING PROACTIVE REQUIRES LISTENING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 SM
3:1-10, 19-20, MK 1, 40-45 ]
There
are two basic attitudes towards life. One way to live
life is simply to react to situations all the time. This was
precisely the case of Samuel initially. Whenever he heard his name being
called, he answered somewhat mechnically, “Here I am,” and then ran to
Eli. Samuel’s response was like a pre-conditioning. You push a
button and you get the same response all the time. This, too, was also
the case of the disciples of Jesus. They must have been thrilled by the
popularity of Jesus and their own popularity since they were associates of
Jesus. We are told that the whole town was crowding round Jesus, hoping
that He would cure them in some ways. Hence, when Jesus was not found in the
morning, the disciples came to look for Jesus, saying, “Everybody is looking
for you”, implying therefore that Jesus should be around to attend to their
problems. By so doing, they too were simply being reactive.
In
our own ways too, most of us are reactive in life. We are to a great
extent conditioned beings. We are always reacting to situations. We
do not really have control over our lives and our happiness. Very
often, our peace is determined by others because we are so easily
affected by what they do and what they say. If they say nice
things about us, we feel happy; but if they say negative things about us, we
feel hurt and sometimes even revengeful. In such a situation, one
can hardly be happy in this world since one’s mood is dependent on one’s
popularity.
Not
only in our relationships with others, but even in our professional
life, many of us do not have the foresight to plan ahead. Some of us
spend our whole life solving problems and reacting to situations. When we
simply react to our problems, we can never go very far in life since we
utlilise our whole time and energy resolving issues that arise from poor
judgement and wrong decisions made in the past. This is very true,
especially for those who hold leadership positions. For such
leaders, there can be no progress since they spend all their time tackling new
and old problems that are the consequence of past short-sightedness and bad
policies.
We
tend to follow the opinions of the crowd. This was the
reason why the Lord did not allow the devil to reveal His identity. “He also
cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew
who he was.” The danger for many people is that they do not take
ownership of what they do or believe. They just follow the crowd.
Just because their friends enrolled in a certain course or institution, they
follow; not because they are interested or passionate about it. This is
true for the faith. Many are joining a religion not out of personal
conviction but because their friends or loved ones are there. This explains why
Jesus did not allow the devil to make the people lazy and complacent in
believing in Him through personal discovery.
For
this reason, the scripture readings today challenge us to be more
proactive and to not simply react or follow blindly. This was what
Eli realized when Samuel kept returning to him after hearing his name being
called. So he told Samuel to preempt the situation by responding, “Speak
Lord, your servant is listening.” It was true also in the case of
Jesus. Although Jesus was responding to all the cries for help, He was
not reactive at all. His decision to reach out to the sick and suffering
was a deliberate choice. He was not motivated by what others thought or
said of Him. His actions were not determined by others. That was
why when His disciples told Him that everyone was looking for Him, He He did
not choose to remain there and bask in His popularity. Instead, His response
was, “Let us go elsewhere … so that I can preach there too.” Yes, Jesus
was proactive rather than reactive. He was very clear of His
mission. He had been sent to preach the good news to all, even in places
where He might not be too welcome. Such foresighted vision prevented Jesus from
settling down comfortably in any place that gave Him a comfortable life.
Yes, Jesus knew that if He did that, He would not be able to fulfill the plan
of the Father.
We
too must imitate Jesus. We must be proactive in life. We
must not simply be contented with solving our daily personal, family, office
and community problems. That is not to say that we should not attend
to immediate issues. But our vision cannot be too narrow-minded.
Our view of life must be more global and far-sighted. So whilst attending
to the immediate problems, we need to look ahead. It is when we plan
ahead that the nitty gritty issues of the day get resolved by themselves.
We need to look ahead into the future whilst keeping an eye on the
present. We must be clear of our ultimate goal so that we will not be so
preoccupied with fighting the small battles that we lose the war. Only
those who have long term vision can choose the battles to fight, instead of
dealing with insignificant and secondary issues. Jesus was clear of His
mission. Staying back to help the people was not a bad idea but it would
result in Him neglecting His larger mission to the whole of humanity.
But how
can we have such a vision of life? The key lies in listening in
our prayer. Samuel became a great prophet, the scripture tells us,
because he listened. Indeed, the Lord was with Him only because he made
listening his constant habit in life. So attentive was Samuel to the
Lord’s words that, as scripture says, he “let no word of his fall to the
ground.” What is said of Samuel was also applicable to Jesus. While
the rest of the people were sleeping, including His disciples, and inspite of a
tiring day, we are told that long before dawn, Jesus got up and left the house
and “went off to a lonely place and prayed there.”
Yes,
this is certainly the great secret of Samuel, the prophet of the Lord and Jesus
Himself. For it is only in deep silence and in prayer that we
come to discern our true motives for doing the things we do. Only in
attentive listening to the Lord, can we come to understand what He really wants
us to do. For it is when our minds are uncluttered and freed from the
malaise of too much activity, sensations and drama, that we become alert to the
voice of God and begin to see the truth of all that we do. If not we
might be motivated not by God’s love but by our own insecurity and vested
interests. As leaders, our decisions are never motivated by our needs but
by the greater good of the people we lead. For their sake, and for the
betterment of our people, we must be ready to sacrifice ourselves for them.
Yes, let us pray that before we act in the name of Jesus, we are clear of our
vocation, God’s plan and what must be done. We need to listen to the Lord
everyday, especially through the Word of God and think through what is God’s
will for us so that so we can make wise decisions. Let us pray that
we will see beyond our human and mundane needs, and look to God’s marvellous
plan instead.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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