god calling
"The Lord called to Samuel." —1 Samuel 3:4
The Lord promises us: "Call to Me, and I will answer you; I will tell to you things great beyond reach of your knowledge" (Jer 33:3). The Lord wants to reveal His love and Himself to us so much that He even became a human being, sent the Holy Spirit to teach us, gave us the Bible, and founded His Church as "the pillar and bulwark of truth" (1 Tm 3:15).
Despite the Lord's desire to communicate with us, "a revelation of the Lord" is "uncommon and vision infrequent" (1 Sm 3:1) for many people, even Christians. Some are "not familiar with the Lord, because the Lord" has not revealed anything to them as yet (1 Sm 3:7). Moreover, when someone does hear the Lord, the leadership of the Church is sometimes so weak that it doesn't encourage the person to respond to the Lord (see 1 Sm 3:6). Nonetheless, even under these unfavorable circumstances, the Lord will still communicate with us "things great beyond reach" of our knowledge.
As we begin this new year, let's ask the Lord what we should do before we make the tragic mistake of doing our own thing. Jesus began His days by rising early and going off to a lonely place in the desert where He was absorbed in prayer (Mk 1:35). Let's begin our year in a similar way.
Prayer: Speak, Father, for Your servant is listening (1 Sm 3:9).
Promise: "Let us move on to the neighboring villages so that I may proclaim the good news there also. That is what I have come to do." —Mk 1:38
Praise: St. Hilary was exiled twice for refuting the Arian heresy which claimed that Jesus was only human. During his second exile, to the East, Hilary wrote so convincingly that Jesus was God that his heretical Eastern hosts, seeing how Hilary was defeating their cause, persuaded the Emperor to send Hilary back home.
Reference: (Check our website for upcoming retreats and register online, too, at www.presentationministries.com)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, June 4, 2009
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