While the boy Samuel was helping Eli the priest at the Temple at Shiloh, the Lord called to him three times. He thinks it is Eli calling him, but Eli realizes that God is call-ing Samuel and so tells him to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel did what Eli instructed, and the Lord spoke to him. If we read that whole story we discover that the Lord told Samuel that since Eli was not calling his sons to repentance and reparation for their sins of fornication and irreverence in the Temple, punishment would come down upon them if they remained obstinate. Out of love, Samuel told Eli the prophecy, but Eli did nothing and so punishment came upon them. His two sons died in battle on the same day that the Ark of the Lord was captured. Eli also died that same day. However, God showed mercy to those in Eli‟s family who followed the Ten Commandments and offered themselves in service to God with the holy sacrifices, begging mercy for their deceased. Samuel grew in his vocation by listening to and following the Lord‟s commandments with the support of his Father and Mother, and five siblings. Members of this household, or “oikos” (in Greek parlance – oy‟- kose) were intentional in following God‟s commandments of life, love and wisdom, and thereby opened themselves to God‟s promises of protection and blessings while serving his plan.
We all have the same call from the Lord, the same vocation as Samuel and his family. Our common call or “vocation” is to be holy, to be saints of God. Baptism is the beginning of becoming a saint because at that moment we are incorporated into the Mystical Body of Christ – the Church. St. Paul reminds us in today‟s second reading: “I am reminding you, brothers and sisters, of the gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain…” Cf. 1 Cor. 15:1-11 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is made incarnate in the prayers and practices of his Catholic Church, by which we are nourished and guided to become holy. There are five principles for growing in holiness:
1) we pray every day individually (a.m. and p.m.) and as a family (when possible), especially before meals. 2) we worship God every weekend at Holy Mass and offer our lives to God with thanks and praise, striving to celebrate Confession monthly. 3) we serve the Church and the poor. Maybe you have a calling (vocation) to be an ordained priest, religious brother or sister, or called to marriage for the glory of God. Within your particular vocation you also might be called to serve as a catechist, lector, cantor, pastoral council member, etc. 4) as missionary disciples we are called to study the Bible and learn about our Catholic faith. 5) we are called to welcome and evangelize others by inviting them to walk with us, especially in small groups, and help them sign-up for OCIA program (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults program) whenever it is offered.
This is not always easy and thus Archbishop Hebda has asked us to enter into the “Parish Evangelization Cell
System” (PECS) which is a program sponsored by the Archdiocese which has trained many of our fellow parishioners to be leaders and co-leaders. This Parish Evangelization Cell System (PECS) is a system whereby the Pastor, leaders and co-leaders, with the guidance of the Archbishop and his staff, invite parishioners to enter into a committed small group of 6 to 12 people to meet weekly (or bi-weekly) to support one another in praise and prayer, the study and sharing of the faith, evangelization and service of each other by praying for healing and insight. The beauty of this “small group” evangelization process is that it meets people where they are at and invites them to walk with a particular group and, when the time seems good, to invite them into our parish church where they register as members and receive the full benefits of parish living. The goal is to help people dispose themselves to saying “Yes” to the fullness of our Catholic faith. In today‟s Gospel Peter‟s response to Jesus‟ command to “„Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch,‟” was met with doubt, and then surrender: “„Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.‟ “When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing… When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, „Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.‟” But Jesus responds to Peter, and to all of us who are saddened by our sins, “„Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.‟ When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.” Cf. Lk. 5:1-11 Fortunately, we do not have to leave everything to follow Jesus Christ, but we need to leave something behind if we are not spending time fulfilling the five principles of being an active Catholic Christian, a missionary disciple. As we look at Jesus forming his disciples, we recognize that Christ formed a small group of disciples who re-mained very close to him and became the Twelve Apostles. The apostles eventually formed small groups or “house churches” so that they can come to the Temple and worship the Lord more fruitfully, with the support of their “households” or “oikos” PECS groups. This is the model and reason Archbishop Hebda calls each parish and pastor to form “synodal small faith groups” which meet in the church or a house, and the leaders and co-leaders continue to collaborate with their pastor, and the Archdiocese support team, to help us all grow together in Christ. Just as Samuel and Peter listened to the voice of God and proclaimed the truth of Jesus Christ, so we have an opportunity to listen to Jesus Christ and bring others to pray with us in small groups, hopefully including quiet time of Adoration and learning to pray the Rosary. When we strive for holiness, our bodies and our families grow as temples of the Holy Spirit, despite our weaknesses. This pleases God who will save us and reward us. In the coming weeks I am looking forward to sharing with you more about the PECS faith sharing groups.
Peace in Christ through Mary and Joseph, Fr. Thomas McCabe
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