Being Eli

Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
1 Sm. 3.3b-10, 19 Ps. 40 1 Cor. 6.13c-15a, 17-20 John 1.35-42

We might think that today’s first reading is about Samuel, and how the Lord called him to be a prophet. But I think this reading is just as much about Eli, and we can learn much from his example. From the stories I’ve heard, it seems like most priests and those in religious life have an Eli in their lives. Just about every priest and religious I know has had someone at some point in their life’s journey who played the role of Eli to their Samuel, someone who helped them recognize the voice of God calling them. I know I definitely did. Actually, I had a few different Eli’s in my story. And, really, the story of my own vocation can be the story of the Eli’s who helped me listen to God.

The first Eli’s who helped me listen to God calling me to the priesthood came when I was very young – when I was in grade school, as an altar server at Mass. Over the years, a few members of my home parish asked if I had ever thought about being a priest. At the time, I dismissed these questions – I’m sorry, but the priesthood isn’t part of my plans. I wouldn’t recognize these people as taking the role of Eli in my life until years later – but they were there, and in the long run, I know that their prayers helped to open my ears. It wasn’t until I was a senior in high school that I actually acknowledge an Eli for who he was. On my high school senior retreat, one of my teachers said that he saw in me the qualities that would make a good priest, and he asked if I had thought about that vocation. All of a sudden, for whatever reasons – perhaps the atmosphere of the retreat, and definitely the persistence of God’s call – but all of a sudden, the thought of priesthood actually became a real possibility. I spent the rest of that retreat listening for God – but it was the question of a teacher, the help of an Eli, that helped me want to listen.

My road to the priesthood wasn’t determined on that one night of a retreat as a high school senior – really the only thing that changed that night was that I started to listen more closely to God and to really be open to whatever he was calling me to do. For the rest of my senior year in high school, I met each week with another teacher – a spiritual companion – and our conversations often turned to how God was calling me. This teacher, too, was an Eli for me – as I was listening for God, our conversations together helped me understand what I was hearing. Then, in college, the Christian Brothers and priests in the Campus Ministry Center, plus the professors in the school’s religion department, supported me in the prayer and discernment that would help me make the choice to become a seminarian. And the whole time, the support I received from family and friends gave me confidence and courage to respond to God’s call.

The call to serve as a priest, just like the call to marriage or religious life, comes from God alone – and I humbly believe that I am answering that call as best I can. But along the way, there were many Eli’s in my life – many people who helped me to listen, who recognized God’s presence and pointed me in the right direction, people whose conversations and prayers helped me find the words and the strength I needed to answer God. And, like most priests, it took multiple times of God calling me – and multiple Eli’s to help me listen – before I was ready to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Even though the call and vocation comes from God alone, I don’t know if I would ever have answered if I hadn’t had all those Eli’s along the way. And that’s not just my story – that’s the story of just about every priest and person in religious life I know. This week, we continue the Called by Name Vocations program. This program is just one chance for you to be an Eli to someone God is calling to serve in the priesthood or religious life. Nomination forms can still be found in the pews, and completed forms can be placed in the collection basket today or next week, or turned in to the parish office. Together, we can by like Eli to Samuel, we can help people discern God’s call in their lives.