2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Liturgy of the Hours, 2nd week, proper

Today’s readings present us with a God seeking our cooperation. It is up to us to discover what God wants from us and to say, like Samuel: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Texts taken from the booklet “On Your Word,” January-February 2021.

FIRST READING

From the First Book of Samuel (1 Sam 3:3b-10, 19)
In those days, Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called: “Samuel!” and he answered, “Here I am,” then ran to Eli and said, “You called me; here I am!” He answered, “I did not call you. Go back to sleep.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again: “Samuel!”; Samuel rose and ran to Eli, saying, “You called me; here I am!” But he answered again, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.” Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel a third time; he rose again and ran to Eli, saying, “You called me; here I am!” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the young man. Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if he calls you, say: ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” Samuel went to sleep in his place. The Lord came and stood beside him and called as before: “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel answered at once: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, not allowing any of his words to fall to the ground. – The word of God.

Commentary on the first reading

This passage of Sacred Scripture prompts us to ask whether we truly know the Lord: “Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” For how many years I myself went on asking: “Have I really come to know the Lord, or not?”; “What does it mean to know the Lord?”; “What changes in the life of someone who has come to know the Lord?” I looked for him in family affections, sensing that something was missing. I tried to seek knowledge of the Lord in frantic activity, but he was not there. I pitied myself, and this only distanced me from intimacy with him. In illness, I was left speechless, and it seemed that there was a wall between me and the Creator and Redeemer. Finally, I do not know how, I was given the gift of savoring the little things: friendships, bonds, the silence of prayer, the smiles and eyes of children. And there I understood, with great depth, that something was different: the presence and knowledge of Jesus, “my Lord and my God.” It has often been said, and it is good to continue repeating it, that “to know,” in biblical language, means to enjoy the deepest and most fruitful intimacy. Let us try to live our relationship with the Lord in this way.

SECOND READING

From the First Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20)
Brothers and sisters, the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. God, who raised the Lord, will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Whoever unites himself to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Keep away from immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against the body itself. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body! – The word of God.

Commentary on the second reading

How much triviality and ignorance one sometimes encounters when speaking about a Christian’s relationship with their own body. Many have tried to assert a rejection and negative view of it. We should ask ourselves, however, whether we have ever listened to today’s second reading: “Therefore glorify God in your body!” Our whole person, including our physical nature, is the temple of the Lord; he dwells within us. Perhaps many Christians are surprised by this too, asserting a rigid separation between body and soul or irrationally despising the body; none of this is authentically Christian. Think of a pair of ice skaters and their spins; of a climber fully committed during a climb that seems designed especially for them; of dives from the highest platform; of athletes giving their all in the pools, swimming the butterfly stroke… Is all this, and the body of each one of us, not perhaps the glory of God? Let us recognize and give thanks for the body the Lord has given us; at every age and season of life, let us thank him.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John (Jn 1:35-42)
At that time, John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus pass by, he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. Jesus then turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They answered him, “Rabbi” – which translated means Teacher – “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. One of the two who had heard John and followed him was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” – which is translated Christ – and he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John; you will be called Cephas” – which means Peter. – The Gospel of the Lord.

Commentary on the Gospel of the day

“Come, and you will see.” These words show how right it is to think of the Gospel as Good News and of Jesus as the one who brings it to life! This invitation from the Lord is astonishingly precise and clear. Being Christian does not mean merely studying a doctrine, but – as Pope Benedict XVI repeated very often – encountering a Person. It is not a magic formula or a pharmaceutical remedy; the only way is to question ourselves and follow the path marked by Jesus’ footsteps. Follow Jesus and you will see wonders! Place your steps behind his, and you will see the world, existence, and people… from an entirely new perspective. On one occasion Jesus said to Simon Peter: “Get behind me, Satan.” In other words: “You who divide a person within themselves; you who separate people from God, do not presume to walk ahead of me, to go before the Lord. Rather, come behind me! Do not walk according to your own criteria, but adapt yourself to mine. Come and open your eyes; you will come to know joy.”