Today we hear from the prophet Samuel in the first reading, who speaks about his parents. His father, Elkanah, who belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, had two wives, one named Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
This already highlights the fact that all of us have different circumstances. Some of us are living the dream, and some of us are living a trauma. But that does not mean that there is no hope, as the story throughout its development will show. Elkanah would always tell his wife to have faith and to not lose hope, because Peninnah would always mock Hannah. Peninnah, who had children, “turned it into a constant reproach to her that the Lord had left her barren.” But what she did not know was that the Lord would not leave her (Hannah) barren forever. And so she brings forth a child. Hannah brings forth the first prophet of Israel.
How often do we feel insufficient, worthless, incapable, and helpless? Like Hannah, we would like to affect change in our lives but are powerless to do so. Everything we try seems to fail, and unless our faith in God is strong, we end up questioning his ways. This shows us, as we had been seeing throughout the Christmas season, with examples like the mothers of Isaac, Samson, and John the Baptist, and now, in today’s reading, the mother of the first prophet God set over his people, Hannah, that the gift of life has to and can come from him.
Our Blessed Mother was the proof that even when it would be impossible for life to come forth, as you would need human agency, God is not restricted by natural parameters. My dear brothers and sisters, God, who created the universe, transcends it and can alter natural laws, for he is the source of all that is good. He is also the source, therefore, of all our vocations, because our vocations are good. They are a good thing. They are a sacred thing, because they link us in our citizenship, our belonging, to the Kingdom of Heaven.
We all have a common vocation as Christians: we are all called to follow Jesus. But some as laity, some as married men and women, and others as consecrated religious who serve God and his people. He is the source of every vocation. For instance, what did Jesus say about marriage? “What God has joined together, let no one tear asunder” (Mk 10:9). Likewise, he would say to the apostles, “You did not choose me, but I chose you, to go out and bear fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16).
In today’s Gospel, we see this happening in real time. Jesus is walking along the shores of Galilee. He sees Simon, whom he would later call Peter, the Rock, with his brother Andrew, mending the nets in their boats. And he calls them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mk 1:17). They left their nets and followed him. Then he walked a little further and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who would later be known as the Beloved. They too were in a boat mending their nets, and he called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat, along with the hired men, and followed him.
My brothers and sisters, the Lord has called us for something special — all of us. He has called us to recognize, acknowledge, embrace, and love his only-begotten Son. And the Son has called us to recognize, to embrace, and to love the everlasting Father. And both of them invite us to love, embrace, and acknowledge the Holy Spirit who is within us.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God — together restore humanity. Together they bring forth everything that is good. Together they work out their plan of salvation for all of us, because they love us.
May Almighty God bless you in your vocation, as he blessed Peter and Andrew, James and John, Bartholomew, Jude, Thaddeus, Philip, Matthew, Thomas, and all the apostles. Because just as he loved them, be sure that he loves you no less, and that he cares for you more than you can ever imagine.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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