“I’ve waited, I’ve waited”, the Psalmist exclaims in today’s scripture while Samuel shares with us his experience of God. He shares his story of our God.
Samuel’s story is similar to the stories of many young people seeking to understand God in their lives. It is not a straightforward experience and it can be complicated. Unlike a lot of young people then and now, Samuel had Eli. Eli had wisdom and the gift, blended with patience, to accompany young people. Eli offers us today, a model of ministry to young people. At the heart of this ministry is personal accompaniment. This model offers young people an opportunity to participate, reflect and discover God in their lives.
Both, the Psalmist and Samuel share not just ‘the break-through moment’ regarding their faith, but they share the struggle they experienced that was intertwined within their journey of discovery.
It is this struggle that is commonplace for all people who seek to understand God in their lives. Religious practice can often be misunderstood as a blind allegiance, or an unshakeable belief in a truth. However, in the reality for today, religion for many young people gives more questions than answers. As a Church we must listen and respond to these questions. We must accompany our young people on this journey.
God called us all to walk this journey. God offered us Jesus as His response to the ‘cry of his people’. God has offered us a way to travel. We are invited on this road to do justice, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8)
This journey is not a simple question of ‘answering a call’ but is a life-long journey of discovering God’s constant interjections in our lives.
Today, God has been interjecting in our lives. What did we discover?
Samuel has offered us an example of a faithful response: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.”
Image by Avi Chomotovski from Pixabay
Mr. Ronan Barry
