Here I am, Lord!

Today's first reading is from the book of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19). Samuel was a young boy living with the prophet Eli. Samuel heard a voice calling him. Thinking it was Eli, he went running to the older man who promptly told him that he did not call him. This scene repeats twice until Eli realizes that the Lord is calling Samuel and tells him that the next time he is called to say "Here I am, Lord!"

God calls us as well, and like Samuel, we sometimes fail to understand the call. Samuel was in luck - he had Eli to direct him, but even Eli took a little while to realize what was happening. Hearing God is not always as easy as it should be. Sometimes, God does indeed use the voice of others to help direct us. Who are the Eli's in your life, helping to point the way, helping you to listen a little more closely to what God might be pushing you to do? God has a mission for each of us, but it is up to us to discover what it might be, so that we, too, can say, "Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will!"