NOVEMBER 3 / 4, 2018
4:30 PM (SAT), 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
Call waiting is a telecom service offered by phone companies so that a person may switch from a call already in progress to accept a second incoming call. The person receiving the calls can also switch between the two calls.
To let you know that there is a second call coming in, a 440 Hz (four hundred forty hertz) tone is played in the earpiece every 10 seconds. If you want to disable this, you dial *70 (star seven zero) before making a call.
Call waiting was rolled out in the US starting in the early 1970s, when the old dial phone switches were replaced with electronic touch tone switches.
These days, it seems, call waiting is a normal part of any phone service; and it would seem strange to not have call waiting on any phone line.
Today is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.
In the first reading and the Gospel, we hear the Jewish prayer known as the Sh’ma (שְׁמַע) – Sh’ma Israel, Adonia elohenu, Adonai ehad. Or:
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!
This prayer is the centerpiece of Jewish morning and evening prayer, and it’s twice daily recitation by devout Jews is considered a mitzvah – that is, a religious precept commanded by God. Since the 3rd century, rabbis have held that there are a total of 613 precepts or mitzvah – 365 negative commandments (i.e. “Thou shalt nots”) and 248 positive commandments (i.e. “Thou shalts”).
The number 365 was thought to be to the number of tendons in the human body, while 248 was thought to be the number of bones in the human body by medieval rabbis.
Modern physiology says that a newborn has over 300 bones, while an adult has about 206; and that there are about 1,320 tendons in an adult body.
And while not particularly accurate, the idea being taught is that the precepts of God were uniquely suited to humanity, and if God created Adam and Eve with 365 tendons and 248 bones, then it was fitting that God should give that many commandments to keep us upright and connected.
Today is also the beginning of “National Vocations Awareness Week.”
And while all of us have a vocation – that is, a call from God. God calls us from our first moments in the womb, and strengthens our call sacramentally in baptism and confirmation, as well as in marriage and holy orders.
Each person’s call is as unique as each person is unique … each call is configured to a particular and unique individual. Our call originates with God … but it is part of us … it is in our bones … a reflex … a gut response … in response to the action of the three Divine Persons … operating in our lives.
When we hear the word “vocation,” we tend to think of religious sisters and brothers; or deacons and priests.
And while “religious vocations” seem to be front and center in service to the Church – the Church in actuality is the People of God. And there are a whole lot more of you than there are of me.
Nonetheless, I would like to speak briefly about my own vocation – not because it’s particularly important or fascinating, but because with this being “National Vocations Awareness Week,” my own vocation is the one vocation of which I am most aware.
I am a late vocation. That means, I was NOT in my 20s when I was ordained. For the record, I was 46 when I was finally ordained a priest, and turned 47 three days later. I used to tell diocesan Vocation Directors that I had “call waiting.” I’m not sure they found it as funny as I did, but that was OK.
Throughout my life, I knew I had a call. But there were things I needed to do, and places I needed to go … before I ended up “settling down” as a priest.
And so, by the time I reached the day of my ordination to the priesthood, at the age of 46 years, 11 months, and 362 days … I had worked in the automotive industry, designed electronics for factory systems, written safety software for vehicle brake and traction systems, served in the US Naval Air Corps, flown on reconnaissance missions, studied languages, travelled and lived abroad, held a US Patent, did a brief stint as a public defender … and had seen and experienced and done … an awful lot of different things.
When I acted on my call – after many years of “call waiting,” … I took the plunge. The rest is history. This coming June, will be my 10 year anniversary.
God’s call requires a response from us. A call needs to be heard. Like the words of the sh’ma prayer: “Hear O Israel the Lord is your God.”
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us be attentive to the voice of God … calling out to us in the Person of His Son … and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us listen to, and hear the call … and respond: “I love you, Lord, my strength.”
