The week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins next Thursday. Ealing’s Service of Christian Unity will take place this Sunday 21st January at 4pm at Ealing Green Methodist Church. This year the focus is on Burkina Faso. 26% of the population is Christian, 20% is Catholic. After attacks from outside the country by Muslim extremists there is now a security crisis there. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Burkina Faso and Niger is engaging in Christian-Muslim dialogue to help ease the tension in the country.

In the Gospel we see two of John the Baptist’ disciples ask Jesus “Rabbi – where do you live?” “Come and see”, replies Jesus. The disciples are open to truly hearing Jesus – they have an open ear and an open heart. They are ready to go with him to the place they need to be. It is the tenth hour, that is just two hours before sunset, but it is not too late for the disciples. They really want to find what Jesus is offering. In the call of Samuel in the first reading. Samuel is already in the House of the Lord, being trained by Eli. Eli tells the boy that the correct answer to the Lord’s call “Samael! Samuel!” is “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening”. And we hear that Samuel, having made this response, thereafter lets no word of the Lord fall to the ground.

As we imagine the two disciples going and staying with the Lord we might wonder what they heard. Think of the disciples listening carefully – and judging how they will respond. What changes will there be in their lives? We know that they will become two of the Twelve Apostles. They will leave home and be with Jesus wherever they go. They will have to adjust to Jesus’s’ death and resurrection, and then be part of a new community after the Ascension. This new community will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. The disciples will be doing all sorts of the things and taking risks that they would not have imagined back in Bethsaida. We all need to ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”. It is not a once in lifetime question – it is always with us.