In his memoirs about the Civil War, General Grant said that his best assistant generals were those who waited for him to call them to important commissions. The worst were those who, by political manipulation, arranged their call to high rank. With the latter, General Grant had a great deal of trial and woe, not to mention grief and tragedy.

The same might be true in our lives here on earth with respect to God's designs and His many calls to us His people. When we wait for God to call us to the important endeavors of life, rather than substitute our own self-contrived calls, our lives here on earth turn out much for the better. Not simply for ourselves, but also for people around us.

"Waiting" in this context does not refer simply to clock and calendar. It means being open to the grace of God at all times, with a willingness to fulfill our present duties to God and man, and with a constant pondering on how we might offer our time and talents to the glory of God and the betterment of mankind. WAITING is a state of soul, a calm alertness for what God might have in mind, especially when we dwell on the mysteries of Christ Jesus as they draw us to the Father.

Too often we miss the calls of God. Like this fellow, Samuel, in the First Reading today. He was not a bad man, but there was a flaw in his WAITING: he was confining himself to a human channel. Back and forth he went to his friend, Eli. Finally, on his friend's advice, Samuel turned to prayer and made it part of his WAITING. "Speak, (Lord)," he prayed, "your servant is listening." And from that moment on, Samuel became a great prophet on behalf of God, helping form God's chosen people. He heard God's call because his WAITING became rooted in prayer. He was willing to turn to his God and say, "Speak I will listen."

A danger to all this, of course, is contriving our own calls. Some Civil War generals "arranged" their own calls to high military positions, said General Grant. And their incompetence led to tragic consequences on the battle field.

In our own day, a man and woman call themselves to live together, but not to marriage. And their lives become too clumsy for pagans to explain and too puzzling for parents to understand, not to mention too scandalous for children to emulate.

The drug pusher calls himself to poison the lives of youngsters. And parents grieve and children are lost.

A corporate executive calls himself to graft and fraud. And a once fine business goes bankrupt and a thousand people lose their jobs.

An adulterer calls himself to a noon hour affair every week. And two marriages disintegrate.

An unconverted alcoholic calls himself to proclaim he can drink, when everyone else knows he can't. And the world around him lives in misery.

Contrived calls, all. And no one is even whispering, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."

Fortunately, our Gospel today restores our spirit of hope in God's various calls to enter His designs. Portraying a scene of a discovery ready to happen, the evangelist John records two of our predecessors seeking out Jesus. "What are you looking for?" He asked them.

They responded that they were looking for Him, and wanted to visit Him. That's another way of saying, "Speak, Lord, we want to listen." Very gracious was His reply: "Come and see." Yes, come and see what God has in mind. Look at the designs on His drawing board. Of course, to do this requires time with Him our Lord and Savior.

At this point some people might say this scene pertains to the call of the fisherman to become apostles, and really doesn't touch ordinary folks. Not so fast. Time out.

These men were looking for the Messiah, not the ordaining prelate. He was calling them to be His followers, to embrace the faith He would plant in their souls, and to open up to what He would call them to be, and to do, in the days to come. They were seeking Him, and He was calling them. It was, plain and simple, Conversion 101. True, there is the implication of leadership for the man, Simon, as Jesus changed his name to the Rock. Nevertheless, conversion was the moment here. And it is the same for us now. For you and me.

And as we hear God's call-to marriage, to be a foreman, to be a good dad or mom, to be a teacher, to be a priest, or to be just a good person-we want to be sure He hears us, praying, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!" And help me, Lord, to do it right.