January 2021: Listening to God's Call

Michael A. Marinelli, Ed.D. '76
Dear Members of the Archmere Community, 

The Christmas Season officially ended on January 10 and just a little more than a month later, the Season of Lent begins on February 17. This in between time in the Church calendar is called “Ordinary Time.” There is nothing that feels “ordinary” or normal about this time, as the pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of our lives. If we listen to the Sunday Gospel readings, we hear about Jesus calling the disciples to follow him. Remarkably, they did, leaving behind family, work, and other obligations. If people did that today in our society, we would consider them irresponsible and lacking any sense of obligation or compassion for their families and friends. 

I am not sure that all of us, as Christians, are being asked to be as radical in our decisions to leave our jobs and our homes to follow Jesus. However, some do receive that call - missionaries, ordained religious, and those in service to a cause, often leave families and home for long periods of time or permanently to serve others. Many of us, though, discern our calling through the work we do and the relationships we have with family and friends. Our path to follow Jesus is one that is made in our hearts and minds and expresses itself in the day-to-day choices we make. 

This Ordinary Time in the Church is asking us not to be “normal” or “ordinary.” Quite the contrary, the Gospel messages are about listening to God’s call in our lives and following it. Sometimes it may be as radical as a professed vocation in the Church or an opportunity to work with people in need, taking us out of the familiar and asking us to take risks, as the first apostles did. Saint Norbert, with his strong desire to live the apostolic life, yet born into royalty, changed the trajectory of his life significantly, denouncing his possessions and position in society, and forging a new community in the desolate region of Normandy, France, at a place called, “Prémontré”. The community of Premonstratenians, or Norbertines as they are called, is celebrating its nine-hundredth anniversary this year, with Norbertine abbeys, priories, schools, and other missionary works around the world. Norbert’s vision was certainly not ordinary, yet he probably did not anticipate the work he began to have such a global impact over nine centuries.

There may be other “Norberts” among us; however, for most of us, I would guess that following God’s call in our lives it is about listening for that call in prayer, in the silent spaces of our lives - those times between the “special seasons,” in the “ordinary time”. We might find that we are being asked to do something or help someone that we know is right and good, but we have not made the time or commitment to do so. We may be called to do something that only we can do because of what we know, where we are, and when the need arises - being called by name, just as the apostles were called by Jesus, who told them, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last - and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” (John 15:16) 

In some ways, the pandemic has slowed the pace of our lives spending more time at home. It has also made clearer our priorities and the gifts we have: our faith, good health, family, and friends. Before we move into Lent, perhaps we can use some of this Ordinary Time to reflect and listen for that call to do something extraordinary.

Be well and be safe!

Michael A. Marinelli, Ed.D. ‘76
Headmaster




Back
Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.