Tell Everything To Jesus
Introduction
Today’s first reading tells us the beautiful story of Samuel’s vocation. He is the man attentive to the signs of God’s presence, hearing the inaudible, seeing the invisible, where others do not hear or see anything. He is in contact with God, like also Jesus withdrawing in a lonely place to pray. We hear God best when all is silent in us.
The Gospel shows this compassion of Jesus to those afflicted with all sorts of ills and the brokenhearted. He is committed against death and misery. Isn’t it that this is the mission he entrusts also to us today?
1 Reading 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20
During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli, a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent. One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was. The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.” Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.” So he went back to sleep. Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “You called me.” But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.” At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'” When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect. Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 40:2 and 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
R. (8a and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood. R.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.” R.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!” R.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
Allelluia John 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord.
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mark 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him. Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Commentary
When Samuel was called by God during sleep, he never thought of supernatural intervention. He could only conclude that Eli was calling him. The priest advises the young man to go back to bed and only grasps the truth of the matter after the third intervention. If it happens again, says Eli to Samuel, then respond, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”
It is easy, and all too frequent, to confuse “hearing” with “listening,” but there is a marked difference between the two. The teachers tell us “Listen (to me)! Not “hear me!” There are many things we hear in the course of a day without really listening. Listening implies attentiveness. We may hear background music playing while we work, but when we go to a concert we are definitely in a listening mode.
The life of Samuel, one of the Bible’s most inspiring personalities, was one of complete adherence to God’s will. Many biblical people have excellent qualities but often have feet of clay as well. We are all called to listen to God’s voice but, in the cacophony of modem life, it is not always easy to discern God’s will. In the Marcan Gospel today, Jesus sets forth an important principle. He is told that people were clamoring for him in the towns he had visited. But he had no interest in returning to ground that had already been plowed. He wants to visit neighbouring villages that had not yet even been touched by the good news.
Rather than set out for new ground, we often prefer “the tried and tasted.” Christ never surrenders to the attraction for popular acclaim. His life was short, and there was much to be done.
We do not know what the Lord may ask of us. Faith and trust will call us forward, often away from familiar ground. The church’s expansive vision from the start moved her from Jerusalem to the far-reaching Gentile world. And of that, we are all beneficiaries.
Blessing
Who can understand better our pain and suffering than the Son of God, who went through our temptations, our suffering, our death for our sake. He knows and stands by our side in our difficult moments. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!