Reading I
1 Sm 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.
Gospel
Mk 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.
Meditation: 1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20
As this passage begins, the boy Samuel is living at the Israelite sanctuary at Shiloh and helping Eli, the priest, minister to the Lord.
Samuel’s mother, Hannah, has made good on her vow to God that if she bore a son she would dedicate him to the Lord’s service. Now, we read how God called Samuel into an even deeper service than he or his mother had imagined. Counseled by Eli—a man filled with the wisdom of his years—Samuel responded simply, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9).
Eli’s words to Samuel are wisdom for us as well. When we first experience the presence of the Lord in our lives, we can be in awe over the fact that we can speak to the Lord and know that he hears and answers our prayers. It’s a blessing to rush to him and tell him of our needs, fears, and problems, as well as our gratitude and joy. When we first discover this, we tend to do a lot of talking and asking. In effect, we say, “Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking.”
However, as we grow in our prayer life, we gradually come to a point where we spend less time speaking and more time listening. We let God set the agenda. We trust that he knows our needs, so we don’t keep telling him about them. Instead, we find joy simply from being in his presence; we feel awe and begin to worship him for who he is. We savor his words and ponder them in the depths of our hearts. We let him change us rather than try to get him to change our circumstances.
Try it. Experiment with listening to Jesus as you pray, read Scripture, or listen to a homily. See if you feel his peace, his joy, and his love flowing in you. For your prayer and Scripture reading, choose a quiet place where you can calm your mind and spirit. Afterwards, record in a journal what you have heard. Decide how to act on the words God gives you. God longs to speak to us. He is only waiting for us to quiet down enough to listen.
“Lord, I will be still before you and wait patiently to hear your call. Speak your words of truth to me, so that I may know you, serve you, and bear fruit for the kingdom of God.”
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