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1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20
Psalm 40:2 7 5, 7-8A, 8B-9, 10
Mark 1:29-39
Summary
First Reading: The Lord calls out to Samuel while he is sleeping, who thinks that it is his
mentor, Eli calling him. Eli tells him next time the Lord calls, for Samuel to answer
“Speak, for your servant is listening”. The Responsorial Psalm: “Here am I Lord, I come
to do your will”. The Gospel: Jesus goes to Simon and Andrew’s house where He cures
Simon’s mother-in-law who is sick. Then all who were ill or possessed of demons were
brought to Him, all of whom He cured.
Reflection
In the first reading the Lord is calling out to us but we do not recognize that it is the
Lord? This is not hard to understand in our world. On a day to day basis we fill up our
days with work and chores and all sorts of things; we frequently are so occupied with
“stuff” that we leave no room for God to talk with us. Fortunately we have weekend mass
and we actually find a moment to spend with the Lord. But do you find your thoughts
drifting off to those chores? It is tough to focus on God sometimes, even when in church
our thoughts seem to interfere and we lose sight of what we are doing. If you do not
believe this, try to say an Our Father and focus on each word as you say it and see if
you can get through it without any intervening outside thoughts. Do we allow time in our
lives to allow the Lord to speak to us?
The Responsorial Psalm is asking us to trust in the Lord and to be open to following His
word; remember He has given us free will and sometimes we are not so faithful in doing
His will. To do God’s will is what He wants us to profess from our hearts, hence our re-
sponse should be: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do Your will.
the gospel we see everyone being brought to Jesus for his healing, including Simon’s
mother-in-law. Jesus made himself available to all as this was His purpose. Even when
He sought time for himself, his disciples sought Him out and said that everyone was
looking for Him. Jesus’ response is, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may
preach there also”.
In putting these messages together we know that the Lord is calling us, but what are we
doing to make ourselves available to Him? Too often our daily lives are cluttered with
“stuff” to get done. All of these things are important in varying degrees in our lives, but