Welcome back to Ordinary Time! Since the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord was yesterday, we begin Ordinary Time today. The first reading is from 1 Samuel 1:9-20. You may want to read 1 Samuel 1:1-8 (which is the first reading for Monday in the first week of Ordinary Time) to familiarize yourself with the story.
Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was barren. In her grief she goes to the temple and begins spilling her guts out in prayer, to the point of weeping copiously. Eli, the priest, thought she was drunk and admonished her. After being approached, she tells her story to Eli, who gives her a blessing. Not long after, she conceived and bore a son - Samuel.
Eli had no idea what Hannah was going through. Unfortunately, he prejudged her. While her appearance suggested one thing, it was completely false. How often do we fall into the trap that Eli did? How many times will it take before we realize that appearances can be deceptive? Are we willing to wait until we hear the story behind the appearance?
Father, forgive us for the many times we prejudge based on appearances. Give us a patient heart, filled with compassion and mercy. Amen.
I too like the new format for your daily reflections. Have not been getting the reflections in my daily email, so this new format is easy for my viewing and forwarding to others. Thanks
James, we’ve had trouble with our email feed of late. Hoping this will be taken care of soon. Thanks for your patience.
Gus
Why don’t we get reflections automatically any more???
Thanks so much for emailing this each day.
Amen, I struggle with this. I was upset one day with a woman from church that acted like she knew everything about the Catholic church and was evangelizing to those of us at a catechist meeting. Then at another meeting she shared how she wanted so deeply her husband to share in her faith. I cried. You just never know what other’s needs are.
Yes, appearances can be deceiving, works both ways – sometimes what looks really great is really bad. Wisdom and discernment are true gifts.
P.S. I like the new format on the website! Nice!