Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all begin the time of the Ordinary Season, the first of the two Ordinary Times of this current liturgical year, which will continue on towards the Season of Lent. And then, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to put our faith and trust in the Lord, because through Him all of us will be safe and taken care of, and we have to trust in Him as no matter what trials and challenges may befall us, or whatever troubles and hardships that we may have to endure, in the end, we shall be triumphant with God, and the Lord will guide us all and give us His strength and power, so that we will be strong throughout our journey and we will be able to persevere through those challenges as long as we keep onto that faith in the Lord.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Samuel, we heard of the beginning of the story of Samuel, the one whom the Lord sent to the Israelites to be their Prophet and Judge, as the one to lead and guide them through their lives, to keep them faithful to the Law and commandments which God had revealed and passed to them through their ancestors. Samuel was conceived and born miraculously after God has answered the prayers of his mother Hannah. At that time, Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah, who also had another wife named Penninah. Penninah had bore many children for Elkanah while Hannah could not have any child and was barren, and yet, Elkanah loved Hannah more, and this led to the jealousy of Penninah who often bullied Hannah and ridiculed her for her barren state.

As we heard in our first reading today, Hannah went to seek the Lord at His Holy Tent in Shiloh, asking for God’s help because she was already desperate and out of options, and at that time, it was indeed considered disgraceful and unbecoming for a woman to be barren and unable to bear any child at all. That was why Hannah sought the Lord, promising to Him that she would entrust her firstborn son to Him as His servant, if He would answer her prayers. The High Priest and Judge Eli was there and thought that Hannah was drunk, but Hannah told her everything that she had hoped to achieve in seeking the Lord earnestly in prayer. Thus, Eli understood her predicament and gave Hannah his blessing, and hoped that the Lord would grant her what she has asked for.

And God did indeed answer Hannah’s prayer, listening to what she has asked for, and gave her a son, which was miraculously conceived between Elkanah and Hannah, and was therefore born and named as Samuel. As Hannah has promised the Lord, she fulfilled her promise by offering her firstborn son to the Lord, to be His servant, and God made Samuel to be a great Prophet and Judge, the last one to guide and rule over the Israelites. Through Samuel, God would perform many great things among His people, and eventually He gave them kings to rule and lead them, to continue shepherding and guiding them throughout their lives, from Saul and then to David, the virtuous king who led Israel into its golden age. Throughout all these, God kept on guiding and helping His people through Samuel, His prophet and servant.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account of the actions of the Lord Jesus in the synagogue on a Sabbath day, when He miraculously healed an afflicted man by casting out evil spirit from him. The Lord sternly rebuked the evil spirit who was disturbing Him and His teaching, and He healed the man, freeing him from the affliction and bondage to the evil spirit. He also taught with power and authority such as have never been seen, heard or witnessed before. All these amazed everyone who witnessed the event and many believed in the Lord through what He Himself had done, through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who has come into our midst to show unto us all the love of God, manifested in the flesh.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, we are all reminded that God is always on our side, and we are all always beloved by Him, in all circumstances. All those who have put their faith and trust in Him shall not be disappointed, for in His time, He will move to assist and help us in His own mysterious ways, such as how He assisted Hannah, by giving her a son, and according to the Scriptures, she would go on to bear many more children, erasing the stain of shame of barrenness from her. In other different ways, thus God also helped His other faithful ones throughout history, including that possessed man, whom He Himself had liberated from the power of the evil ones, and brought back into His loving care and grace, into the community of God’s people.

What does this mean for all of us? It means that we should always strive to remain firm in our faith in the Lord, and we should always put our trust in Him, even when challenges and trials are facing us, and even when hope and prospects seem to be really dim and dark. We must not easily be swayed by other paths and temptations of worldly means, which may end up causing us to fall astray from the path that the Lord has shown us. We must resist the temptations to embrace those false paths, the allures of worldly matters and attachments, or other things that may seem to be promising and good for us, but in fact may lead us into even greater hardships and regret later on. The path of the Lord is certainly not the easiest and the smoothest one, but it is the one and only one leading to true joy and fulfilment for us.

Let us all hence renew our faith in the Lord today, and affirm our trust in Him, and let us all do our very best so that we may always endeavour to put ourselves in the hands of the Lord, and believe that in Him, we can be strengthened and made firm, amidst all the trials and challenges of the world. May the Lord continue to guide us through this life, so that our every day moments, our whole lives, and how we live them, will always ever be inspirational and be great role models for others in our Christian virtues and ways. May God bless us, now and forevermore. Amen.