Wednesday of Week 1 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Mark 1:29-39

We continue following a day in the public life of Jesus. It was still the Sabbath and, after the synagogue service, Jesus now goes to the house of his two disciples, Simon and Andrew, in Capernaum. Remember that, as it was the Sabbath, people could not go very far or do anything which could be labelled ‘work’.

In the house, Jesus finds Peter’s mother-in-law confined to bed because of a fever. When he is told about it, he immediately goes to see her, takes her by the hand, lifts her up and heals her. Immediately, she gets up and begins to serve them. This is not simply because that is the role of a woman in the home. Rather, it is a way of saying that it is the role of any Christian—man or woman—to serve. Healing is not just to make one well, but to enable one to become again an active, serving member of the community.

In the evening, once the Sabbath was over, people were free to move around. So large numbers come seeking out Jesus to be healed of their sicknesses and to be freed from the power of evil spirits:

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed by demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door.

That is, they were at the door of the house where Jesus was. Many times we will see a reference to the ‘house’ where Jesus is. It seems to be a symbol of the place where Jesus is gathered with those who are close to him, a symbol of a Christian community or of the Church. When the poor and the sick and ‘un-free’ no longer come to the doors of our community seeking healing and wholeness, we need to reflect on the quality of our Christian witness.

The following morning, Jesus leaves and goes to the hills to be alone and to pray. His disciples find him and say:

Everyone is searching for you.

Although there are many demands being made on him by the people of Capernaum, Jesus:

• needs time for himself to renew his spiritual energy and be in contact with his Father, and
• has to think of the needs of other people as well.

Jesus may have been the Son of God, but in his humanity could only be in one place at a time. And during those three years of public life, he really only reached a small number of people. To reach the rest, he needed, and still needs our help.

When Jesus returns from his prayer, he does not go back to Capernaum, although there were certainly more people to be healed and helped there. Instead he went on to synagogues all over Galilee, proclaiming his message of the Kingdom, and making it a reality by healing the sick and liberating those controlled by evil forces.

This scene brings up the importance for us of availability. We do need to be available to all those who are in genuine need. At the same time, there is what we might call the ‘poverty of availability’. No matter how generous and self-giving we are, we can only give so much. We need to find a balance between people’s needs and our limited resources. We do not help people by working ourselves to the point of ‘burnout’. We also need ‘quality time’ to be with God, to pray, and to reflect on our priorities. Jesus gives us an excellent example here.

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Wednesday of Week 1 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20

Today’s First Reading is about the call of Samuel as prophet. Samuel is now a young boy, serving the priest Eli in the sanctuary at Shiloh. The Jewish historian Josephus places his age at 12 years, though he may have been older. What follows is heightened by the statement that revelations and visions of God were at that time very infrequent. The book of Judges (which covers this period) indicates that very few prophets or messengers of God appeared. During the entire period of the Judges, apart from the anonymous prophet mentioned in chapter 2 (not covered in the liturgical readings), we are told of only two prophets and of five revelations.

We are told that one day Eli was asleep in his usual place in the sanctuary:

Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out…

The reference is to the golden lampstand, which stood opposite the table of the bread of the Presence in the Holy Place. It was still night, but the early morning hours were approaching when the flame grew dim or went out. For the lamp to be permitted to go out before morning was a violation of the Pentateuchal regulations.

It is at this moment when God calls Samuel. Samuel, in his sleep, hears his name being called. Still inexperienced in recognising the presence of the Lord, he thinks that Eli is calling him. Twice he hears the call and twice Eli denies that he called. Eli’s own failure not at once to recognise God’s voice may be indicative that he was not very close to God. In fact, and sadly, he was not very effective as a prophet (see 1 Sam 2:22-26).

But at the third call, Eli begins to realise that something special is going on. He sends the boy back to bed and tells him that the next time he hears a call he is to answer:

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

And the Lord does call a third time and Samuel responds as he was told. Now the Lord reveals his presence, but what the Lord said to him at that time is not recorded. However, by this first revelation, Samuel is consecrated a prophet. It was not a dream because the voice awakened Samuel. Nor was it a ‘vision’ except in the wide sense, since Samuel heard, but did not see Yahweh.

We are told that, from then on, the Lord was with Samuel and his words were always spoken and listened to with effect. He was a true and reliable prophet who faithfully transmitted the word of the Lord. Throughout the country from Dan to Beersheba, that is, from the very north to the south, Samuel was recognised as a prophet of the Lord.

There are two possible reflections for us in this reading. We might ask ourselves how often has the Lord called us and we have mistaken it for something else or not heard it at all? Yet, through people and experiences in our daily life, God is constantly calling us to his love and service and to come close to him. Let us be alert this day to any calls he may make.

Second, by our baptism we, too, are in a special way called to be prophets, i.e. to be bearers of the gospel message through our words and actions. How will people come to know Christ and the gospel if not through us?

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