＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19

Samuel lay in the house

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1 Samuel 4:1-11

At that time

John was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.

When people really 'see' Jesus - life is never again the same.

To 'see' Jesus is to have some sort of glimpse of who he really is - the compassionate healer,

the one who loves to the end, the Son of God.

‘Come and see'. Jesus invites you.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊  

1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19

Samuel lay in the house

 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.

Samuel undergoes eagerness, confusion, maturity, growth, realization, knowledge, panic, and affirmation.

Eventually, we see Samuel as a successful prophet.

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1 Samuel 3: 1-10, 19-20

The boy Samuel ministered

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Pharisees assumed that if a person ate with sinners, that person was a sinner, too.

Jesus invited to Levi to follow Him, without regard to qualifications or merits.

Levi will be changed not by harsh words and fear mongering of eternal punishment but by the gentle love of Jesus.

Jesus was coming into contact with sinners. But instead of the sinners making him unclean, he was making them clean.

Blessed Virgin Mary St. Hilary, bishop & doctor

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1

There was a man

 The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, is the feast day commemorating the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.

Jesus goes from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist, manifesting his solidarity with the sinful people.

That can bridge distances and heal wounded hearts.

Heaven opens up, a light in the form of the dove descends on Jesus, and a voice proclaims that He is he beloved Son.

Jesus’ choice is confirmed with the opening of the heavens,

with the gift of the Spirit and the voice of the Father that seals Jesus’ mission:

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”. With the opening of the heavens.

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6 - 7(or) Isaiah 55:1-11)

Here is my servant whom

  Did the paralyzed man believe in Jesus? The paralyzed man was lying helpless in his mat. 

On his own, he could not to Jesus.

What we do know is that those men who carried him had faith,

that Jesus saw the faith of those people and healed the paralytic.

Faith was the door opening to the forgiveness of sins.

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a

Because of this,

And you, Beth­lehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah,

for from you will come a leader, the one who is to shepherd my people Israel.

During the days of king Herod,' Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea,

wise men from the East arrived in Jerusalem."

The birth of Jesus was felt by the wise men coming from the Far East

while the powers that be in Jerusalem were clueless.

The Light shines upon us; the glory of the Lord rises upon us!

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊    

Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine,

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

1 Samuel 4:1-11

At that time

 “ We should walk as God walks. God walks humbly, and so should we. God’s walk is a humble walk.

A synodal Church should walk with God and follow the Way God walks – In humility.”

                                                                          Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
                                                                          Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization

St. André Bessette, religious

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1 John 5:5-13

Who has overcome the world ?