1 Sam 1:20-22.24-28; Psalm 83(84);1 John 3:1-2.21-24; Luke 2:41-52
Hannah was constantly tormented for her barrenness by Elkanah’s other wife. Every year, they went on pilgrimage to Shiloh, where the Ark of the Covenant resided. One year Hannah prayed for a long time, promising the Lord that if he granted her request for a son, she would dedicate him to the Lord. The priest Eli added his prayers to hers. After Samuel was born, Hannah took him to Shiloh and left him with Eli, dedicated to the Lord, where later he was called as a prophet.
The Psalm expresses intense longing to experience the Lord’s presence in his Temple.
The first letter of John was written near the end of the first century against false ideas that were being spread, especially that Jesus was not truly man. Jesus – “what we have seen” “and touched with our hands” – was true man, the greatest gift of the Father. And the Father has made us his children. We will know in truth that we belong to him if we keep his commandments. Knowledge of God and love for one another are inseparable.
Luke’s story of the boy Jesus in the Temple poses the question: did the human child Jesus show divine knowledge and powers before his baptism, when God proclaimed him as his Son and he started his ministry?
Psalm Response: They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord.
(1 Sam 1:20-22.24-28; Psalm 83(84);1 John 3:1-2.21-24; Luke 2:41-52)