January 12, 2010
Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
By Beth DeCristofaro
In (Hannah’s) bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping copiously, and she made a vow, promising: “O LORD of hosts, if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the LORD for as long as he lives… (1 Samuel 1:10-11)
… as (Hannah) worshiped the LORD, she said: "My heart exults in the LORD, my horn is exalted in my God. (1 Samuel 2:1)
Piety
Lord God, you answered Hannah in her spiritual distress. She felt she might best serve you as a mother and was at a loss without a son. Her vocation as mother led to the birth of Samuel whom you called as servant and leader. Lord, I leave in your hands how best to serve you and dedicate to you that which pleases you most. My heart exults in you, my Lord and my Savior.
Study
Hannah, in the first reading, weeps bitterly over her barrenness. In the second reading we hear her triumphant prayer: My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior. (1 Samuel 2:1) She has indeed found that with God nothing is impossible.
My daughter is volunteering at an orphanage in Honduras, helping take care of about 50 boys through age 18 who were rescued from the streets having been abandoned, abused, violated, beaten, robbed and exploited. The poverty in Honduras is hard to imagine. The orphanage is run largely by volunteers, young adults who commit to a year of service and to live in Catholic community. She describes the compound as situated in beautiful country. Days often begin and end with events and prayers around the large cross at the community’s gathering space.
Recently she wrote to her dad and described an outing to the river: “The boys become little fish and we (the young adult volunteers) become jungle gyms. We get dunked, pushed, pulled and climbed on…I think I laughed for about an hour straight. The boys who don’t swim as strongly stay close to us and work really hard to push us over in shallow water. It makes me remember more and more this job is not about changing the world but about making relationships so these boys know they are just as deserving as anyone else to have an amazing future… It’s strange to think how frustrated I can get despite being in a place where I see Jesus each day in our boys and can walk to the foot of the cross and put all my worries there.”
God is at work in the boys, in my daughter and God was at work in Hannah. The people of Capernaum “were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” (Mark 1:22) We have the chance each day to pray our deep bitterness and our unlooked for astonishments. And we have the opportunity as Jesus’ chosen friends to make relationships, to give our lives to the Lord and to share our exultations.
Action
Recall a time when you wept your bitterness to the Lord. Now recall a time when you prayed in exultation. Did you come to see the Lord more clearly? Did you come to love God more dearly? What parts of your life do you not share with God? Does this keep you from following God more nearly?
