Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

LECTIONARY
305

FIRST READING

1 SM 1:1-8

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, Elkanah by name,
a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim.
He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu,
son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah;
Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
This man regularly went on pilgrimage from his city
to worship the LORD of hosts and to sacrifice to him at Shiloh,
where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were ministering as priests of the LORD.
When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice,
he used to give a portion each to his wife Peninnah
and to all her sons and daughters,
but a double portion to Hannah because he loved her,
though the LORD had made her barren.
Her rival, to upset her, turned it into a constant reproach to her
that the LORD had left her barren.
This went on year after year;
each time they made their pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the LORD,
Peninnah would approach her,
and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.
Her husband Elkanah used to ask her:
“Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you refuse to eat?
Why do you grieve?
Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

PSALM

PS 116:12-13, 14-17, 18-19

Response: To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.

My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.

GOSPEL

MK 1:14-20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

Daily Reflection

The Good News has a way of showing up in the midst of disaster, because that’s when we are most appreciative of it.

The first reading tells us about Hannah who, though loved by her husband more than his other wife, is taunted by her rival because of her barrenness. Hannah struggles to accept how a kind and loving God could allow her to be barren. Elkanah makes great efforts to make her happy but to no avail. And in the midst of this abject poverty of spirit, God works a miracle as only He can do.

The Gospel begins with the sad news of John the Baptist’s arrest. Rather than being dispirited, Jesus launches His mission with the anti-climactic statement - “The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Good News.” How does one believe in the Good News in the face of John the Baptist’s arrest? The answer is hinted at in the call of the first disciples, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

That transforming action from being fishermen to being ‘fishers of men’, can only happen when God Himself leads the way!