Mass Readings for : Wednesday, 10th January, 2024

Liturgical Readings for : Wednesday, 10th January, 2024

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

FIRST READING

A reading from the first book of Samuel. 3:1-10, 19-20
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli; it was rare for the Lord to speak in those days; visions were uncommon. One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in the sanctuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when the Lord called,
‘Samuel! Samuel!‘
He answered, ‘Here I am‘.

Then he ran to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me‘.
Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back and lie down.‘
So he went and lay down.

Once again the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’
Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me’.
He replied,
‘I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down‘.
Samuel had as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him .Once again the Lord called, the third time.

He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, since you called me’.
Eli then understood that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel,
‘Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”‘.
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before,
‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak Lord your servant is listening’.

Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 39
Response Here I am Lord!, I come to do your will.

1. I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry. Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord
and has not gone over to the rebels who follow false gods. Response

2. You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I. Response

3. In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart. Response

4. Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed; you know it, a Lord. Response

Gospel Acclamation Cor 3: 16. 17
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you;
through him give thanks to God the Father.
Alleluia!

Or Jn 10: 27
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 1: 29-39 Glory to you, O Lord.
He cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another.

On leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was.

In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said,
‘Everybody is looking for you’.

He answered,
‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came’.
And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection Wednesday First Week in Ordinary Time Mark 1:29-39

In today’s first reading, the young Samuel heard a call, but it took the older Eli to help Samuel discern that the call was coming from the Lord. We sometimes need others, people more experienced in the spiritual life than ourselves, to help us discern the call of the Lord in our lives. Eli fulfilled the very important ministry of a wise mentor. He enabled Eli to recognize the way that the Lord was calling him.

In the gospel reading, we find Jesus getting up long before dawn and going off to a lonely place to pray. He may have been trying to discern the call of God in his own life. Having ministered in Capernaum, where should he go now? It seems that after his prayer, he was clear that he had to go to ‘the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came’. However, whereas Eli acted as an enabler in Samuel’s life when it came to God’s call, Jesus’ own disciples acted as disablers in Jesus’s life when it came to God’s call. They wanted to drag him back to Capernaum when Jesus was clear that God was calling him to go to other towns to preach the gospel. We may be fortunate enough to encounter an Eli in our lives who helps us to discern God’s call. We can also encounter the equivalent of the disciples, those who, although well intentioned, try to take us in directions that are contrary to where God is calling us to go. We need to pray for the grace to know who is helping us to answer the Lord’s call and who is hindering us from doing so. We also need to ask the Lord to help us to play the role of Eli in the life of others rather than the role of the disciples in the life of Jesus in today’s gospel reading.