Jesus Starts His Ministry
The First Reading tells us of Jonah and his ministry amongst the Assyrians of Nineveh. He preached and they believed, and humbled themselves.
Time to Mourn And A Time Grieve And A Time To Do God’s Work.
Saul Dies in his arrogance and self-righteousness, not he alone, all of his son, except one. Jonathan is also one of the fallen… This is what self reliance can do to you; one day you are on top of the world, the next down and out… Here Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Man who waned to build barns makes sense.
Anointing and Empowerment
The themes we find in today’s readings are, anointing, empowerment and belief vs presumption.
Appetites
Today, in the first reading we see Saul and David dealing with fame and acceptance. Both had a similar background of being extras in the family. Both had similar desires and appetites of wanting to be accepted by others and hailed as heroes. But David’s desires were influenced by his relationship with God…
Release from Shame
In the First Reading we see Israel is dealing with shame heaped upon it by the Philistines. The Gospel Reading reminds the reader of Israel’s past where the breakaway kingdom of Northern Israel went into idolatry, lead by a king whose hand had wither, when he opposed God.
Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry
The First Reading speaks of a distinction between the wisdom of this world and God’s wisdom, and then there is individual human wisdom. Worldly and human wisdom think in a way which reflects self, and self preservation, because it cannot see beyond the physical working of the present world.
To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice
In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus speaks of new wine/New Unshrunken Cloth, what is this. What is the new thing that Jesus spoke about. And why would it spoil, tear or the burst the old?
Jesus’ First Disciple
Samuel, Samuel… the Lord called out to him by name. Yes, it is the Lord that seeks us out. He knows us personally and intimately. St Paul tells the Corinthians that God wants us to know him so that He can dwell in us. Our bodies our thus temples of the Holy Spirit. We are […]
Everyone is Called – But It Is Who Calls First
The theme of today’s readings is Calls. But it is God who calls, and infact He calls all of us, as noted in the Call of Samuel a few days back. God calls us all, and we are destined for greatness with God walking with us. But greatness comes in how we engage Him in our lives. That is what the two readings point to us.
Who is Your King?
What they had sowed they were now reaping (today’s first reading). With no King in their midst. They did not know their King-God also. Now they were in the midst of people who were different and they were afraid of them.