January 13, 2026
Tuesday of the First Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 306
Reading
I
Hannah rose after
a meal at Shiloh,
and presented herself before the LORD;
at the time, Eli the priest was sitting on a chair
near the doorpost of the LORD’s temple.
In her 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;
neither wine nor liquor shall he drink,
and no razor shall ever touch his head.”
As she remained long at prayer before the LORD,
Eli watched her mouth, for Hannah was praying silently;
though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard.
Eli, thinking her drunk, said to her,
“How long will you make a drunken show of yourself?
Sober up from your wine!”
“It isn’t that, my lord,” Hannah answered.
“I am an unhappy woman.
I have had neither wine nor liquor;
I was only pouring out my troubles to the LORD.
Do not think your handmaid a ne’er-do-well;
my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.”
Eli said, “Go in peace,
and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
She replied, “Think kindly of your maidservant,” and left.
She went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband,
and no longer appeared downcast.
Early the next morning they worshiped before the LORD,
and then returned to their home in Ramah.
When Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah,
the LORD remembered her.
She conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son
whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the LORD for him.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (see
1) My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn
is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I
rejoice in my victory.”
R. My heart exults in the
Lord, my Savior.
“The bows of the mighty are broken,
while
the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while
the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while
the mother of many languishes.”
R. My heart exults in the
Lord, my Savior.
“The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he
casts down to the nether world;
he
raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
he
humbles, he also exalts.”
R. My heart exults in the
Lord, my Savior.
“He raises the needy from the dust;
from
the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and
make a glorious throne their heritage.”
R. My heart exults in the
Lord, my Savior.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus came to
Capernaum with his followers,
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011326.cfm
Commentary on 1
Samuel 1:9-20
Today we find Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah, still at
the Lord’s central sanctuary in Shiloh. The sanctuary is also referred to in 1
Samuel as the “the temple of the Lord”, “the house of the Lord”, “the Tent of
Meeting” and “my dwelling”. The references to the sanctuary as a “house” and a
“temple” as well as mention of “sleeping quarters” and “doors” suggests that at
this time the sanctuary or ‘tabernacle’ was a larger, more permanent building.
While Eli the priest sat near the door, Hannah prayed in
tears to God begging to have her shame removed. She asks the Lord to “remember”
her. This is not simply to be aware of her existence, but to go into action on
her behalf.
She was making a vow that, if God gave her a male child, she
would dedicate him entirely to God’s service for the whole of his life. This
was in contrast to the normal period of service for Levites, which was from the
ages of 25 to 50. Her offer of her son to Yahweh is similar to promises made
with Isaac, Samson and John the Baptist, where God was seen to intervene in the
birth. Hannah’s child, Samuel, born of a barren mother would—like them—be
dedicated to service in the sanctuary. As with Samson, too, leaving the hair
uncut would be a sign of dedication to the Lord, although there is no mention
of Samson as a ‘nazirite’. The nazirite vow was normally taken for a limited
time rather than for life, as is happening here. Also, the son that Hannah
seeks will, like Samson, drink neither wine nor liquor.
Hannah prayed in this way for a long time in silence, though
her lips moved. Since people usually prayed out loud, Eli thought she was
drunk. Heavy drinking was apparently not unusual on the occasion of big feasts.
He told her severely to sober up and stop making a show of herself. She asked
him not to think badly of her; she was not drunk, only deeply unhappy as she
begged the Lord to hear her prayer. Eli, seeing the situation, then sent her
off with a lovely blessing:
Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you
have made to him.
She only asked him in return to think more kindly of her.
After going back home, she ate with her husband and
experienced a kind of peace. The next day they went once more to the sanctuary
to pray and then returned to their home in Ramah. And now, when Elkanah was
intimate with Hannah, “the Lord remembered her”, as she had asked him. She
conceived and gave birth to a boy and:
She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of
the Lord.”
A derivation from the root sha’al (to ask)
would give sha’ul from which one gets the name Saul. However,
biblical etymology was often, as here, content with an approximate similarity
of sound. The actual derivation of ‘Samuel’ is from Shem-El,
meaning ‘the name of God’ or ‘(God’s) name is El’.
This story is one of a number in the Bible where barren
women are given children by God’s intervention. In every case, the child has a
calling to serve God in a very special way. Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah
was one of these as was Samson, who helped God’s people defeat the Philistines.
Much later, Elizabeth, although well past child-bearing age, will give birth to
John the Baptist. He too will be dedicated to God in a special way.
Mary, too, under special circumstances will give birth to
Jesus through God’s intervention. We will see later how Samuel will become a
prophet of the Lord and be involved with the career of David as king.
Perhaps our birth has not been accompanied by such special
circumstances, yet each one of us is, in a special kind of way, a gift from God
to our parents, and each one of us has a calling, a vocation, to serve him and
our brothers and sisters in a unique way. Let us identify with that call and,
with God’s help, try to respond to it as well as we can.
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Commentary on Mark
1:21-28
Today’s passage is the first part of a day in the life of
Jesus in which he carries out the main activities of his mission—teaching and
healing. He goes to Capernaum, the centre of much of his work, on a Sabbath day
and like every observant Jew, goes to the synagogue. And, like any Jew who
wishes to do so, he addresses the congregation.
He begins to teach the people. Much of Jesus’ work will
consist of teaching and communicating his message and his vision of life.
People are deeply impressed because, unlike the scribes, he speaks with
authority. The scribes could only interpret or give the meaning of the
Scripture. Jesus spoke in his own right. Jesus speaks in the best tradition of
the great prophets. But there is more. Jesus’ authority is empowering and
liberating; it is not oppressive or subjugating. He will say in John’s Gospel:
…you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John
8:32)
Right there in the synagogue was a man possessed by an
“unclean” spirit. It was called ‘unclean’ because of its basic resistance to
the holiness of God. This was a world where many unexplained symptoms in people
were attributed to evil powers and were often believed to be the punishment for
sinful behaviour. The spirit resented the presence of Jesus and said:
I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
It was believed that, by giving a hostile spirit its exact
name, one could have power over him. But Jesus silences the evil spirit and
tells it to come out of the man, who experiences a kind of fit and cries out.
Again the people are amazed at the power and authority of
this man Jesus. He has new teaching and can give orders to evil spirits. The question
is being asked: “Just who is this man?” This question is the underlying theme
of the first half of Mark’s Gospel.
It for us to submit ourselves to the same empowering
authority of Jesus, to listen to his teaching by steeping ourselves in his
Gospel message and experiencing his healing and liberation in our lives.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2013g/
Tuesday, January 13,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father of love, hear our prayers.
Help us to know your will and to do it with courage and faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 1: 21-28
They went as far as Capernaum,
and at once on the Sabbath he went into the synagogue and began to teach. And
his teaching made a deep impression on them because, unlike the scribes, he
taught them with authority.
And at once in their synagogue
there was a man with an unclean spirit, and he shouted, 'What do you want with
us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the
Holy One of God.' But Jesus rebuked it saying, 'Be quiet! Come out of him!'
And the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions and with
a loud cry went out of him. The people were so astonished that they started
asking one another what it all meant, saying, 'Here is a teaching that is new,
and with authority behind it: he gives orders even to unclean spirits and they
obey him.' And his reputation at once spread everywhere, through all the surrounding
Galilean countryside.
Reflection
•
Sequence of the Gospels of the days of this
week. Yesterday’s Gospel informed us concerning the first activity of Jesus: he
called four persons to form the community with them (Mk 1: 16-10). Today’s
Gospel describes the admiration of people before the teaching of Jesus (Mt 1:
21-22) and the first miracle when he expels the devil (Mk 1: 23-28). The Gospel
of tomorrow narrates the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law (Mk 1: 29-31), the
healing of many sick persons (Mk 1: 3234) and the prayer of Jesus in an
isolated place (Mk 1: 35-39). Mark gathers all these episodes which had been
transmitted orally in the communities, and he joins them together like bricks
of one only wall. In the years 70’s, the year in which he writes, the
Communities needed orientation. By describing how Jesus began his activity,
Mark indicates what they should do and how, to announce the Good News. Mark
gives them a catechesis, by telling the Communities the events of the life of
Jesus.
•
Jesus teaches with authority, differently from
the way the Scribes do it. The first thing that the people perceive is the
diverse way in which Jesus teaches. It is not so much the content, but rather
the way in which he teaches that impresses the people.
•
For this reason, by his different way, Jesus
creates a critical conscience in people concerning the religious authority of
that time. The people perceive, they compare and says: He teaches with
authority, in a way different from the way the Scribes do it. The Scribes of that
time taught quoting the authority. Jesus does not quote any authority, but he
speaks beginning with his experience of God and of his life. His word is rooted
in the heart.
•
You have come to destroy us! In Mark, the first
miracle is the expulsion of the devil. Jesus struggles and expels the power of
evil which takes possession of persons and alienated them from themselves. The
man possessed by the devil shouts: “I know who you are: You are the Holy One of
God!” The man repeated the official teaching which presented the Messiah as the
“Holy One of God,” that is as a High Priest, or like a King, Judge, Doctor or
General. Even today also, many people live alienated from themselves, deceived
by the power of mass media, means of communication, by propaganda of business.
They repeat what they hear others say. They live as slaves of consumerism,
oppressed by the power of money, threatened by debtors. Many think that their
life is not as it should be if they cannot buy what the propaganda announces
and recommends.
•
Jesus rebuked the evil spirit: “Be quiet! Come
out of him!” The spirit threw the man into convulsions, and with a loud cry
went out of him. Jesus restores the person to himself. He gives him back his
conscience and his liberty. He makes the person recover his complete judgment
(cf. Mk 5: 15). Then it was not easy, it was not easy yesterday, it is not easy
today to do in such a way that a person begins to think and to act in a way
diverse from the official ideology. • A new teaching! He
commands even the evil spirits. The first two signs of the Good News are these:
his different way of teaching the things of God, and his power over evil
spirits. Jesus opens a new road in order that people can attain purity. At that
time, a person who was declared impure could not present himself/herself before
God to pray and to receive the blessing promised by God to Abraham. He/she
should first purify himself/herself. These and many other laws and norms made
the life of people very difficult and marginalized many persons who were
considered impure, far from God. Now, purified by the contact with Jesus,
persons could present themselves before God. This was for them a great Good
News!
Personal Questions
•
Could I really say: “I am fully free, master of
myself? If I cannot say it of myself, then something in me is possessed by
other powers. What do I do to expel this strange power?
•
Today many people do not live but are lived. Do
not think, but they are thought by the means of communication, by mass media.
Do not have a critical mind or way of thinking. They are not masters of
themselves. How can this “devil” be expelled?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the
world!
What are human beings that you spare a thought for them, or
the child of Adam that you care for him? (Ps 8: 1, 4)
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