January 14, 2026
Wednesday of the First Week
in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 307
Reading
I
During the time
young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli,
a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent.
One day Eli was asleep in his usual place.
His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see.
The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,
and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD
where the ark of God was.
The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”
Samuel ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I did not call you,” Eli said. “Go back to sleep.”
So he went back to sleep.
Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.
“Here I am,” he said. “You called me.”
But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”
At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD,
because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.
The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time.
Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am.
You called me.”
Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.
So Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,
‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”
When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.
Thus all Israel from Dan to Beersheba
came to know that Samuel was an accredited prophet of the LORD.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 40:2 and 5, 7-8a, 8b-9,
10
R. (8a
and 9a) Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he
stooped toward me and heard my cry.
Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who
turns not to idolatry
or to
those who stray after falsehood.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to
do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but
ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then
said I, “Behold I come.”
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to
do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me.
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and
your law is within my heart!”
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to
do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did
not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R. Here am I, Lord; I come to
do your will.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord.
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
On leaving the
synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
Rising very early before dawn,
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons
throughout the whole of Galilee.
https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Commentary on 1
Samuel 3:1-10,19-20
Today’s First Reading is about the call of Samuel as
prophet. Samuel is now a young boy, serving the priest Eli in the sanctuary at
Shiloh. The Jewish historian Josephus places his age at 12 years, though he may
have been older. What follows is heightened by the statement that revelations
and visions of God were at that time very infrequent. The book of Judges (which
covers this period) indicates that very few prophets or messengers of God
appeared. During the entire period of the Judges, apart from the anonymous
prophet mentioned in chapter 2 (not covered in the liturgical readings), we are
told of only two prophets and of five revelations.
We are told that one day Eli was asleep in his usual place
in the sanctuary:
Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he
could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone
out…
The reference is to the golden lampstand, which stood
opposite the table of the bread of the Presence in the Holy Place. It was still
night, but the early morning hours were approaching when the flame grew dim or
went out. For the lamp to be permitted to go out before morning was a violation
of the Pentateuchal regulations.
It is at this moment when God calls Samuel. Samuel, in his
sleep, hears his name being called. Still inexperienced in recognising the
presence of the Lord, he thinks that Eli is calling him. Twice he hears the
call and twice Eli denies that he called. Eli’s own failure not at once to
recognise God’s voice may be indicative that he was not very close to God. In
fact, and sadly, he was not very effective as a prophet (see 1 Sam 2:22-26).
But at the third call, Eli begins to realise that something
special is going on. He sends the boy back to bed and tells him that the next
time he hears a call he is to answer:
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.
And the Lord does call a third time and Samuel responds as
he was told. Now the Lord reveals his presence, but what the Lord said to him
at that time is not recorded. However, by this first revelation, Samuel is
consecrated a prophet. It was not a dream because the voice awakened Samuel.
Nor was it a ‘vision’ except in the wide sense, since Samuel heard, but did not
see Yahweh.
We are told that, from then on, the Lord was with Samuel and
his words were always spoken and listened to with effect. He was a true and
reliable prophet who faithfully transmitted the word of the Lord. Throughout
the country from Dan to Beersheba, that is, from the very north to the south,
Samuel was recognised as a prophet of the Lord.
There are two possible reflections for us in this reading.
We might ask ourselves how often has the Lord called us and we have mistaken it
for something else or not heard it at all? Yet, through people and experiences
in our daily life, God is constantly calling us to his love and service and to
come close to him. Let us be alert this day to any calls he may make.
Second, by our baptism we, too, are in a special way called
to be prophets, i.e. to be bearers of the gospel message through our words and
actions. How will people come to know Christ and the gospel if not through us?
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Commentary on Mark
1:29-39
We continue following a day in the public life of Jesus. It
was still the Sabbath and, after the synagogue service, Jesus now goes to the
house of his two disciples, Simon and Andrew, in Capernaum. Remember that, as
it was the Sabbath, people could not go very far or do anything which could be
labelled ‘work’.
In the house, Jesus finds Peter’s mother-in-law confined to
bed because of a fever. When he is told about it, he immediately goes to see
her, takes her by the hand, lifts her up and heals her. Immediately, she gets
up and begins to serve them. This is not simply because that is the role of a
woman in the home. Rather, it is a way of saying that it is the role of any
Christian—man or woman—to serve. Healing is not just to make one well, but to
enable one to become again an active, serving member of the community.
In the evening, once the Sabbath was over, people were free
to move around. So large numbers come seeking out Jesus to be healed of their
sicknesses and to be freed from the power of evil spirits:
That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were
sick or possessed by demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door.
That is, they were at the door of the house where Jesus was.
Many times we will see a reference to the ‘house’ where Jesus is. It seems to
be a symbol of the place where Jesus is gathered with those who are close to
him, a symbol of a Christian community or of the Church. When the poor and the
sick and ‘un-free’ no longer come to the doors of our community seeking healing
and wholeness, we need to reflect on the quality of our Christian witness.
The following morning, Jesus leaves and goes to the hills to
be alone and to pray. His disciples find him and say:
Everyone is searching for you.
Although there are many demands being made on him by the
people of Capernaum, Jesus:
- needs
time for himself to renew his spiritual energy and be in contact with his
Father, and
- has
to think of the needs of other people as well.
Jesus may have been the Son of God, but in his humanity
could only be in one place at a time. And during those three years of public
life, he really only reached a small number of people. To reach the rest, he
needed, and still needs our help.
When Jesus returns from his prayer, he does not go back to
Capernaum, although there were certainly more people to be healed and helped
there. Instead he went on to synagogues all over Galilee, proclaiming his message
of the Kingdom, and making it a reality by healing the sick and liberating
those controlled by evil forces.
This scene brings up the importance for us of availability.
We do need to be available to all those who are in genuine need. At the same
time, there is what we might call the ‘poverty of availability’. No matter how
generous and self-giving we are, we can only give so much. We need to find a
balance between people’s needs and our limited resources. We do not help people
by working ourselves to the point of ‘burnout’. We also need ‘quality time’ to
be with God, to pray, and to reflect on our priorities. Jesus gives us an
excellent example here.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2014g/
Wednesday, January 14,
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: 29-39
And at once on leaving the
synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and
Andrew. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed and feverish, and at once they
told him about her. He went in to her, took her by the hand and helped her up.
And the fever left her, and she began to serve 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 sick with diseases of
one kind or another; he also drove 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 neighboring country towns, so
that I can proclaim the message there too, because that is why I came.'
And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues
and driving out devils.
Reflection
•
Jesus restores life for the service. After
having participated in the celebration of Saturday in the Synagogue, Jesus went
to Peter’s house and cured his mother-in-law. Once healed, she gets up and,
with her health restored and having recovered her dignity, she begins to serve
the persons. Jesus does not only heal the person, but he does it in such a way
that she begins to serve life. • Jesus accepts the
marginalized. When it begins to get dark, in the afternoon, at the end of
Saturday when the first star shines in the sky, Jesus accepts and cures the
sick and those possessed whom people had brought to him. The sick and those
possessed were the most marginalized persons of that time. They had nobody to
whom to have recourse. They depended on public charity. Besides this, religion
considered them impure. They could not participate in the community; it was as
if God rejected and excluded them. Therefore, it can very clearly be seen in
what the Good News of God consists of and that which he wants to do in the life
of people: to accept the marginalized and the excluded, and to insert them
again to live together in the community.
•
To remain united to the Father, in prayer. Jesus
is presented to us while he prays. He makes a great effort to have the time and
the adequate environment to pray. He rises before the others and goes to a
deserted place, to be able to be alone with God. Many times, the Gospels speak
to us about the prayer of Jesus, in silence (Mt 14: 22-23); Mk 1: 35; Lk 5:
15-16; 3: 21-22).
Through prayer he maintains alive the
awareness of his mission.
•
To maintain alive the awareness of the mission
and not to close oneself up in the results already obtained. Jesus is known.
Everybody follows him. This publicity pleases the disciples. They go to look
for Jesus to take him back to the people who were seeking for him, and they
tell him: All are looking for you. They thought that Jesus would go to the
banquet. They were disillusioned! Jesus does not pay attention and tells them:
Let us go elsewhere. It is precisely for this that I have come! Surely, they
must have been surprised! Jesus was not like what they had imagined him to be.
Jesus had a very clear conscience of the mission and wants to transmit this to
the disciples. He does not want them to close up themselves in the results
already obtained. They should not look back. But, like Jesus, they should
maintain alive the conscience of their mission. It is the mission received from
the Father, which has to orientate their decisions.
•
It is precisely for this that I have come! This
was the first misunderstanding between Jesus and his disciples. At present, it
is only a question of a small divergence. Later, in the Gospel of Mark, this
misunderstanding, in spite of the many advertences of Jesus, will grow and will
practically become almost a break between Jesus and the disciples (cf. Mk 8:
14-21, 32-33; 9: 32; 14: 27). Today also, there are some misunderstandings on
the way of the proclamation of the Good News. Mark helps one to be attentive to
the divergences so as not to allow them to grow until they produce a break.
Personal Questions
•
Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.
Peter’s mother-in-law began to serve. And I, do I act in such a way that my
life is a service to God and to my brothers and sisters?
•
Jesus is conscious, aware of his mission through
prayer. And my prayer?
Concluding Prayer
Sing to Yahweh, bless his name! Proclaim his salvation day
after day, declare his glory among the nations, his marvels to every people!
(Ps 96: 2-3)
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