DIVINE WHISPER with Fr. PiusRalph

MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME OF THE YEAR (II)

Mystery of the day: Joyful 

Celebration: Ferial

📖 Table of the Word

First Reading: 1 Samuel 1:1–8 

Gospel: Mark 1:14–20 

Theme: The Whisper of God in Human Pain.

Reflection

Today's liturgy opens Ordinary Time not with dramatic miracles, but with unheard tears. Hannah’s barrenness is not merely biological; it is social, emotional, and spiritual. In the context of  ancient Near Eastern and Israelite, childlessness was often interpreted as divine disfavour. Yet Scripture subtly corrects this theology: “Though the Lord had closed her womb” (1 Sam 1:5), God is not absent, He is mysteriously at work. And in our context childlessness is also is yet another sad situation as the woman will be silently tortured with words and sometimes with open confrontation from the family. 

In today's first reading taken from 1 Samuel 1:1–8 Hannah’s pain becomes a school of prayer. She is misunderstood even by her husband, Elkanah, who often consoled her by saying: “Am I not more to you than ten sons?” This reminds us that only God can touch the deepest ache of the human heart. 

However, the Gospel pericope taken from Evangelist Mark's account presents before us the beginning of Jesus' public ministry with a proclamation and a summons: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” (see Mark 1:14–20)

The call of the first disciples is strikingly unprepared yet decisive. Fishermen abandon nets, boats, even family, not because they fully understand, but because the Word made flesh speaks with divine authority.

Beloved in Christ, on this first day  in the first part of the Ordinary Time, a moment where Christ's saving mission is revealed; our attention has been drawn to God's supernatural power of turning around sutuations no matter how long it may be. This is the same God who heard Hannah’s tears. 

As we encounter in the Gospel, He reveals that when the moment of grace arrives, delay can become disobedience. Ordinary Time is extraordinary because it is where vocations are clarified, wounds are purified, and disciples are formed, as Christ displayed in the course of His public ministry.

To buttress this, in our journey of faith when pain sets in, let us not forget that God is still handling the steering  as we will see in the case of Hannnah later. On another note, the call to discipleship is demanding and needs a paradigm shift from comfort zone to where God may lead. Above all let us approach every daily challenge with hope and trust in God for with Him our hope will never be disappointed (cf. Romans 5:5).

+ Peace of Christ be with you!

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