Monday, January 11 2016 Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 1 Sm 1:1-8

There was a certain man from Ramathaim, Elkanah by name,
a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim.
He was the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu,
son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
He had two wives, one named Hannah, the other Peninnah;
Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.
This man regularly went on pilgrimage from his city
to worship the LORD of hosts and to sacrifice to him at Shiloh,
where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas,
were ministering as priests of the LORD.
When the day came for Elkanah to offer sacrifice,
he used to give a portion each to his wife Peninnah
and to all her sons and daughters,
but a double portion to Hannah because he loved her,
though the LORD had made her barren.
Her rival, to upset her, turned it into a constant reproach to her
that the LORD had left her barren.
This went on year after year;
each time they made their pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the LORD,
Peninnah would approach her,
and Hannah would weep and refuse to eat.
Her husband Elkanah used to ask her: 
“Hannah, why do you weep, and why do you refuse to eat?
Why do you grieve?
Am I not more to you than ten sons?”

Responsorial Psalm PS 116:12-13, 14-17, 18-19

R. (17a) To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD. 
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people. 
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Alleluia Mk 1:15

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Kingdom of God is at hand;
repent and believe in the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 1:14-20

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Then they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along a little farther
and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They too were in a boat mending their nets.
Then he called them.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.

REFLECTION 

FRUIT STAND

"Hannah was childless." –1 Samuel 1:2

"Hannah would weep and refuse to eat" (1 Sm 1:7). Bearing a child meant more to her than anything else in the world. We too should weep and fast for any lack of spiritual fruitfulness in our lives. If last year we only led fifty people to new life in Jesus when we had the opportunity to be more fruitful, we should weep and fast. "Those that sow in tears will reap in joy" (Ps 126:5, our transl).

Paul was in "great grief and constant pain" (Rm 9:2) because his kinsmen, the Israelites, had not accepted new life in Christ (Rm 9:2-3). Paul made himself "the slave of all so as to win over as many as possible" (1 Cor 9:19). He made himself "all things to all men in order to save at least some of them" (1 Cor 9:22).

Jesus said: "I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit" (Jn 12:24). Jesus so zealously desired to bear the fruit of salvation in the lives of all people that He died on a cross for each of us.

At this moment, Jesus is calling each of us to follow Him and bring as many people as possible into His kingdom. Let us leave anything, do anything, and suffer anything so that we will bear much fruit in this new year.

PRAYER:	Father, do in me what You must in order to do through me what You will.
PROMISE:	"This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand!" –Mk 1:15
PRAISE:	Sarah prayed every day for many years for her son to return to God. The Lord allowed her to see her prayers answered and now she prays in thanksgiving.