Reading 1
1 Sm 3:1-10, 19-20
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 PS 40:2 and 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
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 Jn 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord.
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 1:29-39
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.
"SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE"
"Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.' " –1 Samuel 3:9
Because the Lord "gives to His beloved in sleep" (Ps 127:2), sleep is one of the most important aspects of our lives. Therefore, the devil tries to disturb our sleep with sexual temptations, fears, or anxieties. We are also tempted to misuse sleep to escape from our responsibilities. We can let the sloth of sleep keep us from answering God's call (see 1 Sm 3:6ff) and from giving ourselves prime-time to pray (see 1 Sm 3:2; Mk 1:35). The devil is trying to "put us to sleep." However, the Lord wants us to fall "asleep believing in Him" (1 Thes 4:14) so that we can "sleep in heavenly peace."
Most of us spend almost one-third of our life in sleep. This is a significant battleground in spiritual warfare. God used Adam's sleep to create the first woman (Gn 2:21ff). He used Joseph's sleep to protect Jesus while He was still in Mary's womb (Mt 1:20) and while He was an Infant (Mt 2:13). The Lord wants to use our sleep to advance His kingdom. Satan has plans for our sleep as well. If we go to sleep bearing anger and resentment, we use our sleep to let Satan "work on" us (Eph 4:26-27) instead of God.
"Whatever you do," including sleeping, "you should do all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). "Do all that [you] do," including sleeping, "for the sake of the gospel" (1 Cor 9:23). Let Jesus be Lord of your life and of your sleep.
| PRAYER: | Father, send the Holy Spirit to teach me to sleep according to Your will. |
| PROMISE: | "Rising early the next morning, He went off to a lonely place in the desert; there He was absorbed in prayer." –Mk 1:35 |
| PRAISE: | St. Hilary was exiled for speaking out against heresy. During his exile, he wrote such a compelling work defending the true faith that the leaders of the Arian heresy begged to send Hilary back home from exile. |
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