Our Lady Of The Way Primary School

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Address: 19 Green Ave, Kingsbury Vic 3083

Phone: (03) 9460 6684



GOSPEL 14 JAN 2024
First Reading, A Reading from the book of Samuel 1 Sam 3:3-10.19
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
Samuel was lying in the santuary of the Lord where the ark of God was, when the Lord called, 'Samuel! Samuel!' He answered, 'Here I am.' Then he ran to Eli and said, 'I did not call.  Go back and lie down.' So he went and lay down. Once again the Lord called, 'Samuel! Samuel!' samuel got up and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, since you called me'. He replied, 'I did not call you, my son; go back and lie down.' Samuel had as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Once again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, 'Here I am, since you called me'. Eli then understood that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel, 'Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening"'. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, 'Samuel! Samuel!' Samuel answered, 'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.'
Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him and let no word of his fall to the ground.'
The word of the Lord
Second Reading, A Reading from the letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor 6:13-15.17-20
Your bodies are members making up the body of Christ.
The body is not meant for fornication; it is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. God who raised the Lord from the dead, will by his power raise us up too.
You know, surely, that your bodies are members making up the body of Christ; anyone who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
Keep away from fornication. All the other sins are committed outside the body; but to fornicate is to sin against your own body. Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God.
The word of the Lord
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John Jn1:35-42
They saw where he lived, and stayed with him.
As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God.' Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, 'What do you want?' They answered, 'Rabbi' - which mean Teacher - 'where do you live?' 'come and see' he replied' so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of the day. It was about the tenth hour,
One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing that John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, 'We have found the  Messiah' - which means the Christ - and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas' - meaning Rock.'
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
HOMILY
God the Father called Samuel three times; Samuel made his mistakes during life yet not one word of God fell to the ground. He grew in wisdom and strength continually.
Peter failed 3 times to acknowledge Christ as his friend. Jesus predicted this would happen at the last supper, yet Jesus still called Peter his rock.
We are the rock for our families, just as our families were a rock of faith for us. All of us have failed many times to acknowledge Jesus is our friend; yet we have not let our word of God fall to the ground and waste away. The word of God has falled on to rich soil in us - our lives are full of love, faith and experience.
Our children will deny us many time; in other words, they will reject some part of us and the Lord many times. It's only being a rock for them that they will learn to be a rock for their children.
Fr Terry Bergin PP
 

GOSPEL REFLECTION

Hearing the Call
In the call of Samuel and the first Apostles, today's Readings shed light on your own calling to be followers of Christ.
Notice in the Gospel today that John's disciplesa re prepared to hear God's call. They are already looking for the Messiah, so they trust in John's word and follow when he points out the Lamb of God walking by.
Samuel is also waiting on the Lord - sleeping near the Ark of the Covenant where God's glory dwells, taking instruction from Eli, the high priest.
Samuel listened to God's word and Lord was with him. And Samuel, through his word, turned all Israel tot he Lord (see 1 Samuel 3:21; 7:2-3). The disciples too, heard and followed - words we hear repeatedly in today's Gospel. They stayed with the Lord and by their testimony brought other to the Lord.
These scenes from salvation history should give us strength to embrace God's will and to follow His call in our lives.
God is constantly calling to each of us - personally, by name (see Isaiah 43: 1; John 10:3). He wants us to seek Him in love, to long for His word (see Wisdom 6:11-12). We must desire always, as the apostles did, to stay where the Lord stays, to constantly seek His face (see Pslam 42:2).
For we are not our own, but belong to the Lord, as Paul says in today's Epistle.
We mut have ears open to obedience, and write Hi word within ur hearts. We mut trust in the Lord's promise - that if we come to Him in faith, He will abide with us (see John 15:14; 14: 21-23), and raise us by His power. And we must reflect in our lives the love He has shown us, so that others too may find the Messiah.
As we renew our vows of discipleship in this Eucharist, let us approach the altar singing the new song of today's Psalm: "Behold I come ... to do your will O God."
 
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