Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Collect of First Week of 
Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 305

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?”

The Bible often recalls the lives of ancient, obscure people of no historical importance, and honors their stories of disappointment, sadness, relief, and redemption. And the Bible usually dismisses the more famous persons as irrelevant to God's plan. The names of heavyweights like Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus may get a passing mention, but are forgotten as readily. If you want to know what God is doing, pay attention to those who love the Lord and not to anyone in Washington, Moscow, or Tel Aviv.

We have to notice in the story of Hannah her similarities to other women of the Bible; especially Sarah, Ruth, Elizabeth, Anna, and Mary of Galilee. None of these women were noticed by the world at large with the possible exception of Sarah, who was ogled by the Egyptian Pharaoh. All of these women were childless; some because they were barren into their advanced years; others because they were young, unmarried virgins. But they appear in Salvation History because God will amaze the world as they bear children. 

In our story today, the unhappy Hannah is afflicted not only with childlessness but also the insults of a jealous rival. Elkanah's other wife is quite fertile but less attractive than the lovely Hannah. However her life story fits neatly into God's plan, for she will be the mother of Samuel, the last of the judges of Israel. He will anoint both Saul and David as kings, and open a new chapter in Israel's history.

Hannah resembles Mary the Mother of God in several ways besides her childlessness. Her sadness wins Eli's sympathy. And so we can imagine God's sympathy Mary prays for the coming of the Messiah. Unlike the prayers of sinful humanity, her purity and her pleas are irresistible even to God.  

Secondly, Mary's Magnificat echoes the sentiment, joy, and satisfaction of Hannah's song, which we will recite or sing tomorrow as the responsorial psalm. 

My heart exults in the LORD,

my horn is exalted by my God.

I have swallowed up my enemies;

I rejoice in your victory.

There is no Holy One like the LORD;

there is no Rock like our God....

The story of Hannah takes us deep into Salvation History as we have returned to the weekdays of Ordinary Time. The word ordinary refers to the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc....) and is not intended to disparage these less solemn liturgical events as routine, humdrum, or quotidian. 

We also remember her odd but generous response to God's mercy. Satisfied with bearing a son, she gave him to God at Shiloh and the tender care of the aging Eli. Samuel grew up as a consecrated, life-long Nazirite who never tasted wine and whose hair was never cut. If she visited the boy occasionally, we are told nothing of it. Mary also surrendered her son to God's plan of salvation. 

Reflecting on this story:

We do not know how we might be remembered by family, friends, and strangers. History remembers Peninnah as an unpleasant woman who tormented hapless Hannah. She wanted the exclusive devotion of her husband. Although the Church today denounces polygamy, and might sympathize with Peninnah's plight, she is nonetheless less attractive than the inconsolable Hannah. The latter would have been crowned by "the worst daytime show in television history," as the Queen for a Day. 

We cannot know, nor do we need to know, how important every day, and every encounter of every day, might be in God's plan. If anyone remembers any of us in 2126, it might be a single incident of generosity or meanness. And so we hope that the Lord will direct our moods, thoughts, words, gestures, and actions for they might figure deeply into God's plan of salvation for a friend, a relative, or someone we've never met.