Monday, January 13, 2014

1st Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 14-01-14

1 Sam 1:9-20 / Mark 1:21-28

One word that may appear often in our everyday vocabulary is this word - problem.

We may express it with other words like challenge, difficulty, obstacle, etc.

But the common word to use to describe all that is the word "problem" and others will also understand it immediately.

In the 1st reading, Hannah had a peculiar problem. Her soul was bitter and she went to the temple of the Lord to express her distress to the Lord.

The priest Eli noticed her muttering and thought she was drunk. But after some clarification and understanding her problem, he gave her a blessing and she went away and was dejected no more.

In the gospel, the setting was also in a place the worship - the synagogue. And there was a problem - a man possessed by an unclean spirit challenged Jesus.

How that unclean spirit got into the synagogue or what was it doing there was not made known to us.

But just as Hannah came to the temple of the Lord with her problem, the man possessed with an unclean spirit also came to Jesus in the synagogue.

Their problems found the solution when they came before the presence of the Lord.

So whenever we face a problem, where do we turn to for a solution? If we don't turn to the Lord, then our life will be one big problem.