What Hannah Teaches Us!

In today's first reading, 1 Sam 1: 9-20,  Hannah enters the Temple and "presented herself before the Lord."  She does not use a book to pray traditional Jewish prayers. No, she presents herself. She pours out her heart to the Lord. She is filled with sorrow at being barren and shares that sadness with the Lord, "weeping copiously".  "In her bitterness she prayed to the Lord, weeping copiously, and she made a vow, promising: 'O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord for as long as he lives'....When Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, the Lord remembered her. She conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son whom she called Samuel since she had asked the Lord for him.."  

Hannah teaches us the importance of 1) taking our problems to the Lord, 2) being honest with the Lord in prayer and 3) expressing our needs--telling the Lord what it is that we would like from Him. We need to be real with the Lord, as a small child is real with its parents! However, if we are neither truthful with ourselves nor with a trusted other about our feelings and our needs, it is unlikely that we will share our truth with the Lord in prayerful encounters!  How often do we not go into prayer as dry a desert and come out the same way! How often than not do our relationships reflect the same barrenness--nothing of significance happens between us because nothing of significance nor of the truth about ourselves is honestly shared, that is, we hide our vulnerabilities. Hannah did nothing of that sort!

Lord, help me be humble enough to be vulnerable in my relationship with myself and trusted others and honest with you in prayer!  It's not the right prayer that I need but an open heart that I am willing to speak my truth to you.  May I keep no secrets from you, Lord!

Discernment of Your Vocation in Life

 Discernment of your vocation in life: In today’s reflection, we will look at two aspects of discernment that are important: 1) honesty with self, that is doing an honest self appraisal; 2) keeping a journal on a regular basis.  Why? Because journaling helps us grow in honesty with ourselves.  Writing also opens up the unconscious. Things we buried about ourselves eventually surface in the writing.  What is buried within is put out on paper.  There it is in plain sight! 

What to write: put down what you are thinking on a particular subject.  In this case, write down what you are thinking about each vocation in life, especially religious life and/or priesthood.  Look at your lifestyle preferences!  Doing this will clarify your perceptions.  Question yourself!  Are your thoughts true about that lifestyle? Are the exaggerate? Are they idealistic or realistic? Are they downright lies?  Do you need to do some rethinking about that particular lifestyle?

Take time to go back and reread entries.  What patterns are emerging?

Take all of this to prayer and share your thoughts—your journal entries—with the Lord! Also share with someone who will be supportive of what God may be asking of you.  That person might be a friend, a spiritual advisor, a teacher, a counselor, a parent, a grandparent.

Discernment: Is my life conformed to God's will for me?

 Discernment:  One of the most potent sources of knowing whether or not I am living a life that is in sync with God’s will is presented by St. Paul in Colossians 3: 1-11.  St. Paul clearly spells out what it means to live as a Christian, that is, as a person who has died and rose with Christ, as a person living life according to the will of God.  What criteria, so to speak, does Paul give us?  Put in a question form, Paul  is asking whether I am living a morally impeccable life.  Am I living a life of purity, honesty, serenity and peace; or, on the contrary, are my choices impure, immoral, dishonest and driven by feelings of annoyance, frustration, anger, or outrageous fury?  Am I building others up or tearing them down? Am I lying to myself and thus to others? Does obscene language dominate my thoughts and spill out into my speech?  Honestly answering those questions will give me the answer to the question: Am I in the process of bringing my life into sync with God’s will for me?