Fifteenth and last of the Judges of Israel, the prophet Samuel lived approximately eleven hundred years before Christ. Born in the tribe of Levi, son of Elkanah and Hannah, he was promised to the Lord by his till-then barren mother. At the age of twelve, Samuel had his first revelation from the Lord God. Samuel preached repentance to the children of Israel, and led the people to victory over the Philistines. Asked by the people to give them a king, he warned that God was the only true king of Israel, but they insisted. It was Samuel who anointed Saul son of Kish as the first king of Israel, and David son of Jesse as its second and greatest ruler. He died in Ramah and was buried there.
As we celebrate the memory of your prophet Samuel, O Lord, we implore You to save our souls through his prayers.
Like a precious gift you were given to God before your birth and you served Him like an angel from the time of your youth. You were made worthy to look into the future, O blessed one, and so we sing to you: O Samuel, prophet and servant of God.
2 Corinthians 12:20 – 13:2
Brothers and sisters: I fear that when I come I may not find you to my liking, not may you find me to yours. I fear I may find discord, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, slander and gossip, self-importance, disorder. I fear that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may have to mourn over the many who sinned earlier and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and sensuality they practiced.
This is the third time I shall be coming to you. [Scripture says,] “A judicial fact shall be established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.” I said before when I was there the second time – and I repeat it now in my absence – to those who sinned before and to all the rest, that if I come again I shall not spare you.
Mark 4: 24-34
The Lord said to his disciples: “Listen carefully to what you hear. In the measure you give you shall receive, and more besides. To those who have more, more will be given; from those who have not, what little they have will be taken away.”
He also said: “This is how it is with the reign of God. A man scatters seed on the ground.He goes to bed and gets up day after day. Through it all the seed sprouts and grows without his knowing how it happened. The soil produces of itself first the blade, then the ear, finally the ripe wheat in the ear. When the crop is ready he ‘wields the sickle, for the time is ripe for harvest.’”
Jesus went on to say: “What comparison shall we use for the reign of God? What image will help to present it? It is like mustard seed which, when planted in the soil, is the smallest of all the earth’s seeds, yet once it is sown, springs up to become the largest of shrubs, with branches big enough for the birds of the sky to build nests in its shade.” By means of many such parables he taught them the message in a way they could understand. To them he spoke only by way of parables, while he kept explaining things privately to his disciples.
Icon courtesy of Jack Figel, Eastern Christian Publications – ecpubs.com
Monday, August 19 –
