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From: 1 Samuel 1:9-20

Birth of Samuel (Continuation)

[9] After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest
was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. [10] She
was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly. [11] And she
vowed a vow and said, “O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction
of thy maidservant, and remember me, and not forget thy maidservant, but wilt
give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of
his life, and no razor shall touch his head.”

[12] As she continued praying before the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. [13]
Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not
heard; therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. [14] And Eli said to her,
“How long will you be drunken? Put away your wine from you.” [15] But Hannah
answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman sorely troubled; I have drunk neither wine
nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. [16] Do
not regard your maidservant as a base woman, for all along I have been speaking
out of my great anxiety and vexation.” [17] Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and
the God of Israel grant your petition which you have made to him.” [18] And she
said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her
way and ate, and her countenance was no longer sad.

[19] They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the LORD; then they
went back to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the
LORD remembered her; [20] and in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son,
and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the LORD.”

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Commentary:

1:11-20 Eli, the priest and head of the shrine at Shiloh, comes to bless [Hannah]
but even he cannot understand her (vv. 15-l7). God is the only one who listens to
her, and he accepts the vow she has made to him (v. 11). Hannah follows in the
line of Sarah, Rachel and the mother of Samson—other women in whom the ac-
tion of God could be seen very clearly when he took away the stigma of their bar-
renness. But, above all, she is the prototype of the devout woman who perse-
veres in prayer, convinced that it will be heard. “Why is it necessary to list here
all those who, by praying as they ought to do, won from God the greatest gifts?
For it would be easy for anyone to take an abundant sample of cases based in
holy Scripture. Hannah gave birth to Samuel, who was to be compared with Mo-
ses himself (cf. Jer 15:1), because although she was sterile, she had faith and
prayed to the Lord (1 Sam 1:9ff). [...] How many favors each of us could tell of
if we recalled with gratitude the gifts we have received in order to praise God for
them! Once they have been watered by the grace of the Holy Spirit through con-
stant prayer, souls that have gone for a long time without bearing fruit, sterile in
the most noble part of their being and with the signs of death on their souls, think
wholesome thoughts and are filled with the knowledge of the truth” (Origen, “De
Oratione”, 13, 2-3).

Hannah, who will bear Samuel in her womb, is a figure of Mary and also “a sym-
bol of the Church which carries the Lord. Her prayer is not clamorous, rather it is
calm and refined; she prays in the depths of her heart because she knows that
God listens to her there” (St Cyprian, “De Oratione Dominica”, 5).

Samuel comes into the world as a gift from God; he is the one who was “asked
for of the Lord” (cf. v. 20), according to a popular etymology of his name. His
mission on earth will be as exceptional as his birth; Hannah presents him at the
shrine: “as long as he lives he is lent the Lord” (v. 28). Samuel is brought up by
the priest at the shrine of Shiloh (cf. Judg 18:31; 21:19), that is, within the an-
cient institutions of the time of the judges; thus, the new institutions he will es-
tablish do not imply any break with or rejection of what went before.

1:11. At Shiloh God was invoked as “Lord of hosts”, an expression which con-
veys the notion of his sovereignty over all creation and, also, his preferential love
for his own. The fact that Hannah prays in the temple precincts shows that Sam-
uel will be the fruit of her petition and it will mean that God has intervened in a
special way on her behalf and for the good of the whole people.

Hannah’s vow about her future child means that he will be a Nazirite; that dedica-
tion involved abstaining from alcohol, avoiding any contact with dead bodies and
not cutting one’s hair (cf. the note on Num 6:1-21), The vow means that Samuel
will be permanently and exclusively given to the tasks God gives him.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Mark 1:21-28

Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum

[21] And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath He entered
the synagogue and taught. [22] And they were astonished at His teaching, for He
taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. [23] And immedia-
tely there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; [24] and he cried
out, “What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to des-
troy us? I know who You are, the Holy One of God.” [25] But Jesus rebuked him
saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” [26] And the unclean spirit, convulsing
him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. [27] And they were all
amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A
new teaching! With authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they
obey Him.” [28] And at once His fame spread everywhere throughout all the sur-
rounding region of Galilee.

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Commentary:

21. “Synagogue” means meeting, assembly, community. It was—and is—used by
the Jews to describe the place where they met to hear the Scriptures read, and
to pray. Synagogues seem to have originated in the social gatherings of the Jews
during their exile in Babylon, but this phenomenon did not spread until much later.
In our Lord’s time there were synagogues, in Palestine, in every city and town of
any importance; and, outside Palestine, wherever the Jewish community was
large enough. The synagogue consisted mainly of a rectangular room built in
such a way that those attending were facing Jerusalem when seated. There was
a rostrum or pulpit from which Sacred Scripture was read and explained.

22. Here we can see how Jesus showed His authority to teach. Even when He
took Scripture as His basis—as in the Sermon on the Mount—He was different
from other teachers, for He spoke in His own name: “But I say to you” (Matthew
7:28-29). Our Lord speaks about the mysteries of God, and about human rela-
tionships; He teaches in a simple and authoritative way because He speaks of
what He knows and testifies to what He has seen (John 3:11). The scribes also
taught the people, St. Bede comments, about what is written in Moses and the
prophets; but Jesus preached to them as God and Lord of Moses himself (St.
Bede, “In Marci Evangelium Expositio”). Moreover, first He does and then He
preaches (Acts 1:1)—not like the scribes who teach and do not do (Matthew 23:
1-5).

23-26. The Gospels give us many accounts of miraculous cures, among the most
outstanding of which are those of people possessed by the devil. Victory over the
unclean spirit, as the devil is usually described, is a clear sign that God’s salva-
tion has come: by overcoming the Evil One, Jesus shows that He is the Messiah,
the Savior, more powerful than the demons: “Now is the judgment of this world,
now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). Throughout the Gos-
pel we see many accounts of this continuous and successful struggle of our
Lord against the devil.

As time goes on the devil’s opposition to Jesus becomes ever clearer; in the
wilderness it is hidden and subtle; it is noticeable and violent in the case of pos-
sessed people; and radical and total during the Passion, the devil’s “hour and the
power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). And Jesus’ victory also becomes ever clearer,
until He triumphs completely by rising from the dead.

The devil is called unclean, St. John Chrysostom says, because of his impiety
and withdrawal from God. In some ways he does recognize Christ’s holiness, but
this knowledge is not accompanied by charity. In addition to the historical fact of
this cure, we can also see, in this possessed man, those sinners who must be
converted to God and freed from the slavery to sin and the devil. They may have
to struggle for a long time but victory will come: the Evil One is powerless against
Christ (cf. note on Matthew 12:22-24).

27. The same authority that Jesus showed in His teaching (1:22) is now to be
seen in His actions. His will is His command: He has no need of long prayers or
incantations. Jesus’ words and actions already have a divine power which pro-
vokes wonder and fear in those who hear and see Him.

Jesus continues to impress people in this way (Mark 2:12; 5:20-42; 7:37; 15:39;
Luke 19:48; John 7:46). Jesus of Nazareth is the long-awaited Savior. He knows
this Himself and He lets it be known by His actions and by His words; according
to the gospel accounts (Mark 1:38-39; 2:10-11; 4:39) there is complete continui-
ty and consistency between what He says and He does. As Vatican II teaches
(”Dei Verbum”, 2) Revelation is realized by deeds and words intimately connec-
ted with each other: the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery con-
tained in them; the deeds confirm the teaching. In this way Jesus progressively
reveals the mystery of His Person: first the people sense His exceptional autho-
rity; later on, the Apostles, enlightened by God’s grace, recognize the deepest
source of this authority: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew
16:16).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.