One theme of the many to be found in today’s readings is the focus of the Responsorial Psalm, and its refrain, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” This could be the prophet Samuel speaking of his experience in the first reading, where he is serving the priest Eli and sleeping near the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord’s presence among his people. The Lord calls on Samuel to appoint him “an accredited prophet of the Lord” (1 Samuel 3:20).

Today’s Gospel reading reminds us that Jesus, like Samuel, speaks in every action: “Speak, Lord, speak, Father, your servant, your Son, is listening.” Every time we pray the Our Father, we are following in the footsteps of Samuel and of Our Lord himself, making ourselves available to make the Father’s will done, on earth as it already is in heaven.

In the Second Eucharistic Prayer, shortly after the Consecration and Eucharistic Acclamation, the priest gives the Lord “thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you.” Those words put us next to Samuel, who sleeps in the presence of the Lord in the Ark of the Covenant, and they put us next to Jesus, always seeking to minister to his Father by doing the Father’s will. Without consciously thinking about it, every time we celebrate Mass, we say to God, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” We minister to the Lord, we wait on the Lord, by ministering to others.

May the graces of the Eucharist strengthen us to do God’s will in whatever way God asks of us today and every day.

Prayer:

Lord God, may your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.