1 Samuel 1:24-28; Responsorial: 1 Sam 2; Luke 1:46-56
In the first reading of today, we have the account of how Hannah fulfilled her vows to the Lord.
Hannah was childless for many years; she was bullied and mocked by Peninnah, her husband’s second wife. In her distress, she cried to the Lord, in her prayers, she vowed that if the Lord gives her a child, she would dedicate the child to the Lord.
God is a prayer-answering God, God gave her the child and today, she comes to fulfill her vow.
Two lessons for us here.
- Giving back to God what He has given us
Samuel was God’s gift to Hannah; Hannah gave him back to God. When God gives us any gift, He expects us to acknowledge Him as the source and be grateful. The greatest expression of gratitude to the Lord is to offer the gift back to God, to glorify God by what He has given us.
Let us not think it was easy for Hannah to leave her cute baby-son in the temple and go back home with no more sweet cries of baby Samuel, everything around reminds her of her child, the silence, the noise, the buggy, baby sling, cot, It was certainly hard for Hannah to leave Samuel in the temple and turn back home but then, it is important for us to know that we do not lose by giving back to God what He has given us.
- II. Our promise to the Lord:
The Psalmist says 116:18 “my vows to the Lord, I will fulfill…”
Like Hannah, when we are in desperate need or danger, we sometimes make promises to the Lord; we are being reminded today that the Lord expects us to fulfill these vows. But it is not enough to honour our words and fulfill our vows; we must fulfill our promise to the Lord;
- As we have promised to do:
Many times when we get what we need and it’s time to fulfill our vows, we want to bargain, we want God to give us a “discount” from our vows. Hannah didn’t bargain with the Lord, she did exactly as she promised.
- As quickly as possible:
Many times we become reluctant and we delay to fulfill what we have promised the Lord. The Lord expects us to be quick to fulfill what we promise just as we expect God to make haste to grant our wish (Deuteronomy 23:21, Ecclesiastes 5:4).
III. With joy:
Many times we ask God with tears, we receive with joy and we fulfill our promise grudgingly as if God is unfair to us to have expected us to fulfill our promise. God expects us to fulfill our vows with joy.
Today, Mary sang with joy as she re-dedicates herself to God, that’s the kind of joy God expects when we fulfill our promises to Him. It may be tough but it is the best and most blessed thing to do.
This “Refresh On Sunday” is from the sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka Gukena Okami on December 22, 2020.