Wednesday 15 January

1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20; Psalm 40:2, 5, 7-10; Mark 1:29-39

Graced lying down

In Eli’s time, God rarely spoke. However, when God calls Samuel in the night, the elderly priest realises who is calling and tells the boy to say: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” The message Samuel receives is one that he is reluctant to tell Eli in the morning. Sometimes it is difficult to get up to start the day when there is something hard ahead. In the Gospel, Jesus helps Peter’s mother-in-law up from her sick bed and she immediately begins to serve her guests. We pray with Psalm 139: Lord, you know my lying down and my rising...