The book of Samuel opens with a beautiful and powerful story of the Lord God remembering Hannah, and she gave birth to Samuel.
“Hannah was very distressed since she was childless. She went to the temple and prayed in her bitterness, and made a vow, promising: “O Lord of hosts, if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the Lord…..” Afterwards she went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and no longer appeared downcast. Early the next morning they worshipped before the Lord, and then returned to their home.
When Elkanah had relations with his wife Hannah, the Lord remembered her. She conceived, bore a son, whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the Lord for him.
In the reflections on this reading, Fr. Kevin O’Brien, SJ, shares that “remembering is an expression of intimacy with one who is never forgotten… The very act of remembering impacts the present and future. Remembering gives life.
In the Eucharist, we practice this kind of remembering. We remember all that God has done for us in Christ. We do this in a way that is not nostalgia of days long past. Far from it: in our grateful remembering, Christ is made present again, deepening our bonds of intimacy with Christ and one another. We remember that we are never forgotten.
Our remembering moves us to hear the cries of the Hannahs of today.”
Whom shall we remember and give new life to, this day? Who has given life to us, through their remembering and never forgetting us along our life’s journey?
