In today's first reading, 1 Sam 1: 24-28, Hannah brings Samuel to the Temple, saying to Eli: "'Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request.Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.' She left Samuel there."
I immediately thought of my parents. They, too, in faith, blessed me when I told them, at age 14, that I wanted to be a Sister. In their blessing of me, they endorsed my being "dedicated to the Lord". I entered the convent high school run by the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and following high school graduation entered the postulancy of this community. My parents drove me to their high school (some 160 miles from home) and left me there! In 2019 I will celebrate my 60th jubilee of being "dedicated to the Lord"! Praise the Lord! With Mary, in today's Gospel, Luke 1: 46-56, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he has looked upon his lowly servant!"
In what ways have your parents blessed your calling in life, endorsed your dedication to the Lord, be that in marriage, religious life, priesthood, or the single life? Are you willing to bless your children/grandchildren and dedicate them to the Lord in the particular vocation to which they are called to serve the Lord: be that the priesthood, religious life, marriage or the single life? Or do you put obstacles in their way, making them choose what you want for them, not what they want for themselves or that vocation to which God is calling them?
Remember God is the One who called you and and the One who calls your children or grandchildren, just as He called Hannah, Mary, Elizabeth and every other person throughout salvation history.
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