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[This is for reference only. Please do not read it at Mass]
The story of the boy Samuel in the temple points to a reality in our lives: God speaks to us and
asks us to serve him, but we often fail to recognise his voice. Why is this? It is because we don’t know
him as a real, living person.
When Samuel realised that it was God who was calling him, he was ready to respond. Here we
learn another lesson: God requires us to be available, ready to do his will.
In the Gospel we notice the readiness of the first disciples to respond to Jesus’ invitation to
follow him. We encourage the children to imitate them as they try to recognise God’s voice and
respond to it.
INTRODUCTION:
Celebrant: Today we are going to talk about ‘calling’ and ‘listening’. Suppose you are sitting in the
balcony of your house, reading a very exciting book, and you hear your mother calling out to you.
What would you do? Would you say, “Yes, Mummy! I’m coming!” or would you just be very, very
quiet and hope that your mother will give up calling?
We will hear about a little boy who heard someone calling him when he was nice and cosy in bed.
Let’s see what he did.
Once a lady, we’ll call her Marie, was sitting in church and trying to pray, but she was a bit
distracted. An old uncle had come to live in their house and she was grumbling to God: “Lord, do you
really want me to look after this old man? You know that we don’t have so much money to feed him and
our children also.” Then she started calculating the cost of uncle’s breakfast and lunch and dinner: “Half
a litre of milk costs 8 rupees… and 6 slices of bread costs 3 rupees…”
Suddenly Marie realised that it was time to stand for the Gospel. She stopped her grumbling and
listened to what Father was saying. That day the gospel was about the man who picked up a wounded
man from the road and carried him to a hotel. “Look after him for me,” the man told the manager of the
hotel, “and when I come back I will pay you whatever else you spend!”
Like Samuel in the temple, Marie suddenly realised that God was talking to her! He was saying,
“I sent uncle to you. And I will give you all you need to look after him. Trust me and look after him
well.” She closed her eyes and prayed, “Thank you Lord for talking to me. I’m sorry for grumbling and
counting the money I spend. I will try to look after uncle and trust you to give us all we need.”
Many years have passed since that day. Marie did her best to look after the old uncle and God kept
his promise. She says, “God has looked after us so well! He has given us all we need: money to pay
school and college fees, clothes, and plenty of good food! Best of all, he helped me to stop grumbling
and to be peaceful.”
• Did you notice anyone else who heard God talking to them? In the Gospel we heard about the first
men to follow Jesus. When Jesus said ‘Come’ to them they straight away went with him. Today God
wants you to learn two things, just like his disciples, and little Samuel, and Marie. He wants you to
1. Listen, believing that God is talking to you. And to
2. Do what he tells you to do.
OFFERTORY:
Let us also be like Samuel. As we sing the hymn, ‘Here I Am Lord’, close your eyes , opens your hands
and really tell God that you are ready to do whatever he tells you.[A strong male voice sings the verses
(representing God) and all respond by singing the chorus].
NB. All Readings are taken from the ‘Lectionary for Masses with Children’ canonically approved for use in the USA.