1 Sam 1:9-20 / Mark 1:21-28
There are many reasons why people come to church. Besides coming to church for Mass, people come to church in times of need.
In a time of desperation and desolation, they come to church so as find some direction and consolation and an answer to their prayers.
For them, the church is the visible and tangible presence of God and it is where they take refuge in the midst of their troubles.
In the 1st reading, Hannah in her distress went before the Lord, and Eli the priest was observing her and wondering about her intention.
In the gospel, a man possessed by an unclean spirit, began making a scene in the synagogue, with that unclean spirit making a confrontation with Jesus.
But as Jesus expelled the unclean spirit out of the possessed man, the people were astonished and they started asking each other what it all meant.
But we should know what all that means. Whether it was Hannah in her bitterness of soul or the possessed man struggling with the evil spirit within, they have come before the Lord seeking for help.
The church is like a field hospital where people come to seek God and to be healed of the wounds of the heart and to be delivered from whatever evil that is affecting them.
May we offer these people some understanding and consolation and help so that they will truly experience Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and find peace and healing in the House of God.