Listen to the Reflection here!

 

First Reading: 1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28

 

Samuel, as long as he lives, shall be dedicated to the Lord.

 

In those days Hannah conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the Lord for him. The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and to remain there forever; I will offer him as a perpetual nazirite.”

 

Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the temple of the Lord in Shiloh. After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said: “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.” Hannah left Samuel there.

 

 Questions for Reflection

 

1.      How do your choices influence your children to follow or reject God?

 

2.      What can you do to teach your children to be loyal and faithful to God?

 

3.      Why is it important for you to teach your children about God from the time they are very little?

  

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