January 14, 2026
First Week in Ordinary Time
Making Sense of God’s Voice
So Eli said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”
1 Samuel 3:9

Like many of you, I’m guessing, I have a love-hate relationship with modern technology. I am grateful for what it brings into my life but suspicious of its ultimate impact on my mind and spirit.

That said, the advances in translation apps, for example, are really life-changing, aren’t they? They make travel less stressful, as I can point my camera at a menu and be assured that I’m not accidentally ordering goat brains. I mean, when in Rome and all, but I have my limits.

Translating God’s voice has never—and never will be—as easy as that. Like Samuel, when we fail to recognize him, we’re mystified. We may not have an app, but we still have the gift Samuel had—the wisdom of others in daily life, through Scripture and tradition—to help us make sense of God’s voice.

Lord, speak, your servant is listening.

- Amy Welborn

1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20 ✚ Psalm 40:2, 5, 7-10 ✚ Mark 1:29-39
Woman dressed for winter outside on bench with hot drink and dog lead. Image by Monkey Business | stock.adobe.com
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Comments

Scott
January 14, 2026 at 10:05 AM

Taking time to listen to God's voice, sitting in silence; listening to the waves by the seashore with no one around (I miss that about my early morning swims in Hawaii); listening to the breeze on top of a mountain or sitting by a river. Just sitting sometimes in quietness wherever I am, connects me with the Higher Power, I call God and Jesus and all I have to respond with is, "Here I am, Lord, " Your child who is ready to share water with someone who is thirsty, share food with the hungry, give clothes to those who...
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ADV
January 14, 2026 at 09:43 AM

AMEN!

Vicky G
January 14, 2026 at 09:15 AM

How does God speak to us tho? I spend many days saying “I can’t hear you, speak louder” (and I try to remember to say “please”lol). Today’s readings are such an invigorating example to me. I had promised some charity quilts I finished and I have in a pile that for a number of reasons haven’t been delivered, There is someone I feel is in need of one but with 3 surgeries in the household within 4 weeks over the holiday time I haven’t been able to finish one for him. Sometimes it just takes asking the question “Speak Lord...
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Gary
January 14, 2026 at 09:13 AM

May peace be with you. Amen!

Mike
January 14, 2026 at 09:08 AM

Amen

CBR
January 14, 2026 at 09:07 AM

Amen Amen Amen God bless you all

Holly
January 14, 2026 at 09:01 AM

Amen!

freeter
January 14, 2026 at 08:45 AM

Amen. :)

Debbie H
January 14, 2026 at 07:45 AM

Amen.

Kjc
January 14, 2026 at 07:38 AM

On my weekly adoration I go to a special chaple set up in a nearby parish. After saying prayers I listening"top. Settling my small brain and say " Speak Lord for your servant is listening " Then I listen sometimes I hear my own thoughts but sometimes I get other thoughts. That's my story and I'm sticking to it Please keep praying for Dennis and Shelly Anna and Debbie Stephanie and Christine and now Jen who has a brain infection. Ken

Salina (not in control)
January 14, 2026 at 12:48 AM

There is only One translator, God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit!!! *** John 14:26, “But the Father will send the Friend in My Name (Jesus) to help you. The Friend is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things. He will remind you of everything I have said to you!” *** 2 Peter 1:21, “Prophecy never came simply because a prophet wanted it to. Instead, the Holy Spirit guided the prophets as they spoke. So, although prophets are human, prophecy comes from God!” *** Hebrews 3:7-8a, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,“Today, if you hear His...
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Sharon
January 14, 2026 at 12:23 PM

Ken, Do you know what happened to Jane? I miss her comments and her prayer.

Salina (not in control)
January 14, 2026 at 07:57 AM

Don’t trust or listen to anything that doesn’t line up with the Scripture, God’s Word! Acts 17:11, “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth!”

Salina (not in control)
January 14, 2026 at 07:53 AM

Can I trust my own heart and my own thoughts? Not really!!! *** Jeremiah 17:9, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,and desperately wicked.Who really knows how bad it is?” *** Isaiah 55:8-9, “My thoughts are nothing like Your thoughts,” says the Lord.“ And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts!” *** Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek...
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Woman dressed for winter outside on bench with hot drink and dog lead. Image by Monkey Business | stock.adobe.com
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