For 17 January 2020, Friday of week 1 in Ordinary Time, based on 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a
 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.†But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.†Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
 So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.â€
 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.†When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and set a king over them.â€
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Megan McElroy OP
Megan joined the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1988. Having served previously as a pastoral associate in Michigan, a high school theology teacher in Illinois, and as Co-Director of the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis, Missouri, she now serves on her congregation’s leadership team. Megan received her DMin in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in 2017.
17 Jan 2020
Hindsight or 20/20 Vision?
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 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.†But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.†Samuel prayed to the LORD, and the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
 So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.â€
 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.†When Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice and set a king over them.â€
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Megan McElroy OP
Megan joined the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids in 1988. Having served previously as a pastoral associate in Michigan, a high school theology teacher in Illinois, and as Co-Director of the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis, Missouri, she now serves on her congregation’s leadership team. Megan received her DMin in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in 2017.