Hannah and Samuel, Mary and Jesus

Today’s first reading at Mass came from the first Book of Samuel and continued the story of Samuel’s mother, Hannah. She was barren and wanted to have a child more than anything else in the world. Having known a few couples unable to have children, I think I can safely say that they have felt much like Hannah felt. So she did what any person of faith would do; she kicked the table. Just kidding. She trusted in God, knowing that He seeks to give us the desires of our heart, and she asked Him for a son.

“In her bitterness she prayed to the LORD, weeping copiously, and she made a vow, promising: ‘O LORD of hosts, if you look with pity on the misery of your handmaid, if you remember me and do not forget me, if you give your handmaid a male child, I will give him to the LORD for as long as he lives; neither wine nor liquor shall he drink, and no razor shall ever touch his head’ ” (1 Samuel 1:10-11). She asks God for a son and says that she will give that son back to God if God gives her one. She even goes so far as to say that he will be a Nazirite who does not cut his hair or eat or drink any product of grapes, especially wine (Sampson was another Nazirite). He will be specially consecrated to God.

The Responsorial Psalm comes from chapter two of First Samuel, and it was what Hannah prayed in the temple when she dedicated her son to God after she had weaned him. There are many parallels with what Mary prayed when she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth; the prayer is known as the Magnificat. The response today from Hannah’s prayer was: “My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.”

There are many parallels between Hannah and Mary, the handmaids of the Lord. They were both deeply desirous of a son. Mary had come to terms with it when she had consecrated herself as a perpetual virgin and arranged to have a virginal marriage with Saint Joseph. Yet it was the crucifixion of her greatest earthly desire. As a virgin, Mary was “barren.” Hannah prayed, “The barren wife bears seven sons, while the mother of many languishes,” and Mary prayed, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” They were both barren and empty, and they both were filled with “good things” because of their trust in God. They both gave their sons back to God, whenever and however He wanted them.

Right after the Passover in Exodus 13, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine’ ” (13:1-2). Later, I want to write in a more in-depth manner about the first born, but for now it is interesting to note that the first-born belong to God. The passages continues saying, “Every first-born of man among your sons you shall redeem” (Exodus 13:13). The first-born have to be paid for or bought back, for they belong to God. Samuel and Jesus are first-born, and they are offered back to God from Whom they came.

My theory is that Eve also wanted a son (just as Sarai did), and that this wanting was part of the test God devised to see if she loved and trusted Him: be fruitful and multiply but do not have relations. She sought her life and so lost it. Mary gave up her life and so gained it and was given the very Son of God for her faithfulness of giving up children altogether. Hannah desired a child, but she did not sin to try to get one. She prayed. She also realized that children are a gift from God, and so she was willing to give that gift back to God to use as He sees fit. God wanted to give her a child, and He wanted her to seek His help to have it. God tested Hannah and strengthened and purified her love and trust in Him through that test. She passed the test, as did Mary, and she gave birth to the great priest and prophet, Samuel.

Life and fruitfulness come from God, and they come via our faith and trust in Him. The other part of the theory is that the tree of life is the heart. It is the heart that loves, trusts and obeys God; any heart that does that has spiritual life. Any heart that does that bears good fruit and leads those in its vicinity closer to Christ. May you and I seek, ask and knock in faith, hope and love of God and so bear good fruit for Him.

Thanks for reading and your prayers.
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