Prayer in the night

Prayer in the middle of the night lies at the center of both of today’s familiar, beautiful readings.

In the first reading (1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20), Samuel – sleeping in the temple by the Ark of God – hears the Lord’s call in the middle of the night and eventually learns to respond with one of the most perfect short prayers ever:

Speak, for your servant is listening.

In the Gospel (Mark 1:29-30), after a busy day and night at the very beginning of his public ministry, our Lord himself rises before dawn to be alone with God in prayer.

These readings invite us to take a minute or two ourselves – either at the end of our busy days or at the very beginning or both – and reach out to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the silence of the night and say with real commitment:

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.