The first Proclamation Please read the scripture passage 1 Samuel 4:1-11 contempla-tively. Prayerful Awareness How very like you and me were the Israelites! We profess to be good Christians, that we know and follow Jesus, we of the eternal faith, chosen of the Lord God, practising our faith in liturgy, in the singing of hymns of praise and glory, and in acts of brotherly love. But beneath the surface (unknown to our brethren and frequently even to ourselves) we continue to be fearful and greedy, seeking self-worth through self-glorifying thoughts, forgetting the spirit but keeping up to the letter of the Ten Commandments, setting up and promoting schisms and back-biting amongst brethren, near and far. We even lie to ourselves and convince ourselves to disregard our own hypocrisy as we go along. Jesus understood that the brandishing/holding of mere symbols of the most high Lord (even one as powerful as the ark of the Lord) was insufficient! The calling is to seek and adhere to the Will of the Father, not more and not less! Thus, the straying of the sons of Eli from the way of the Lord brings about the termination of the temporal life force given them, along with the lives of thirty four thousand other kindred spirits. In most likelihood, there were quite a few devout and righteous men in that Israelite army. But, the consequences of sin affected even those devout and righteous men. Therefore, the Lord Jesus feels sorry for the man confronting Him today, suffering from disease not necessarily the result of his own sins, and grants freedom from the affliction.
Prayer Starter Dear Lord, I realise that departing from the Will of the Father - sinning, is wicked; and that the results - the consequences of sin, flow far and wide. I also understand that my flesh is temporal, but that Jesus has won victory over the death I’ve inherited. Rejoice O Earth and give praise to our Lord God. Alleluia to the Risen Lord!
