To Love as Hannah Loved

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, December 29th, 2024:
Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

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1 Samuel
1.20-22, 24-28

​(For alternate readings, see the print edition of Living with Christ.)

In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.” Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.”

When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, a measure of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” She left him there for the Lord.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Chapter 1 of the First Book of Samuel tells a truly extraordinary story. Hannah, frustrated for years in her desire to conceive a child, prayed that if the Lord would allow her to bear a son, she would surrender him to the Lord’s service for as long as he lived. “Before too long,” Hannah gave birth to a son, whom she called Samuel, and, true to her promise, she travelled to the temple in Shiloh, surrendered her infant to the priest Eli and returned to her home to live for the rest of her days as a mother without a child. Again, “Extraordinary!” And also, “Why?!”

Why did Hannah pray for a child and, at the same time, promise to give him up while he was still a babe in arms? Was she so distraught by the judgment of others upon her for being a woman unable to bear a child that having a child from whom she must part would be a better option for her? Are we to believe that God would answer her prayer to become a mother only if she were willing to “pay” by almost immediately giving the child back into God’s service? What is the point of this story, and what can it teach us?

The Bible tells us two important things about the nature of God that shed light on the message of this reading. First, we know that God is a loving God Who wants only good things for us and Who is willing to die for love of us. Second, we know that God is a “jealous” God Who insists on claiming the throne in the life of every believer. Be it a career, a secure future, or a spouse or a child, every single thing we value in life must be of less value to us than our love of God. Our God must be our god. Only when we order our lives in this way can we give our unreserved yes to God and to love, rather than to what we, in our limited view, might want.

Hannah is a model for us because she gives to God what she treasures most. She does not simply surrender Samuel – she offers him in a heroic act of gratitude, selflessness, and love. She may not know why God is asking this of her, but she trusts that God has reasons and she knows that she does not need to understand those reasons in order to be obedient. God’s ways are not our ways, and we must not lean on our own understanding. 

Almighty God, teach us to love You as Hannah loved You, completely free from the desire to understand, devoid of self-interest, and joyful in obedience and trust. Amen!




Donna Davis

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