“Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9)

God called Samuel by his name, gently, “Samuel, Samuel!”, and repeatedly, calling him thrice in total. Samuel originally thought that his teacher Eli was calling him. But when the Lord called him the fourth time, Samuel responded the way Eli taught him, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”. We can try to begin our prayers by saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”.

This way, we remind ourselves that God wishes to talk to us – we do not need to tell God what we wish for during prayers, since God knew of our needs before we utter a word. However, we should learn to listen attentively. The voice of the Holy Spirit may seem weak, but be assured that it is clear, and may be repeated, because God's love for us is forever faithful.

God’s will is for us to become holy, just like the Father. The problem is whether we have the desire to become saints.

Each of us must walk a different path, but we will all arrive at the same destination.  Like the three magi, who embarked on separate journeys at the outset, their paths all led to the foot of baby Jesus.