Memory of the Saints and the Prophets

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Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Judges 13,2-7.24-25

There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife was barren; she had borne no children. The Angel of Yahweh appeared to this woman and said to her, 'You are barren and have had no child, but you are going to conceive and give birth to a son. From now on, take great care. Drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For you are going to conceive and give birth to a son. No razor is to touch his head, for the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb; and he will start rescuing Israel from the power of the Philistines.' The woman then went and told her husband, 'A man of God has just come to me, who looked like the Angel of God, so majestic was he. I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name. But he said to me, "You are going to conceive and will give birth to a son. From now on, drink no wine or fermented liquor, and eat nothing unclean. For the boy is to be God's nazirite from his mother's womb to his dying day." ' The woman gave birth to a son and called him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him; and the spirit of Yahweh began to stir him in the Camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The birth of Samson is foretold by two annunciations, as if to underline how the Lord chose him even before he was born. This sets him apart from all the other Judges in the book. His mother is barren, and, together with her husband, calls on God to intervene. An angel of the Lord appears to the woman and announces the birth of a son who will free Israel. Consequently, he must be consecrated to God, that is, a "Nazirite." The book of Numbers (chap. 6) describes the duties of a Nazirite: to abstain from wine, probably considered a symbol of the Canaanite religion, to abstain from touching dead bodies, not to marry foreign women, and not to cut his hair. This consecration was permanent in Samson's case. Samson's mother follows the Nazirite rules first herself, and so can have her son consecrated. The prayer of the two parents is answered. But the child who will be born is not for their satisfaction. He is born to save the people. It is a birth that seems to anticipate the story of Jesus himself. But in truth Samson's story is different. Once Samson has grown, God blesses him and shows him his spirit. Samson knows his mission and has everything he needs to achieve it, but - as is told in the following chapters - he strays from it. He breaks the Nazirite promise to serve God and begins to serve himself and his personal desires: not only does he not abstain from wine, he drinks endlessly at banquets. Not only does he not abstain from touching dead bodies, he contaminates himself by eating honey that has come into contact with one. And he repeatedly has relations with pagan women. What is more, he boasts of his strength as if it were his own and not a gift given to him by God to use in service of his people. In short, Samson has a heart so full of himself that he does not leave any space at all for God. It is a story that we all know well. Every time we focus on ourselves - which is what we read about Samson - we distance ourselves from God and from his people, and so we distance ourselves from our salvation.