Valuable Lessons from the Book of 1 Samuel, Part 1

As you listen to this story of 1 Samuel narrated through the eyes of the teachings of the Simple Path, does it challenge you to see things differently?

---

Valuable Lessons from the Book of 1 Samuel

1/22/26

The first book of Samuel has much to teach us. It is full of characters, men and women, who either responded to the Lord or did not. It begins with Hannah, who was suffering greatly because she had had no children. Hannah, with tears, turned her heart to the Lord and prayed from the depths of her womanly heart at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, vowing to give her child back to the Lord after she had weaned him, if God would take pity on her.

Eli, the priest, sitting on the seat beside the temple doorpost, saw her and confronted her, assuming she was drunk due to the manner in which she prayed. But Hannah answered:

No, my lord, I am a woman sorely troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. ¹⁶ Do not regard your maidservant as a base woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation. (1:15-16)

The Lord heard the cry of her heart, for He hears the cry of the poor. Hannah conceived and bore a son, whom she called Samuel (20). She brought her son to the temple and left him there with Eli forever (1:22). Imagine the faith of Hannah to leave her young son at the temple. As mothers and fathers, we need to contemplate this act of extraordinary faith and dedication to a vow made to God in distress. We, too, the covenant LC members, have made a vow to the Lord through our LC covenant to be God’s victim souls, totally given to Him and to His Church, to receive and live the Path God has entrusted to us, and to be faithful in love to our brothers and sisters in our community. God has revealed to us, His victims of love, the power in our supplications with tears. We have a section in our Simple Path, 3-4, dedicated to the power of our tears united to Christ’s tears. On April 14^th, 2011, our Blessed Mother spoke to us concerning the power of our tears:

Pray tonight with all your hearts, supplicate with me before the throne of the Father, and I promise you that all your prayers will be heard and answered.

 A time is drawing very near when the sounds you hear will be of wailing and terror… But know that My Bride (Church) is being cleansed through the justice of God, My precious Blood, and the tears of My Mother as ONE with the tears of all My victims of love. 11/20/11

Chapter two of 1 Samuel begins with Hannah’s prayer, giving all glory and honor to God. We learn that Hannah’s long-suffering, despite her barrenness, and her continued trust and love of the Lord, brought forth the birth of God’s judge for His people, Samuel, and that the goodness of the Lord blessed her with three sons and two daughters (2:21). We, too, have been formed in our long-suffering to trust and surrender ourselves into the hands of our God, whom we have come to know and love. Just as Hannah, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Manoah’s wife (Samson’s mother), and Elizabeth, we learn that long-suffering is not just a condition to endure but a stage in our lives that God permits to bring forth His miraculous work. Therefore, long suffering helps us to be perfected in faith, hope, and love.

My little one, you each have been given by God a long-suffering by which God desires to make you His saints of the end times. Through the grace of long-suffering, you are perfected in love if you allow the Spirit to bring into the light of your conscience the darkness that lives in each of your hearts. This process of purification through long-suffering is needed to become God's saints that possess His power to defeat Satan and his principalities.

Abandon yourselves to Me in your long and daily sufferings. Depend solely on Me to lead and guide you, and trust totally in the God who loves you and desires to envelop you in His glory. 4/11/23

Another important lesson for us in chapter three is that Samuel had to undergo a process of learning to discern the voice of the Lord; Scripture says, Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him (3:7). The Lord called Samuel in the night two times and Samuel thought it was Eli calling him. It wasn’t until Eli perceived that the voice of the Lord was calling Samuel that he told him to respond if God called him again by saying, Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears (3:9).

These passages from Scripture took me back to remember how I, too, had to learn to listen and respond to the voice of the Lord, which began speaking to me in 2006 with the invitation, Will you be My victim soul? I had to grow in attentiveness through prayer, and also mature as God’s chosen prophet. I had to learn to respond by moving through my many fears rooted in my insecurities and in my attachment to my reputation and to what others might think of me. To be faithful to Jesus’ voice, I had to grow in courage to do what was most difficult for me. You, too, have had to mature in listening to His voice speaking to you, God’s little mustard seed, through me. This, too, has been a process for each of you. As you have witnessed the fruits in your lives, in the lives of others in our community, and in your own families, you have grown in greater trust and love of God’s voice leading you to union with Him. We each have grown in obedience to say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.”

The first message God gave Samuel was extremely difficult for Samuel because it was a prophecy of the punishment God would bring upon Eli and his family. By this time, Samuel had been living with Eli for years and loved him as a father. Ponder the great struggle in the heart of Samuel to speak God's words to Eli. Yet, he was obedient to God's voice and spoke God’s words to Eli:

And I tell him that I am about to punish his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them (3:13).

Why was God punishing Eli's family when Eli had been a faithful judge of the Lord? Eli did not confront his sons for treating the Lord's offering with contempt (2:17). He did not reprimand them by speaking the truth about their sinful behavior or by bringing to light the darkness in their hearts.

The Lord has been forming us as His victim souls, one with The Victim, for God’s glory and the salvation of countless souls. He has been forming us as His warriors to fulfill His plan of salvation through our complete union with Love crucified. Through the years, the voice of our Lord has challenged us, as He did Samuel, to speak the truth and bring to light what Satan wants to keep hidden.

Do not fear to speak the truth of the sin in the hearts of My people with courage and love and call them to repentance at My crucified feet. 7/15/11

You must always speak the truth of the darkness that Satan wants to keep hidden in the hearts of My sons and daughters. My victim souls will be the power of God's love to free many from Satan’s deception. Speak the truth of all that I reveal to your heart. 12/28/12

The human will must choose to act in trust and always speak the truth, for fear, since it is rooted in self, brings a soul to hide and remain silent in the face of lies and deception…

Truth must always confront lies. Justice lived through Me, as one with the Father, always brings to light the darkness Satan wants to keep hidden. Those who choose to live for God and die to self will speak My truth and, therefore, be hated on My account. 5/8/23

…speaking the truth for the conversion and salvation of another soul is love. This is now the purification I am accomplishing in you, for when you speak the truth of the evil in others, you will be persecuted violently… this is required of my disciples–– to speak the truth because of love. 9/14/25

The Lord has also challenged us as His prophets to speak the truth of a great destruction that will come upon humanity because so many have turned away from God:

Are you willing to speak the truth for Me? The truth of what I reveal to your heart. The truth about what is to come because humanity has given itself to the prince of darkness. 2/25/12

My little ones, do not be afraid to speak the truth of all that I tell you. The world is going to fight this war with deadly weapons; this is the plan of Satan. But God will fight this war through the power of My Cross. Your mission is to proclaim the power of victim souls, thus helping God gather His army for the decisive battle. 3/14/14

Samuel, as the judge of Israel, encouraged the people to return to the Lord with all their hearts and serve Him only and to put away the foreign gods, and if they did this, God would deliver them from the Philistines (7:3). Samuel interceded for them as they went out to battle and cried to the Lord, and the Lord answered him (7:9).

We, too, as God’s chosen victim souls formed by Him through His Path, have been asked by God for our continuous intercession for the Church, priests, and the world. He has continuously spoken to us of the power of the Holy Spirit given to us as His victim intercessors since 2008.

You have the mission to evangelize and intercede... Your prayers of intercession, praise, and thanksgiving are showering immense graces upon the earth. 11/26/08

You, My little victims of love, as one heart with Me, the pure, unblemished Victim of Love, must intercede. Respond to this call being given to you throughout this pilgrimage to help save souls and establish My Eucharistic Reign on earth as one with the Reign of the Immaculate Heart of My Mother. 5/12/25

Samuel was a faithful servant of the Lord, and God’s plan of salvation was accomplished through him. But when he became old, he appointed his two sons as judges over Israel. Yet, his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned after gain; they took bribes and perverted justice (8:3).”

We learn from salvation history that our faithfulness to the Lord, or lack of it, has consequences. Samuel’s response and perseverance in obeying God's voice blessed the Israelites and honored God, whereas his sons’ sinfulness and self-centeredness led the Israelites to mistrust God’s judges. Therefore, the people asked for a king to govern them as all the other nations (8:5). The people rejected God as their King. The Lord reveals His grief over His people’s unfaithfulness with poignant words to Samuel:

Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds which they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. (8:7-8)

God’s words, They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, are of great importance for all human beings. Samuel, like each of us, could easily have centered the people’s rejection on himself. This is our human tendency due to original sin. We have become self-centered and make almost everything about us. God turns the heart of Samuel to His Heart to come to know God’s sorrows for the rejection of His people. We can only imagine how Samuel entered into the grief of God and suffered as one heart with Him for the people he loved and had been serving in the name of God for so long. God reveals His deepest sorrows to His faithful followers. Is this not also what He has been doing with us through His Path? He draws us, His friends, into His sorrows of Heart and invites us to suffer as one heart with Him His agony of love for His people’s unfaithfulness.

You have responded to love as one with Me in pain and sorrow because you have come to know My Heart. You have received My sorrows, as one with My Mother, and because you truly love Me, you have chosen to remain suffering with Me through great struggles with yourself. 12/16/23

Our formation through the Simple Path has trained us to take our eyes away from ourselves and gaze upon Love crucified, teaching us to forget ourselves and to live to please God in all things.

It is through My crucified gaze that you will desire to be one with the Victim of Love, in which you will desire solely the Cross, in which you will desire the salvation of all your brothers and sisters and forget yourself, in which you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit to lay down your life as My sacrifice of love for the salvation of many.3/1/11

The Lord then told Samuel to warn the people of the consequences of choosing an earthly king and rejecting God as their King. In chapter eight, Samuel speaks the words of the Lord to the people, but the people refuse to listen to the voice of God. We know from salvation history that the sin of obstinacy and rebelliousness against God’s plan, against His voice, has grave consequences.

The Lord’s voice speaking to us, His little mustard seed, has also called us to warn His people of the destruction at hand due to the obstinacy of the people’s hearts.

I have formed you (LC), trained you, dressed you to be My prophets of light to warn and awaken My people before the horrible day of judgment comes down upon you. There will be wailing, groaning, and grinding of teeth in your streets. The darkness of evil will cover you. Be prepared when these things happen that I speak to you about. Do not let the thief catch you unprepared. 10/20/12

Warn My people that the time of the great destruction is at hand, and many souls will be lost. Pray continuously for the salvation of souls in danger of hell. Your prayers have been given the power of God to save many. He hears the cry of the poor. 2/18/22

My community, we have a great responsibility to receive the voice of God speaking to us, to listen attentively, to live His words, and to proclaim them with our lives. If we fail to do this, we have not been faithful to God.

I will end this first part of the reflection on 1 Samuel with Samuel’s farewell address in chapter 12. This chapter should be deeply meditated on by us. Samuel spoke to the people filled with great passion and love, bringing them back to remember all the saving deeds the Lord performed throughout the ages, beginning with Jacob in Egypt. Reminding them that the people continually forgot the Lord their God, just as they were doing now. Then they would repent and cry to the Lord, and the Lord would deliver them from their enemy over and over again. In verses 14 through 15, he speaks truth with clarity and straightforwardness to the people:

If you will fear the Lord and serve him and hearken to his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well; 15 but if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

These words from Samuel, filled with God’s Spirit, pierced the hearts of the people, and they repented, and they asked Samuel to intercede to God for them. Then Samuel answers them with words from a man who has come to know the love, mercy, and goodness of the Lord:

Fear not; you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; 21 and do not turn aside after vain things which cannot profit or save, for they are vain. 22 For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. (20,22)

The Lord has revealed this truth about Himself to us, too, when He said to us:

Man continues to rebel against the goodness of our Father. This is a great tragedy. Yet God, because He is Love, does not turn away from His creation but remains in grief and generosity waiting with open arms for them, as I depicted in the parable of the prodigal son. 2/10/23

I will end this reflection with the last message the Lord gave me on January 17^th, 2026, which summarizes all that I have just shared with you:

My little one, God continues to call His little ones, for it is always the little ones that listen to His voice. It is always the little ones who recognize My voice spoken through My prophets. Receive My voice as your guiding light this morning for My little mustard seed.

I warn you, My children, whom I love with tears and overflowing gratitude for your willingness to follow Me in the Path I have been guiding you through. Now, we enter the end of My glorious Path, and it’s as if when you come to the opening at the end of a tunnel, the light is intense, bright, and beautiful. This is what each of you will experience as you allow the Spirit to crucify your self-will and empty you of self: you will each become one with the Light of God, God's glorious saints of these end times shining in the darkness of this world God's perfect love. You each will resurrect through Me, with Me, and in Me as the new men and women of My Kingdom on earth. I will be your King, your one and all.

The great and powerful leaders in this world will bring about destruction, for they are being led by the evil one, and will attempt to force you to follow the evil of Satan, but you will persevere in truth, My truth. You will persevere listening to My voice, guiding and leading you to eternal life in the glory of God's consuming light of love. Therefore, persevere to the end with your eyes fixed on Me, with your ears attentive to My voice, and with your hearts set on fire for Me, your beloved Spouse, to die as one with Me, opening the way for God's era of peace. Persevere till the end.

May we, God’s chosen victim souls who have responded to His call, remember all that He has said and done for us, may we never forget, and may we be faithful to His voice speaking and guiding us into the consuming love of the Most Holy Trinity.