Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Although out of season, Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow names the hapless central character Ichabod Crane, (a biblical name meaning the glory is no more). Irving may have gotten that name from 1 Samuel 4, which we hear today, wherein the son of a priestess is given that unholy name due to distress and fear. God, it would seem, had abandoned his own — all because the Chosen People had descended (or tried to) into a relationship of “mutual manipulation” with the One who chose them! In 2026 it is highly unlikely for sons to be named Ichabod. Washington Irving saw to that!
Do we likewise manipulate our God? Is the Almighty an “object,” our “good luck charm?” Do we attempt to ‘control’ with the right words or formulas? Does our prayer descend into a list of “gimmes"? Today 1 Samuel illustrates Israel’s superstitious use of the Ark of the Covenant, turning it into a “magic charm” to control the Holy One of Israel for Israel’s ends. Is this the kind of relationship our covenant God wishes to have with us? If so then we will need to revive the name Ichabod for our sons. Woe is us!
Indeed. Out of arrogance, Israel suffers devastation. It was in response to this that Eli’s daughter-in-law named her son “Ichabod,” because the Ark, which had led the Chosen People through the exodus, was now in the hands of the Philistines, Israel’s archenemy. In contrast, the leper in Mark (Jesus first miracle in that Gospel) shows forth genuine faith by means of a humble request, instead of demands of the Almighty through external rituals or objects.
May we, like the leper, have a trusting, heartfelt relationship, approaching our covenant God. Let us begin with the spirit of today’s responsorial psalm (Psalm 44): “Redeem us, LORD, because of your mercy.” This was the plea of the supplicant suffering with leprosy in today’s Gospel. This is the spirit with which we must always approach the God who saves. Then no sons will need to be named Ichabod, or Ebeneezer for that matter (also mentioned in our first reading) but that’s another story.
—Timothy J. Cronin