Liturgical Readings for : Thursday, 18th January, 2024
Thursday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year 2
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins today.
FIRST READING
A reading from the first book of the Prophet Samuel 18: 6-9 19:1-7
Saul has killed his thousands, and David, tens of thousands
On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Philistine, the women came out to meet King Saul from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cries of joy; and as they danced the women sang:
‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’
Saul was very angry; the incident was not to his liking.
They have given David the tens of thousands,’ he said ‘but me only the thousands; he has all but the kingship now.’
And Saul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward.
Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants of his intention to kill David. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David in great affection; and so Jonathan warned David;
‘My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you,’ he said ‘so be on your guard tomorrow morning; hide away in some secret place. Then I will go out and keep my father company in the fields where you are hiding, and will talk to my father about you; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.’
So Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father; he said,
‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced; why then sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?’
Saul was impressed by Jonathan’s words and took an oath, ‘As the Lord lives, I will not kill him’.
Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul, and David attended on him as before.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 55
Response In God I trust; I shall not fear.
1.Have mercy on me, God, men crush me; they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all the day long, for many fight proudly against me. Response
You have kept an account of my wanderings; you have kept a record of my tears;
(are they not written in your book?)
Then my foes will be put to flight on the day I call to you. Response
This I know, that God is on my side. In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not fear;
what can mortal man do to me? Response
I am bound by the vows I have made you. O God, I will offer you praise
for you rescued my soul from death, you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God in the light of the living. Response
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Your words are spirit , Lord, and they are life.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 3:7-12 Glory to you, O Lord.
The unclean spirits would shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’
But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him.
And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout,
‘You are the Son of God!’
But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Thursday, Second Week in Ordinary Time Mark 3:7-12
It often happens that when someone becomes very popular it can lead to a great deal of resentment on the part of others. We find such a scenario in the first reading. The young David became extremely popular, having slain the Philistine. People were comparing him very favourably to king Saul. This left Saul enraged and seething with jealousy. Anger and jealousy can be very volatile emotions that if, left unchecked, can drive people to do terrible things. Saul determined to kill David, even though David was fighting on behalf of Saul.
The popularity of Saul in the first reading is surpassed by the popularity of Jesus in the gospel reading. We are told that people came out to Jesus, not just from Galilee, but from Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania, and the region of Tyre and Sidon, hugely impressed by his power to heal. This popularity of Jesus resulted in great resentment towards him from the religious and political leaders of the time. The verse just before our gospel reading begins says, ‘The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him’. They would eventually succeed in doing so.
Saul, however, did not succeed in destroying David, and this was due to the intervention of Saul’s son, Jonathan. He spoke up in defence of David to his father, declaring ‘what he (David) has done has been greatly to your advantage’. Jonathan allowed Saul to see David with eyes no longer distorted by anger and jealousy. Jonathan models the reconciling, peace-making, role we are all called to. Jesus was the supreme reconciler, and he calls us to share in his reconciling work. One of the ways we can do that is by helping people to see those towards whom they are hostile with new eyes.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd
