Mass Readings for : Monday, 29th January, 2024

Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 29th January, 2024

Monday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2

FIRST READING

A reading from the second book of Samuel 15: 13-14, 30; 16:5-13
Let us fly, or we shall never escape Absolom.

A messenger came to tell David,
‘The hearts of the men of Israel are now with Absalom.‘
So David said to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem,
‘Let us be off, let us fly, or we shall never escape from Absalom. Leave as quickly as you can in case he mounts a surprise attack and worsts us and puts the city to the sword.’

David then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare. And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up, weeping as they went.

As David was reaching Bahurim, out came a man of the same clan as Saul’s family. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he came he uttered curse after curse and threw stones at David and at all King David’s officers, though the whole army and all the champions flanked the king right and left. The words of his curse were these,
‘Be off, be off, man of blood, scoundrel! the Lord has brought on you all the blood of the House of Saul whose sovereignty you have usurped; and the Lord has transferred that same sovereignty to Absalom your son. Now your doom has overtaken you, man of blood that you are.’
Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king,
‘Is this dead dog to curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut his head off.’
But the king replied,
‘What business is it of mine and yours, sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse. If the Lord said to him, “Curse David”, what right has anyone to say, “Why have you done this?“‘

David said to Abishai and all his officers,
‘Why, my own son, sprung from my body, is now seeking my life; so now how much the more this Benjaminite? Let him curse on if the Lord has told him to. Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good for his curse today.‘

So David and his men went on their way.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 3
Response Arise, Lord; save me, my God.

1. How many are my foes, O Lord! How many are rising up against me!
How many are saying about me: ‘There is no help for him in God.’ Response

2. But you, Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord. He answers from his holy mountain. Response

3. I lie down to rest and I sleep. I wake, for the Lord upholds me.
I will not fear even thousands of people who are ranged on every side against me.
Arise, Lord; save me, my God. Response

Gospel Acclamation Jn 17: 17
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord, consecrate us in the truth .
Alleluia!

or Lk 7: 16
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 5: 1-20 Glory to you, O Lord
Come out of that man, unclean spirit.

Jesus and his disciples reached the country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had he left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him any more, even with a chain; because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him. All night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice,
‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!‘
– For Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit’.

‘What is your name?‘ Jesus asked.
‘My name is legion,’ he answered ‘for there are many of us.’
And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the district. Now there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them’.
So he gave them leave.

With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see what had really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him.

Jesus would not let him but said to him,
‘Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you’.
So the man went off and proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him.
And everyone was amazed.

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Monday, Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Mark 5:1-20

The man who lived among the tombs, in the gospel reading, could not be described as weak. He had the strength to snap the chains and break the fetters with which he had been secured. No one had the strength to control him. He seems to have had an almost superhuman strength. Yet, it was a destructive strength, damaging to himself and to others. According to the gospel reading, he would gash himself with stones and was clearly a danger to the local townspeople, which is why he had been banished to the local graveyard. Here was someone who had a storm raging within him. When Jesus came within sight of him, he addressed Jesus very aggressively, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus Son of the Most High God?’ His destructive strength came from his anger, and his anger was a sign of how damaged and broken he was. Yet, Jesus did not run from him, as others did. He absorbed his anger and then healed his brokenness. When the townspeople saw him in the company of Jesus, he was ‘in his full senses’. The story reminds us that Jesus never runs away from us, no matter how unapproachable we may be to others. He comes to us as we are, sometimes in our brokenness and anger, and, if we are open to his coming, he can calm the storm that might be raging within us, just as he calmed the storm at sea. The risen Lord is always entering our personal storms to give us a share in his strength, which is a life-giving strength that empowers us to become the person he is calling us to be.