January 22, 2026
Day of Prayer for the Legal
Protection of Unborn Children
Lectionary: 314
Reading
1
When David and
Saul approached
(on David’s return after slaying the Philistine),
women came out from each of the cities of Israel to meet King Saul,
singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and sistrums.
The women played and sang:
“Saul has slain
his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”
Saul was very
angry and resentful of the song, for he thought:
“They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me.
All that remains for him is the kingship.”
And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.
Saul discussed his
intention of killing David
with his son Jonathan and with all his servants.
But Saul’s son Jonathan, who was very fond of David, told him:
“My father Saul is trying to kill you.
Therefore, please be on your guard tomorrow morning;
get out of sight and remain in hiding.
I, however, will go out and stand beside my father
in the countryside where you are, and will speak to him about you.
If I learn anything, I will let you know.”
Jonathan then
spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him:
“Let not your majesty sin against his servant David,
for he has committed no offense against you,
but has helped you very much by his deeds.
When he took his life in his hands and slew the Philistine,
and the LORD brought about a great victory
for all Israel through him,
you were glad to see it.
Why, then, should you become guilty of shedding innocent blood
by killing David without cause?”
Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore,
“As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed.”
So Jonathan summoned David and repeated the whole conversation to him.
Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and David served him as before.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 56:2-3, 9-10a, 10b-11,
12-13
R.
(5b) In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Have mercy on me, O God, for men trample upon me;
all the day they press their attack against me.
My adversaries trample upon me all the day;
yes, many fight against me.
R. In God I trust; I shall not fear.
My wanderings you have counted;
my tears are stored in your flask;
are they not recorded in your book?
Then do my enemies turn back,
when I call upon you.
R. In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Now I know that God is with me.
In God, in whose promise I glory,
in God I trust without fear;
what can flesh do against me?
R. In God I trust; I shall not fear.
I am bound, O God, by vows to you;
your thank offerings I will fulfill.
For you have rescued me from death,
my feet, too, from stumbling;
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
R. In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death
and brought life to light through the Gospel.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus withdrew
toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, “You are the Son of God.”
He warned them sternly not to make him known.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012226.cfm
Commentary on 1
Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7
Saul was deeply impressed by David’s great exploit in
killing Goliath and took him into his palace. A deep friendship developed
between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son. We are told a little earlier that:
When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of
Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own
soul. (1 Sam 18:1)
Jonathan, as a sign of his affection, gave David his own
mantle, his military dress, his sword, his bow and his belt. David was now
transformed from a shepherd into a soldier.
Our reading today opens by saying that, as David and Saul
returned from David’s famous victory over Goliath, the women came out from all
the cities, singing and dancing. They played and sang:
Saul has killed his thousands
and David his ten thousands.
In accordance with the normal convention of Hebrew poetry,
this was the women’s way of saying: ‘Both Saul and David have slain thousands’
(10,000 was typically used as the parallel of 1,000—see Ps 91:7). It is a
measure of Saul’s insecurity and jealousy that he heard their words literally
and took offence. His resentment would also be triggered simply by having
David’s name put alongside his own. From then on a seething jealousy and
resentment against David grew in his heart.
Things reached a stage where Saul actually intended to kill
David. He even tried to contrive that David would be killed in battle by the
Philistines. If this happened, Saul’s evil intention would not be known, for he
was aware of David’s popularity with the people. Of course, ironically, David
himself will do exactly the same thing against the husband of a woman with whom
he had an adulterous affair. Except that, in David’s case, the husband was
killed and David’s sin was exposed (see 2 Sam 11:14-17 and 2 Sam 12:1-15).
In another ruse, Saul offered his own daughter as a bride to
David. He hoped that, as Saul’s son-in-law, he would become a target for the
Philistines. Unfortunately, this did not work, even though the daughter,
Michal, who loved David, did become his wife.
In today’s reading we see Saul trying now to get his son
Jonathan to bring about David’s death. He is abandoning the indirect attempts
he has so far been contriving. He now adopts a more direct approach which will
ultimately lead to David’s leaving the court and Saul’s service. However, Jonathan
told David about his father’s intentions and later spoke to Saul on David’s
behalf. After all, David had done so much to protect Saul and the people by his
exploits. Why kill innocent blood?
Considering that David could have been seen as a threat to
Jonathan’s own expectations of succeeding his father, his behaviour is both an
indication of Jonathan’s integrity and his love and respect for David. Saul was
won over and swore not to kill David, who was reinstated fully. However, Saul
had made oaths in the past and not kept them. He won’t keep this one for very
long either.
Jealousy can be a terrible thing. It is closely linked with
one’s own insecurity and difficulty in accepting what one is. It is very
difficult to see others surpassing the skills of which we were proud. It is
difficult to see people turning their attention away from us to others. It is
difficult for us to have the spirit of John the Baptist who, referring to
Jesus, said:
He must increase, but I must decrease. (John
3:30)
The cure for jealousy is for us to accept fully our
strengths and our weaknesses and not to measure our success as persons by what
we can do or by what people think of us. All that matters is that God be given
glory and that the work of the Kingdom be done.
If some are doing it better than us, we should be grateful.
If some are not doing it better than us, but are getting all the credit—does it
really matter?
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Commentary on Mark
3:7-12
This is a summary text indicating the tremendous drawing
power of Jesus with ordinary people. It is in stark contrast with the preceding
passages of conflict with the religious leaders who were out to destroy him.
People were coming not only from Galilee, where Jesus was living and working,
but from Jerusalem and Judea in the south, from across the river Jordan and
even from gentile regions like Tyre and Sidon. They came because of all they
had heard about what he was doing.
So great were the crowds that Jesus had to ask his disciples
to get a boat so that he would not be crushed. Huge numbers of people who had
heard of his healing powers wanted to touch him. They felt that was enough to
be healed.
Some, possessed by “unclean spirits”, fell down before him
and called out:
You are the Son of God!
And Jesus:
…sternly ordered them not to make him known.
As mentioned before, this call by those possessed by
“unclean spirits” was not a confession of faith, but an attempt to turn aside
the threatening power of Jesus by using the exact name of the opposing
‘spirit’. Jesus knew that the people were not yet ready for this revelation of
his identity. Their attitudes were still largely superficial. They were coming
for their own immediate needs and not as true followers. They came to get, not
to give or share.
Nevertheless, Jesus would not turn them away. He knew that
they had great needs which only he could satisfy. He was full of compassion for
them and anxious to bring healing into their lives. And now, more than 2000
years later, he has the same compassion and desire to bring healing to us as
well.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2025g/
Thursday, January 22,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father of heaven and earth, hear
our prayers, and show us the way to your peace in the world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 3: 7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the
lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, and from
Jerusalem, and from Idumaea and Transjordan 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.
Reflection
•
The conclusion reached at the end of this fifth
conflict (Mi 2 to 3: 6), is that the Good News as it was announced by Jesus,
said exactly the contrary of the teaching of the religious authority of the
time. This is why, that at the end of the last conflict, it is foreseen that
Jesus will not have an easy life and will be put to death. Death is already
appearing in the horizon. They decide to make him die (Mk 3: 6). Without a
sincere conversion it is not possible for persons to attain a correct
understanding of the Good News.
•
A summary of the evangelizing action of Jesus. The
verses of today’s Gospel (Mk 3: 7-12) are a summary of the activity of Jesus
and they stress an enormous contrast. Earlier, in Mk 2: 1 to 3: 6, it was
spoken only of conflicts, including the conflict of the life and death between
Jesus and the civil and religious authority of Galilee (Mk 3: 1-6). And here,
in the summary, we have the contrary: an immense popular movement, greater than
the movement of John the Baptist, because people come not only from Galilee,
but also from Judaea, from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, from Transjordan, and even
from the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon to encounter Jesus! (Mk 3: 7-12). All
want to see him and to touch him. The people are so numerous, that Jesus
himself is concerned. There is the danger of being crushed by the multitude.
This is why he asks the disciples to have a boat ready for him so that the
crowd would not crush him. And from the boat he spoke to the crowds. There were
especially
the excluded and the marginalized who
came to him with their ailments: the sick and those possessed. Those who were
not accepted to live in the society of the time were accepted by Jesus. Here is
the contrast: on the one side the religious and civil leaders decided to put
Jesus to death (Mk 3: 6); on the other side, an immense popular movement
seeking salvation in Jesus. Who will win?
•
The unclean spirits and Jesus. Mark insists very
much on the expulsion of the unclean spirits. The first miracle of Jesus is the
expulsion of the unclean spirits (Mk 1: 25). The first impact caused by Jesus
is due to the expulsion of the devil (Mk 1: 27). One of the principal causes of
the clash of Jesus with the Scribes is the expulsion of the unclean spirits.
(Mk 3: 22). The first power which the Apostles received when they were sent out
on mission was the power to expel the demons (Mk 16: 17). What does it mean in
Mark’s Gospel to drive out or expel the evil spirits?
•
At the time of Mark, the fear of the devil was
increasing. Some religions instead of liberating the people, increased fear and
anguish. One of the objectives of the Good News of Jesus is precisely to help
people to liberate themselves from this fear. The coming of the Kingdom means
the coming of a stronger power. Jesus is “the stronger man” who has come to
conquer and overcome Satan, the power of evil, and to take away from him, to
rob humanity imprisoned by fear (Mk 3: 27). This is why Mark insists very much
on the victory of Jesus over the power of evil, over the devil, over Satan, sin
and death. From the beginning to the end, with almost similar words, he repeats
the same message: “And Jesus drove out, expelled the impure spirits!” (Mk 1:
26, 27, 34, 39; 3: 11-12, 15, 22, 30: 5: 1-20; 6: 7, 13; 7:
25-29; 9: 25-27, 38; 16: 9, 17). It seems almost a refrain which is repeated!
Today, instead of using always the same words, we prefer to use diverse words.
We would say: “The power of evil, Satan, which causes so much fear to people,
Jesus overcomes him, dominates him, conquers him, threw him off the throne,
drove him out or expelled him, eliminated him, annihilated him, knocked him
down, destroyed him and killed him!” What Mark wants to tell us is the
following: “Christians are forbidden to be afraid of Satan!” After Jesus rose
from the dead, it is a mania and a lack of faith to call in cause Satan, at
every moment, as if he still had any power on us. To insist on the danger of
the devil in order that people may return to Church, means to ignore the Good
News of the Kingdom. It is a lack of faith in the Resurrection of Jesus!
Personal Questions
•
How do you live your faith in the Resurrection
of Jesus? Does it help in some way to help you overcome fear?
•
To drive away or expel the devil! What do you do
in order to neutralize this power in your life?
Concluding Prayer
Joy and happiness in you to all who seek you! Let them
ceaselessly cry, 'Great is Yahweh' who love your saving power. (Ps 40)
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