January 23, 2026
Friday of the Second Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 315
Reading
1
Saul took three
thousand picked men from all Israel
and went in search of David and his men
in the direction of the wild goat crags.
When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave,
which he entered to relieve himself.
David and his men were occupying the inmost recesses of the cave.
David's servants said to him,
"This is the day of which the LORD said to you,
'I will deliver your enemy into your grasp;
do with him as you see fit.'"
So David moved up and stealthily cut off an end of Saul's mantle.
Afterward, however, David regretted that he had cut off
an end of Saul's mantle.
He said to his men,
"The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master,
the LORD's anointed, as to lay a hand on him,
for he is the LORD's anointed."
With these words David restrained his men
and would not permit them to attack Saul.
Saul then left the cave and went on his way.
David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul,
"My lord the king!"
When Saul looked back, David bowed to the ground in homage and asked Saul:
"Why do you listen to those who say,
'David is trying to harm you'?
You see for yourself today that the LORD just now delivered you
into my grasp in the cave.
I had some thought of killing you, but I took pity on you instead.
I decided, 'I will not raise a hand against my lord,
for he is the LORD's anointed and a father to me.'
Look here at this end of your mantle which I hold.
Since I cut off an end of your mantle and did not kill you,
see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion.
I have done you no wrong,
though you are hunting me down to take my life.
The LORD will judge between me and you,
and the LORD will exact justice from you in my case.
I shall not touch you.
The old proverb says, 'From the wicked comes forth wickedness.'
So I will take no action against you.
Against whom are you on campaign, O king of Israel?
Whom are you pursuing? A dead dog, or a single flea!
The LORD will be the judge; he will decide between me and you.
May he see this, and take my part,
and grant me justice beyond your reach!"
When David finished saying these things to Saul, Saul answered,
"Is that your voice, my son David?"
And Saul wept aloud.
Saul then said to David: "You are in the right rather than I;
you have treated me generously, while I have done you harm.
Great is the generosity you showed me today,
when the LORD delivered me into your grasp
and you did not kill me.
For if a man meets his enemy, does he send him away unharmed?
May the LORD reward you generously for what you have done this day.
And now, I know that you shall surely be king
and that sovereignty over Israel shall come into your possession."
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (2a) Have
mercy on me, God, have mercy.
Have mercy on me, O God; have mercy on me,
for in you I take refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I take refuge,
till harm pass by.
R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
I call to God the Most High,
to God, my benefactor.
May he send from heaven and save me;
may he make those a reproach who trample upon me;
may God send his mercy and his faithfulness.
R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
above all the earth be your glory!
For your mercy towers to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus went up the
mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012326.cfm
Commentary on 1
Samuel 24:3-21
Today’s First Reading is a truly majestic passage with much
to say to us in these violent times. Saul has been continuously trying to put
an end to David’s life. He is jealous of David and sees him as a threat to his
throne, especially as Saul knows that because of his own behaviour, he has lost
God’s support of him as king.
As our reading opens we find Saul with no less than 3,000
men trying to hunt down David. In some rocky terrain, Saul slips into a cave in
order to “to relieve himself” (though some translations euphemistically say,
“to cover his feet”). Little does he know that deeper inside the cave is David
hiding with his men.
Seeing Saul’s very vulnerable position, David’s men urge him
to kill Saul. After all God had promised that he would deliver David’s enemy
into his hands:
Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘I will
give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to
you.’
Here was the clear opportunity.
Actually, there is no previous record of the divine
revelation here alluded to by David’s men. Perhaps it was their own interpretation
of the anointing of David to replace Saul, or of assurances given to David that
he would survive Saul’s vendetta against him and ultimately become king. It
could also refer, not to a verbal communication from the Lord, but to the
providential nature of the incident itself, which David’s men understood as a
revelation from God that David should not ignore.
However, David refused to kill Saul. Instead he “stealthily
cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak”. How he did this without Saul’s being aware
is not clear, unless, after relieving himself, Saul had lain down to sleep. But
almost immediately, David regretted what he had done. For the garment was, as
it were, the man himself and even to touch it was to lay hands on the person.
(Remember in the New Testament, how people just touched the clothes of Jesus or
of his disciples to be healed.)
For all his wickedness, Saul was still the anointed king of
Israel. Nor would David allow his men to attack Saul. Saul’s royal office
carried divine sanction by virtue of his anointing. David will not seize the
kingship from Saul, but leave its disposition to the Lord to whom it belongs.
Only after Saul had left the cave did David reveal himself.
He called out to the king and “bowed with his face to the ground” in reverence
to his king. Why should Saul think that David wished him harm when, just now,
David had him totally at his mercy and refrained from doing anything? He says
to Saul:
I will not raise my hand against my lord, for he is the
Lord’s anointed.
Not only is Saul his king, but also his father-in-law.
He lets Saul know how close to death he had been. The
evidence was in David’s hands; the piece of the cloak that he had cut off.
David offered this as proof that he had no designs on Saul and there was no
need for Saul to regard David as his enemy. In the end, it would be the Lord
who would judge between them.
Saul, for all his faults, generously acknowledges the
enormous dignity of David in behaving the way he did. Asks Saul:
…who has ever found an enemy and sent the enemy safely
away?
In the culture of Israel in those days, the answer was
definitely, “No!” And, in many situations in our own day, it is still “No!”
There are many in our society who would not be able to understand the attitude
of David.
For now, Saul feels great remorse for his wicked intentions
against David, but it will not be long before he reverts to his former
murderous plots. He realises that a person of such extraordinary dignity as
David must surely replace him as king. He only begs David that he not do harm
to his family and wipe out his family name. Jonathan will be killed in battle,
but David will take another son, who is physically disabled, into the royal
palace.
If David had killed Saul, he would have lowered himself to
the same level as the king. David here can be seen as a patron for all
those—and they are clearly a minority—who believe passionately in non-violent
means for dealing with all problems, most of all problems which involve
violence. This scene really shows the greatness of the man. It is a perfect
example of the power (not the weakness) of turning the other cheek.
Two examples of non-violent heroes in our recent past have
been Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, but there certainly are many
others. They would understand very well what David did. Let us try to
understand too.
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Commentary on Mark
3:13-19
Jesus goes up a mountain. It has no name because the
symbolism is more important than the location. Mountains in the Scriptures are
holy places associated with the presence of God. Jesus goes up mountains at
more solemn moments in his public life—here, during the Sermon on the Mount, at
the Transfiguration, and after feeding the 5,000.
Jesus’ purpose on this occasion is to pick the inner circle
of his followers:
[He] called to him those whom he wanted, and they
came to him.
Later he will say:
You did not choose me, but I chose you. (John
15:16)
A call includes both the invitation and the response. The
same is true for each one of us. The call is always there—can we say the same
about our response?
There were twelve in this inner circle of disciples. In the
New Covenant, they would be the ‘patriarchs’, the foundational pillars of the
new community, embracing the new Israel.
They are called ‘apostles’. This is a word to be clearly
distinguished from ‘disciples’. The ‘disciple’ (coming from the Latin
verb discere, meaning ‘to learn’) is essentially a follower who
imbibes the teaching of the teacher and tries to make it part of his or her
life. However, ‘apostle’ (from the Greek verb apostello, meaning
‘to go out on a mission’—like an ambassador) is essentially one who has a
mandate from the teacher to pass on to others.
In the Pauline letters, where the term appears most often in
the Christian (New) Testament, ‘apostle’ means primarily one who has been a
witness of the Risen Lord and has been commissioned to proclaim the
resurrection. Paul himself, because of his experience at Damascus, is regarded
as one of Jesus’ Apostles.
The Twelve were to be Jesus’ companions. They were to
preach, that is, proclaim his message of the Kingdom, and work with him to make
it a reality. They were to cast out demons and liberate people from all
situations which enslaved them to any form of evil.
The list is headed—as are all lists of the Apostles—by Simon
Peter. For Mark, the name Peter was given on this occasion. In Matthew, it is
given later, following Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity. In the Gospel of
Mark, the list included one man who would betray (“handed him over”) his Master
and Lord.
And today there are still those, called by Jesus, who betray
him. What about me?
Surely not I, Lord? (Matt 20:22)
There go I but for the grace of God.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2026g/
Friday, January 23,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Almighty God,
ruler of all things in heaven and
on earth, listen favorably to the prayer of your people, and grant us your
peace in our day.
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: 13-19
Jesus went up onto the mountain and summoned those he
wanted. So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his
companions and to be sent out to proclaim the message, with power to drive out
devils. And so he appointed the Twelve, Simon to whom he gave the name Peter,
James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the
name Boanerges or 'Sons of Thunder'; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas
Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.
Reflection
The Gospel today
describes the acceptance and mission of the twelve apostles. Jesus begins with
two disciples to whom he adds other two (Mk 1: 16-20). Gradually, the number
increased. Luke tells us that he called the 72 disciples so as to go on mission
with him (Lk 10: 1).
•
Mark 3: 13-15: The call for a two-fold mission.
Jesus calls whom he wants and they go with him, they follow him. Then, “He
appointed Twelve, to be his companions and to be sent out to proclaim the
message, with power to drive out devils.” Jesus calls them for a double
purpose, for a two-fold mission: (a) To be with Him, that is, to form the
community of which He, Jesus, is the center. (b) To pray and to have power to
drive out devils, that is, to announce the Good News and to fight against the
power of evil that ruins the life of people and alienates persons. Mark says
that Jesus went up to the mountain and while he was there, he called the disciples.
The call means climbing up. In the Bible to climb up the mountain recalls the
mountain that Moses climbed and had the encounter with God (Ex 24: 12). Luke
says that Jesus went up to the mountain, prayed all night and, the following
day, he called the disciples. He prayed to God so as to know whom to choose (Lk
6: 12-13). After having called them, Jesus makes the election official and
creates a more stable group of twelve persons in order to give more consistency
to the mission; and also, to signify the continuity of God’s project. The
twelve
Apostles
of the New Testament are the successors of the twelve Tribes of
Israel.
•
Thus, the first community of the New Testament
comes into being, is born, a model community, which gradually grows around
Jesus during the three years of his public activity. At the beginning they are
only four (Mk 1: 16-20). Shortly afterwards the community increases in the
measure in which the mission is developing, extending in the towns and villages
of Galilee. There is a time in which they do not even have the time to eat or
to rest (Mk 3: 2). This is why Jesus was concerned about giving the disciples
some rest (Mk 6: 31) and to increase the number of missionaries (Lk 10: 1). In
this way, Jesus tries to maintain the two-fold objective of the call: to be
with Him and to go on mission. The community which is formed in this way around
Jesus has three characteristics which belong to his nature: it is a forming,
missionary community, and is inserted among the poor of Galilee.
•
Mark 3: 16-19: The list of names of the twelve
apostles. Immediately after, Mark gives the names of the twelve: Simon to whom
he gave the name of Peter; James and John the sons of Zebedee, to whom he gave
the name of Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder, Andrew, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the
Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him. The majority of these
names come from the Old Testament. For example, Simon is the name of one of the
sons of the Patriarch Jacob (Gn 29: 33). James is the same as Jacob (Gn 25:
26). Judas is the name of the other son of Jacob (Gn 35: 23). Matthew also bore
the name of Levi (Mk 2: 14), who was the other son of Jacob (Gn 35: 23). Of the
twelve Apostles, seven have a name that comes from the time of the Patriarchs.
Two have the name of Simon; two are called James; Two Judas; one Levi. There is
only one who has a Greek name: Philip. It would be like in a family where all
have names of ancient times and only one has a modern name. This reveals the
desire that people have to remake history, from the beginning! It is worthwhile
to think about the names which we give our children today. Like them, each one
of us is called by God by our name.
Personal Questions
•
To be with Jesus and to go on Mission is the
two-fold purpose of the Christian community. How do you assume this commitment
in the community to which you belong?
•
Jesus called the twelve disciples by their name.
You, I, we, all of us exist because God calls us by our name. Think about this!
Concluding Prayer
Show us, Lord, your faithful love,
grant us your saving help.
His saving help is near for those who fear him, his glory will
dwell in our land. (Ps 85: 7, 9)
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