January 24, 2026
Memorial of Saint Francis de
Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 316
Reading
1
2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 19,
23-27
David returned
from his defeat of the Amalekites
and spent two days in Ziklag.
On the third day a man came from Saul’s camp,
with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
Going to David, he fell to the ground in homage.
David asked him, “Where do you come from?”
He replied, “I have escaped from the camp of the children of Israel.”
“Tell me what happened,” David bade him.
He answered that many of the soldiers had fled the battle
and that many of them had fallen and were dead,
among them Saul and his son Jonathan.
David seized his garments and rent them,
and all the men who were with him did likewise.
They mourned and wept and fasted until evening
for Saul and his son Jonathan,
and for the soldiers of the LORD of the clans of Israel,
because they had fallen by the sword.
“Alas! the glory of Israel, Saul,
slain upon your heights;
how can the warriors have fallen!
“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished,
separated neither in life nor in death,
swifter than eagles, stronger than lions!
Women of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you in scarlet and in finery,
who decked your attire with ornaments of gold.
“How can the warriors have fallen–
in the thick of the battle,
slain upon your heights!
“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother!
most dear have you been to me;
more precious have I held love for you than love for women.
“How can the warriors have fallen,
the weapons of war have perished!”
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (4b) Let
us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hearken,
O guide of the flock of Joseph!
From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Rouse your power,
and come to save us.
R. Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
O LORD of hosts, how long will you burn with anger
while your people pray?
You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in ample measure.
You have left us to be fought over by our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.
R. Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus came with
his disciples into the house.
Again the crowd gathered,
making it impossible for them even to eat.
When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him,
for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012426.cfm
Commentary on 2
Samuel 1:1-4,11-12,19,23-27
Today we begin reading the Second Book of Samuel, which
takes up immediately where the previous book finished. (Originally, there was
only one book.) As it opens, in a passage full of deep emotion, we again see
the extraordinary generosity and noble spirit of David.
At the end of the previous chapter (the last in 1 Samuel),
we are told that the Israelites under Saul had been badly defeated by the
Philistines. Saul had been wounded in the abdomen by an arrow. Rather than be
captured by “uncircumcised” enemies he asked his armour-bearer to put an end to
his life. The armour-bearer was too afraid to do such a thing to his king, so
Saul took his sword and fell on it. The armour-bearer then killed himself too.
In addition, the three sons of Saul also perished.
As today’s reading opens, a man with his clothes in tatters
says he has escaped from the Israelite camp. He has news that the army had fled
Saul and his son Jonathan and both been killed in the battle. However (and this
is not contained in today’s reading), when asked how he knew about all this,
the young man said he had come across the wounded Saul leaning on his spear. He
begged the young man to kill him as he was in great pain. The young man,
knowing that the king would not survive his wound, put an end to the king’s
life. He brought back the king’s crown and armlet, expecting to get a reward
from David, who, he expected, would be happy at the news.
This account does not square with what was said earlier at
the end of 1 Samuel and belongs to a different tradition. Today, our reading
continues by describing the effect of the news on David. He is overcome with
grief and, in the way of the times, tears his garments as did all his
followers. He mourned and wept and fasted from food because of the death of
Saul and Jonathan, as did many of his soldiers. Though Saul had tried so often
to kill David, David remembers only the good things Saul had done and his
courage in battle.
Then (and it is omitted from our reading), the young man who
brought the news was himself executed by David for having killed the Lord’s
anointed. He was especially guilty because he was not a circumcised Israelite,
but an Amalekite whose people had just been routed in battle by David.
The last part of our reading consists of part of a funeral elegy
which David chanted for Saul and Jonathan. Following the tradition that David
was a musician, he expresses his grief in a song. In it, Saul is called “your
glory O Israel”.
For all his shortcomings, he had been chosen by God as
leader of his people and had won many significant victories over Israel’s
enemies. David sings:
How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle!
This phrase perhaps more accurately implies, “How [could]
the mighty have fallen?” and forms a kind of refrain for this song—repeated
twice more in the elegy. David’s words contain no suggestion of bitterness
towards Saul, who had tried more than once to be rid of him, but rather recall
the good qualities and accomplishments of Saul and Jonathan.
There is genuine grief in his words:
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles;
they were stronger than lions.
Even though Jonathan opposed his father’s treatment of David
and came to David’s defence more than once, he still gave his life beside his
father in defence of Israel.
But it is particularly Jonathan’s death which pains David
most deeply:
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
greatly beloved were you to me;
your love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.
In describing the intensity of his love for Jonathan, David
is simply calling attention to Jonathan’s commitment to his friend, a
commitment arising from his conviction that it was David who would succeed to
his father’s throne rather than himself (see 1 Sam 20:13-16). David is
obviously deeply touched by such selflessness and the love which inspires it.
So, today’s reading is about love and friendship and the
pain of loss when friends are taken away from us. Let us too remember those
people who were part of our lives and have died. They include those who have
wanted to do us harm as well as those who have added a beautiful dimension to
our lives. These both need our prayers—in one case, our love and, in the other,
our forgiveness.
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Commentary on Mark
3:20-21
Today we are told that Jesus “went home”. Yet, at another
time Jesus will say that he has nowhere to lay his head. Of course, one can say
that anywhere can be the home of Jesus, or that home is where Jesus is. We have
seen references already to the ‘house’ or the ‘home’ indicating any house where
Jesus is gathered with his disciples, with those who listen attentively to what
he says.
At the same time, so many people came looking for him that
he did not even have time to eat. This is in strong contrast with what is going
to follow. One might think such popularity would be welcomed especially by his
family—a kind of reflected glory.
On the contrary, he is an embarrassment to them. They think
he “has gone out of his mind”. They think he must be ‘mad’ because he is in
conflict with the religious leaders, with the Pharisees and the Scribes. It
reminds one of the parents of the man born blind who did not want to have
anything to do with their son because of his relationship with his healer,
Jesus.
Jesus must be “out of his mind” because a genuine rabbi
would never be seen happily in the company of sinners, tax collectors,
prostitutes, lepers and outcasts. Similarly, teachers of the Law who had come
all the way from Jerusalem (news of Jesus must now be reaching that far) were
saying that he must be possessed by the prince of demons, and that it was by
the power of the prince of demons that he drove out other demons.
From the experience that Jesus had, his followers must not
expect, simply because they based their life on truth and brotherly love, that
they will be admired, respected and loved in return. From Jesus onward, true
followers of Christ have faced misunderstanding, opposition and even verbal and
physical violence. And this even comes sometimes from within their own
community.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2027g/
Saturday, January 24, 2026
Opening
Prayer
Almighty God,
ruler of all things in heaven and
on earth, listen favourably 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: 20-21
Jesus went home again, and once more such a crowd collected
that they could not even have a meal. 21 When his relations heard of this, they
set out to take charge of him; they said, 'He is out of his mind.'
Reflection
The Gospel today is very short.
There are only two verses. It speaks about two things:
•
about the great activity of Jesus up to the
point of not even having time to eat, and
•
the contrary reaction of the family of Jesus up
to the point of thinking that he was out of his mind. Jesus had problems with
his family.
Sometimes, the family helps, and
other times it constitutes an obstacle. This is what happened with Jesus, and
this is what happens with us also.
•
Mark 3: 20: The activity of Jesus. Jesus
returned home. His home is now in Capernaum (Mk 2: 1). He is no longer living
with his family in Nazareth. People knowing that Jesus was in the house, they
went there. Such a crowd of people gathered there that He and his disciples did
not even have time to eat calmly (Mk 6: 31)
•
Mark 3: 20: Conflict with his family. When
Jesus’ relatives knew this, they said: “He has lost his mind!” Perhaps, this
was so because Jesus did not seem to be behaving normally. Perhaps, because
they thought that with this he jeopardized the name of the family. Whatever it
was, the relatives decided to take him back to Nazareth. This is a sign that
the relationship of Jesus with his family was suffering. This must have been a
source of suffering, for him as well as for Mary, his Mother. Later on (Mk 3:
31-35) Mark tells how the encounter of Jesus with his relatives was. They
arrived to the house where Jesus was staying. Probably they had gone there from
Nazareth. There is a distance of about 40 km. from there to Capernaum. His
mother was with them. They could not enter the house because there were many
people there at the entrance. This is the reason why they sent him a message:
“Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you!” The
reaction of Jesus was firm and he asked: “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And he himself answers pointing out to the crowd gather there around him: “Here
are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is
my brother and sister and mother”. He extended the family! Jesus does not allow
the family to draw him away from the mission.
The situation of the family at the time of Jesus. In the
ancient Israel, the clan, that is, the large family (the community) was the
basis of social living together. This was the protection of the small families
and of the persons, the guarantee of the possession of the land, the principal
channel of tradition, the defense of identity. That was the concrete way in
which the people of that time had to incarnate the love of God in the love
toward neighbor. To defend the clan, the community it was the same as to defend
the Covenant. In Galilee at the time of Jesus, because of the Roman system,
introduced and imposed during the long years of government of Herod the Great
(37 BC to 4 BC) and of his son Herod Antipas (4 BC to 39 AD), all this had
ceased to exist, or existed every day less. The clan (community) was becoming
weaker. The taxes that had to be paid to the government and to the Temple, the
increasing getting into debt, the individualist mentality of the Hellenistic
ideology, the frequent threats of the violent repression on the part of the
Romans, the obligation to accept the soldiers and to give them lodging, the
always greater problems for survival, all this led the families to close up in
themselves and in their own needs. Hospitality was no longer practiced; neither
was sharing, nor communion around the table, the acceptance of the excluded.
This closing up was strengthened by the religion of the time. The observance of
the norms of purity was a factor of marginalization for many people: women,
children Samaritans, foreigners, lepers, possessed, publicans or tax
collectors, the sick, mutilated persons, the paraplegics. These norms, instead
of helping and favoring acceptance, sharing and communion, favored separation
and exclusion.
•
Thus, the political, social and economic
situation as well as the religious ideology of the time, everything was against
and contributed to weaken the central values of the clan, of the community.
Therefore, in order that the Kingdom of God could manifest itself, once again,
in the community living of the people, persons had to overcome the narrow
limits of the small family and open themselves up once again to the large
family, the Community.
•
Jesus gives the example. When his relatives get
to Capernaum and try to take hold of him to take him back home, he reacts.
Instead of remaining closed up in his small family, he extends the family (Mk
3: 33-35). He creates the community. He asks the same thing to those who want
to follow him. Families cannot close up in themselves. The excluded and the
marginalized should be accepted, once again, into the community, and in this
way feel accepted by God (cf. Lk 14: 12-14). This is the path to be followed in
order to attain the objective of the Law which said: “Let there be no poor
among you” (Dt 15: 4).
Just like the great prophets, Jesus tries to strengthen and
affirm community life in the villages of Galilee. He takes the profound sense
or significance of the clan, of the family, of the community, like an
expression of the incarnation of the love of God in the love toward neighbor.
Personal Questions
•
Does the family help participation in the Christian
community or does it make it difficult? How do you assume your commitment in
the Christian community?
•
What can all this tell us concerning our
relationships in the family and in the community?
Concluding Prayer
Clap your hands, all peoples, acclaim God with shouts of joy.
For Yahweh, the Most High, is glorious, the great king over
all the earth. (Ps 47: 12)
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