January 27, 2026
Tuesday of the Third Week in
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 318
Reading
1
David went to
bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron,
came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place
within the tent David had pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people,
to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left for their homes.
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (8) Who
is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Lift up, O gates, your lintels;
reach up, you ancient portals,
that the king of glory may come in!
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Who is this king of glory?
The LORD of hosts; he is the king of glory.
R. Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord!
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The mother of
Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012726.cfm
Commentary on 2
Samuel 6:12-15,17-19
Today’s reading describes a very joyful occasion as David
has the Ark of the Covenant brought into Jerusalem. This was in fact a second
attempt. The Ark had been in the house of Abinadab in Baala of Judah. From
there, the Ark was mounted on a cart to be brought to the city. It was guided
by Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, who walked beside it, while David and
the people played instruments and sang songs. At one point, when the oxen
seemed to be causing the cart to lose its balance, Uzzah reached out and
touched the Ark to steady it. Immediately he was struck down for his
sacrilegious act which caused great distress to David. He was even afraid now
to bring it into Jerusalem. Reverence for God can so easily degenerate into
superstition. For us Christians, that is also so true.
For three months the Ark remained in the house of Obed-edom,
and this brought him many blessings from the Lord. It is at this point that our
reading begins today.
Having seen how God had blessed the house of Obed-edom and
that God’s anger had been appeased, David decided to bring the Ark up to
Jerusalem with great fanfare and jubilation.
However, after the bearers of the Ark had only advanced six
paces, David offered a sacrifice of an ox and a fatling. Thus, he showed his
great reverence for the presence of God which the Ark symbolised.
We are told in the First Book of Chronicles, when speaking
to the Levites, David says:
Because you did not carry it the first time [when
the Ark was brought from Abinadab’s house], the Lord our God burst out
against us because we did not give it proper care. So the priests and the
Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of
Israel. And the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with the
poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
(1 Chron 15:13-15)
A little later we are told:
And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the
Ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. (1
Chron 15:26)
As the Ark was brought up, David, in his great joy, danced
before it “with abandon”, wearing just a linen loincloth. He had just offered
sacrifice and was about to give a blessing. The garment he was wearing was a
close-fitting, sleeveless pullover, normally of hip length and was different
from the special ephod (a type of apron) worn by the high priest.
In a verse omitted from today’s reading we are told that
David’s wife, Michal, who was the daughter of Saul, was quite disgusted to see
her royal husband making a show of himself, “leaping and dancing” before the
Lord. His behaviour was quite unworthy of the dignity of a king.
After it had arrived in the city, the Ark was placed, for
the time being, in a special tent prepared for it. David, as king, offered
holocausts and peace offerings and then blessed the people in the name of God.
Food was then distributed to all—for each one a loaf of bread, a cut of roast
meat and a raisin cake. At the end all returned to their homes.
The Ark represented the presence of God among his people. It
was, to some extent, seen as a “real” presence and, in that sense, could be
seen as a forerunner of our church tabernacles.
On the one hand, let us use every opportunity to spend some
time before the special presence of Jesus in our church tabernacles (the word
really means ‘tent’). At the same time, let us deepen our awareness of God’s
very real presence in every single person, thing and event of our lives, a
presence of which the Eucharist is the sacrament and sign.
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Commentary on Mark
3:31-35
We know that many of Jesus’ family already thought he was
mad, and he had become an embarrassment to them. Now they come to the house
where Jesus is teaching and, standing outside, send in a message asking for
him. Do they want to talk with him or to remove him from what he is doing?
The message is sent in:
Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.
To which Jesus replies:
Who are my mother and my brothers?
And pointing to those sitting at his feet listening to his
teaching, he says:
Here are my mother and my brothers!
And he clarifies that further by adding:
Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and
mother.
We should note that Jesus’ family is described twice as
being on the ‘outside’. They are ‘outsiders’. By implication, those sitting in
a circle with Jesus are on the ‘inside’—they are the ‘insiders’.
What Jesus is clearly saying is that being on the ‘inside’
is not just a question of location, but of relationship. That relationship is
not by blood, but by identification with the Way of Jesus. To be a Christian is
to enter into a new family, with stronger ties than those of blood, and where
everyone is seen as a brother or a sister. The ‘insider’ is defined simply as
anyone “who does the will of God”. So, it can include those who are not
Christian at all.
A disturbing question that might arise from this passage is
the status of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Was she also on the ‘outside’? The answer is
an unequivocal no! We know from Luke’s Gospel that, when invited by
the angel to be the mother of Jesus, Mary gave an unconditional ‘Yes’.
Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word. (Luke 1:38)
This was her total surrender to the will of God, and it was
something that she never withdrew through all the difficulties she experienced
and, most of all, when the “sword of sorrow” pierced her heart as she saw her
own Son’s heart pierced on the Cross. She was with him to the very end, and
finally would share his joy in the Resurrection.
On one occasion, when Mary was praised as blessed and
privileged for having a Son like Jesus, Jesus replied:
Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and
obey it! (Luke 11:27-28)
Mary is on the ‘inside’, not because she was the mother of
Jesus, but because of her totally identifying with his mission and being with
him to the very end. May we be able to say the same.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2033g/
Tuesday, January 27,
2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
All-powerful and ever-living God, direct Your
love that is within us, that our efforts in the name of Your Son may bring the
human race to unity and peace. 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: 31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived
at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd
seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your
sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those
seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For
whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
Reflection
•
The family of Jesus. The relatives reached the
house where Jesus was. They have probably come from Nazareth. From there to
Capernaum there is a distance of forty kilometers. His mother also comes with
them. They do not enter, but they send a messenger: “Look, Your mother and
brothers and sisters are outside asking for You!” Jesus’ reaction is clear:
“Who are My mother and My brothers?” And He Himself responds by turning to look
toward the crowd who is there around Him: “Here are My mother and My brothers!
Anyone who does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother!” To
understand the meaning of this response it is necessary to look at the
situation of the family at the time of Jesus.
•
In old Israel, the clan (the large family, the
community), was the basis of living together. It was protection for families
and people, the guarantee of possession of the land, the principle vehicle of
tradition, and the defense of identity. It was the concrete way on the part of
the people of that time to incarnate the love of God and the love toward
neighbor. To defend the clan was the same as to defend the Covenant.
•
In Galilee at the time of Jesus, because of the
system established during the long periods of government of Herod the Great (37
BC to 4 BC) and his son Herod Antipas (4 BC to 39 AD), the clan (the
community), was becoming weaker. The taxes to be paid, both to the government
and to the Temple, the debts which were increasing, the individualistic
mentality of Hellenism, the frequent threats of violent repression on the part
of the Romans and the obligation to accept the soldiers and give them
hospitality, and the ever growing problem of survival, impelled families to
close themselves in on themselves and to think only of their own needs. This
closing up was strengthened by the religion of the time. For example, one who
gave his inheritance to the Temple could leave his parents without any help. This
weakened the fourth commandment which was the backbone of the clan (Mk 7:
8-13). The observance of the norms of purity was a factor in the
marginalization of many people too, such as women, children, Samaritans,
foreigners, lepers, possessed people, tax collectors or publicans, the sick,
mutilated people and paraplegics.
•
The concern over the problems of one’s own
family prevented people from meeting in community. Now, in order that the
Kingdom of God could manifest itself in community living, people had to
overcome the narrow limits of the small family and open themselves to the
larger family, and the community. Jesus gave the example. When His own family
tried to take control of Him, He reacted and extended the family: “Who are My
mother and My brothers?” And He Himself gave the answer, turning His look
toward the crowd, “Here are My mother and My brothers! Anyone who does the will
of God is My brother, sister and mother!” (Mk 3: 33-35). He created a
community. • Jesus asked the same thing
from all those who wanted to follow Him. Families should not close themselves
in on themselves. The excluded and the marginalized had to be accepted in life
with others and feel accepted by God (Lk 14: 12-14). This was the path to
attaining the objective of the Law, which said, “There must, then, be no poor
among you” (Dt 15: 4). Like the great prophets of the past, Jesus tries to
consolidate community life in the villages of Galilee. He takes back the
profound sense of the clan, the family, and the community as an expression of
the incarnation of the love toward God and toward neighbor.
Personal Questions
•
What place and what influence does the community
have in my way of living the faith?
•
Today, in the large city, overcrowding promotes
individualism which is at odds with life in community. What am I doing to
counteract this? How does one reconcile personal physical safety with community
involvement in these urban areas?
Concluding Prayer
I waited,
I waited for Yahweh, then He stooped to me and heard my cry for help. He put a
fresh song in my mouth, praise of our God. (Ps 40: 1, 3)
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