January 30, 2026
Friday of the Third Week of
Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 321
Reading
1
2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a,
13-17
At the turn of the
year, when kings go out on campaign,
David sent out Joab along with his officers
and the army of Israel,
and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.
David, however, remained in Jerusalem.
One evening David rose from his siesta
and strolled about on the roof of the palace.
From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.
David had inquiries made about the woman and was told,
“She is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam,
and wife of Joab’s armor bearer Uriah the Hittite.”
Then David sent messengers and took her.
When she came to him, he had relations with her.
She then returned to her house.
But the woman had conceived,
and sent the information to David, “I am with child.”
David therefore
sent a message to Joab,
“Send me Uriah the Hittite.”
So Joab sent Uriah to David.
When he came, David questioned him about Joab, the soldiers,
and how the war was going, and Uriah answered that all was well.
David then said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and bathe your feet.”
Uriah left the palace,
and a portion was sent out after him from the king’s table.
But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace
with the other officers of his lord, and did not go down
to his own house.
David was told that Uriah had not gone home.
On the day following, David summoned him,
and he ate and drank with David, who made him drunk.
But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his bed
among his lord’s servants, and did not go down to his home.
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab
which he sent by Uriah.
In it he directed:
“Place Uriah up front, where the fighting is fierce.
Then pull back and leave him to be struck down dead.”
So while Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah
to a place where he knew the defenders were strong.
When the men of the city made a sortie against Joab,
some officers of David’s army fell,
and among them Uriah the Hittite died.
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6a, 6bcd-7,
10-11
R.
(see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
I have done such evil in your sight
that you are just in your sentence,
blameless when you condemn.
True, I was born guilty,
a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;
the bones you have crushed shall rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my guilt.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
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
Jesus said to the
crowds:
“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”
He said,
“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/013026.cfm
Commentary on 2
Samuel 11:1-4,5-10,13-17
Although David is unquestionably one of the outstanding
characters of the Old Testament and a key figure in salvation history leading
to the appearance of Jesus as Messiah, King and Saviour, one must admire the
honesty with which David’s weaknesses are described. It is difficult to think
of any other Old Testament leader who is given such ‘warts-and-all’ treatment
(although some of the patriarchs come pretty close!). But it is what makes
David such an attractive personality. It is very easy to identify with him. And
in fact, it is through the very weakness of David—as in the case of the Apostle
Paul—that God’s power and wisdom are revealed.
The story begins by telling us that David had sent his army
out under Joab. They attacked their enemies, the Ammonites, and laid siege to
Rabbah, the Ammonite capital. It would now be about 10 years since David
established himself in Jerusalem. It was also the time of year “when kings go
out to battle”, directly after the grain harvest in April or May. However, while
David’s army was out in the field fighting the nation’s battles, David decided
to stay at home.
One afternoon as he walked on the flat roof of his palace,
after his afternoon rest, he caught sight of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the
armour-bearer of Joab, David’s leading general, bathing. He found her very
beautiful. On making enquiries about her identity he was told that she was
Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. Later in 2 Samuel there is mention of an
Eliam, who was a member of David’s personal bodyguard and a son of his adviser,
Ahithophel. Bathsheba was a Hittite. The Hittites were a people from Asia
Minor, but the term was used of non-semitic people living in Palestine. (Her
not being an Israelite further increases the seriousness of what is going to happen
between her and the king.)
Filled with desire for her, David sent for her to be brought
to his house, had sexual relations with her and, as she soon told him, made her
pregnant. They both knew that, according to the law, they could be condemned to
death for their act. That was David’s first sin—lust followed by adultery.
However, there is no indication that Bathsheba was an unwilling partner in the
affair.
The comment that she “was purifying herself after her
period” is significant. She had just become ceremonially clean after the
seven-day period of monthly impurity following menstruation. This makes it
clear that she could not have been pregnant by her own husband when David took
her. The child was unquestionably David’s.
In letting David know that she was pregnant, she left the
next step up to him. The law prescribed the death penalty for both of them, but
then, of course, he was the king.
Now comes David’s second serious sin. He tried to cover up
what he had done. (Was this due to a sensitive awareness of wrongdoing or just
to keep himself free from the application of the Law?) He summoned Uriah from
the battlefield back to Jerusalem on the pretext of finding out how the
fighting was going on. Uriah reported that the fighting was going very well.
David then, in an apparent show of deep consideration, urged
Uriah to go down to his house and relax for a while. What he does not say
specifically is what is most important, but it was well understood by Uriah.
Clearly, he hoped that Uriah would also sleep with his wife.
The king also sent a portion from the king’s table. David
wanted Uriah and Bathsheba to have a really enjoyable evening together with
more implications of what that would mean.
The next two verses in the original text are omitted in our
reading. In them, Uriah, who clearly understands all that David is hinting at,
asks how he could go home, eat with his wife and have sexual relations with
her, when Joab and the army and even the Ark of the Lord are out in the
battlefields. It was also a religious obligation for soldiers in war to
practice abstinence, and Uriah refuses point blank. David’s actions are now
looking even worse than ever. Even the Lord is out in the battlefield while
David is at home indulging in behaviour for which he should be deprived of his
life. David’s plan had failed miserably.
But David had not yet given up. He persuaded Uriah to stay
over at least for another day. On the following day, Uriah was again invited to
share David’s table. There was a lot of wine and David managed to get Uriah
drunk, obviously hoping that, in that condition, he would fall into his wife’s
bed. But instead of going home as expected, Uriah slept with the servants in
the king’s palace—failure of ‘Plan Two’.
David now played his last and most terrible card. He sent
Uriah back to the battlefield and told Joab to put Uriah where the fighting was
fiercest. At the critical moment, the soldiers were to be pulled back, leaving
Uriah exposed to the enemy. This plan worked and Uriah was killed. Having
failed to make it look as if Uriah was the father of Bathsheba’s child, he got
rid of Uriah altogether and could now enter a quick marriage with Bathsheba. It
is difficult to think of a more reprehensible way of behaving.
David is guilty of adultery, deception and finally murder.
It is a sad record for a man who was chosen by God and anointed three times to
be king and leader of God’s people, and to be the founder of a dynasty that
would never end. It is another example of how good can emerge from the most
evil actions. For David is the direct ancestor of Jesus, the Son of God.
Bathsheba will soon be the mother of Solomon from whom the rest of the Davidic
line would continue. Hence she is also an ancestor of Jesus.
Before we condemn David, we need first, to read the rest of
the story and then to look at our own lives. We could recall Jesus’ words to
the Pharisees:
Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to
throw a stone at her. (John 8:7)
In our time, we seem to be so quick to condemn people’s
wrongdoings, especially public figures. We use them as scapegoats to cover our
own shortcomings. Did God condemn David for what he did? Let us wait and see as
the story unfolds.
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Commentary on Mark
4:26-34
Here we have the two last parables told by Mark in this part
of his Gospel. They are both images of the Kingdom of God, of God’s truth
and love spreading among people all over the world. They are both taken
from the world of agriculture, a world that would have been very familiar to
Jesus’ listeners.
In the first parable, God’s work is compared to a farmer
planting seed. As in the parable of the Sower, the seed is the
Kingdom. Night and day, the process of growth continues without any human
intervention. Whether the farmer is awake or asleep, the process of
growth continues. The seed sprouts and grows and the farmer does not know
how. The outcome is certain. Once the seed is ripe, it is for the farmer
to bring in the harvest. And that is our task—to bring in the harvest
which has been planted in the hearts of people. In the words of the other
parables, it is up to us to shine the light which helps people see the truth
and love of God already present in their deepest being.
In the second parable, the Kingdom is compared to a mustard
seed. Although one of the tiniest of seeds, it grows into a sizeable
shrub in which even birds can build their nests.
Both of these parables are words of encouragement to a
struggling Church living in small scattered communities and surrounded by
hostile elements ready to destroy it. How amazed would the Christians of
those days be if they could see how the seed has grown and spread to parts of
the world of whose very existence they were totally unaware! Today, we still
need to have trust like theirs, and confidence in the power of the Kingdom to
survive and spread.
Mark says that Jesus spoke many parables, or even that he
spoke only in parables. But the full meaning of his teaching was
explained to his inner circles of disciples. Those staying ‘outside’ were
not ready to take in the message. They are the ones who were not
‘hearing’, as Jesus told his disciples to do. How sensitive is my
hearing?
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2036g/
Friday, January 30,
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 mankind to unity and peace. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 4: 26-34
Jesus said, 'This is what the kingdom of God
is like. A man scatters seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when
he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its
own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain
in the ear. And when the crop is ready, at once he starts to reap because the
harvest has come.'
He also said, 'What can we say that the
kingdom is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed
which, at the time of its sowing, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.
Yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out
big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.' Using many
parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they could understand
it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to
his disciples when they were by themselves.
Reflection
•
It is always beautiful to see Jesus, who sought
in life and in events, new elements and images which could help people to
perceive and experience the presence of the Kingdom In today’s Gospel, once
again, he narrates two brief stories which take place every day in the life of
all of us: “The story of the seed that grows by itself” and “the story of the
small mustard seed which grows into the biggest shrub.”
•
The story of the seed which grows alone. The
farmer who plants knows the process: seed, the green sprout, leaf, spike,
grain. The farmer knows how to wait, he does not cut down the grain before it
is time. But he does not know how the soil, the rain, the sun and the seed have
this force or strength to make the plant grow from nothing until it bears
fruit. This is how the Kingdom of God is. It is a process, there are stages and
moments of growth. It takes place in time. It produces fruit at the just
moment, but nobody knows how to explain its mysterious force. Nobody, not even
the landlord. Only God!
•
The story of the small mustard seed which grows
and becomes big. The mustard seed is small, but it grows and at the end, the
birds make their nests in its branches. This is how the Kingdom is. It begins
very small, it grows, and it extends its branches. The parable leaves an open
question which will receive a response later on in the Gospel: Who are the
birds? The text suggests that it is a question of the Pagans who will not be
able to enter into the community and participate in the Kingdom. • Because
Jesus teaches by means of the Parables. Jesus tells many parables. All are
taken from the life of the people! In this way he helped persons to discover
the things of God in daily life, a life which becomes transparent. Because what
is extraordinary of God is hidden in the ordinary and common things of daily
life. People understood the things of life. In the parables they received the
key to open it and to find in it the signs of God.
Personal Questions
•
Jesus does not explain the Parables. He tells
the stories and awakens in others the imagination and the reflection of the
discovery. What have you discovered in these two Parables?
•
The objective of the words is to render life
transparent. Has your life become more transparent throughout the years, or has
the contrary taken place?
Concluding Prayer
Have mercy on me, O God, in your
faithful love, in your great tenderness wipe away my offences; wash me clean
from my guilt, purify me from my sin. (Ps 51: 1-2)
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