Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Optional Memorial for Saint Fabian, Pope and Martyr
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Fabian
Biographical Information about St. Fabian
 
Or
 
Optional Memorial for Saint Sebastian, Martyr
Proper readings for the Memorial of St. Sebastian
Biographical Information about St. Sebastian
 
Or
 
Optional Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On Saturdays in Ordinary Time when there is no obligatory memorial, an optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary is allowed. [1] Mass texts may be taken from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from a Votive Mass, or from the special collection of Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary. (USCCB recommends: #10. Holy Mary, Disciple of the Lord)

“The Messenger who Slew Saul is Slain”
by Bernard Picart and Abraham de Blois, published 1728

Readings for Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time [2]
 
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
 
Readings and Commentary: [4]
 
Reading I: 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!”
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Commentary on 2 Sm 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27
 
The Lord’s disapproval of Saul as king of the Israelites is shown as he falls in battle along with his son Jonathan (Jonathan's death would also have insured that there could be no familial succession). Although the selection presented does not stipulate, the courier was the individual who actually provided the final blow that killed Saul who had already been mortally wounded. His testimony could not be doubted by David and his soldiers.
 
Following the news and mourning ritual (“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”), David composed a ballad of lament to honor “God’s anointed.”
 
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 80:2-3, 5-7
 
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.
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Commentary on Ps 80:2-3, 5-7
 
Psalm 80 is a communal lament. Here the community exalts the king who shepherds Israel with fidelity, and calls upon God to continue to protect his special creation, the people he has called. The psalmist pleads that God’s support be given and that their enemies might be defeated with his help.
 
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Gospel: Mark 3:20-21
 
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.”
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Commentary on Mk 3:20-21
 
Jesus returns to his home and is greeted with disbelief by some his own relatives. They likely believe, because of his excessive focus on his mission and the claims made about his actions, that he has become delusional.
 
This short passage provides a sense of the challenges Jesus faces in his mission to proclaim the kingdom of God. His fame had clearly spread as a consequence of his teaching, his natural charisma, and his miraculous healing power. The disbelief by even his relatives is a barrier to be overcome.
 
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Reflection:
 
It must have been very confusing for the friends and relatives of Jesus who had known him before he began his public ministry.  The Holy Spirit unleashed the ability of the carpenter’s son to express the divinity that was his very essence, and the results must have shocked his friends from Nazareth.
 
But why, we ask, would they have thought “He is out of his mind?”  It would not have been because of the miraculous cures.  These were well documented and given the crowds that were so thick that they prevented the Lord from eating, accepted as genuine.  Could it have been because people were talking?  They would have expected a person with such incredible power to demand special treatment, homage, and honor.  Could his friends and relatives have thought that Jesus himself was demanding such treatment and thereby putting on airs?
 
The only explanation that makes sense is that, never having heard him take up the power of the Holy Spirit, they must have thought him delusional.  They were reacting to rumor and hearsay, and in doing so, they were trying to do the same things the Pharisees would later accomplish when they arrested him in the garden.  With that comparison, we see the moral of this short statement: that even well-intentioned people make terrible mistakes when they react to rumors and gossip.
 
With that lesson clearly before us we consider our call to discipleship and what that means.  The Lord himself would never have accepted critical words about another person.  He loves every individual.  If some slander or derogatory remarks were made about an individual, he would have approached them directly to determine the truth.  Of course, with the Lord, a look would have sufficed, but still, even with the most undeserving “tax collectors and sinners,” his intent was that of healer of souls.
 
Today we pray that we may never react to hearsay, rumor, or gossip, but will always seek the truth and seek to love those we meet as Christ has taught us.
 
Pax

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[1] General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous Notes no. 5: “Outside Advent, Christmas Time, Lent, and Easter Time, on Saturdays which have no commemoration having the rank of Obligatory Memorial or higher, a Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary may be celebrated. This is indicated in the calendar by ‘BVM.’ The readings and prayers may be selected from the Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
[2] The picture is “The Messenger who Slew Saul is Slain” by Bernard Picart and Abraham de Blois, published 1728.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio
[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible except for the Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.