THURSDAY OF WEEK 2 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News. 2 TIM 1:10

1 SAMUEL 18:6-9,19:1-7

My Soul's Beloved,

We see in this First Reading the whole gamut of human emotions, both good and bad. When acted upon, the fruit of thoughts has the power to either make us noble and wise or blackguards and murderers. Envy, a deadly sin, is sister to another deadly sin, pride. Saul ought to have known better; not only was he anointed by God as king to rule over his people, but he also ought to have been grateful to David for his hand in destroying the enemy and winning for Israel a great victory. Instead, when the women praised David as Saul, he and the army returned in triumph, his heart became bitter with envy, and he plotted evil against him.

So arrogant was Saul that he made known to all, including his son, Jonathan, that he intended to kill David. He had no idea how dearly Jonathan loved David and revealed his father's deadly plot to him. Interceding passionately on David's behalf, he won a reprieve for David, and he returned to live and attend to the king once more. 

Are we brave enough to speak truth to those in power? Jonathan teaches us that we ought to speak up and defend those who are unable to defend themselves. David teaches us faith and trust in God, no matter how impossible the situation we face may be. For You, O Lord, fight our battles for us; we only need to be still and trust You.

Saul made oaths many times not to harm David, and each time he broke them in his murderous jealousy of him. So too do we. When things get difficult, we make time to pray, and make many promises that if You help us, O Lord, we will reform our way of living. Once all is well, we go back to old ways and old habits, and before long, we have forgotten completely all that You have done for us until the next trial and suffering.

Help me, Lord, to keep my gaze on You in all circumstances and to trust You always to take care of everything in my life, the good, the bad, the difficult, the sorrowful, and the joyful. Thank You, Beloved.

On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Philistine, the women came out to meet King Saul from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cries of joy; and as they danced the women sang:
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands.’
Saul was very angry; the incident was not to his liking. ‘They have given David the tens of thousands,’ he said ‘but me only the thousands; he has all but the kingship now.’ And Saul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward.
Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants of his intention to kill David. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David in great affection; and so Jonathan warned David; ‘My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you,’ he said ‘so be on your guard tomorrow morning; hide away in some secret place. Then I will go out and keep my father company in the fields where you are hiding, and will talk to my father about you; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.’
So Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father; he said, ‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced; why then sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?’ Saul was impressed by Jonathan’s words and took an oath, ‘As the Lord lives, I will not kill him.’ Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul, and David attended on him as before.

PSALM 55(56):2-3,9-14

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;

they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes crush me all day long,
for many fight proudly against me.

You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have kept a record of my tears;
(are they not written in your book?)
Then my foes will be put to flight
on the day that I call to you.

This I know, that God is on my side.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not fear;
what can mortal man do to me?

I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise
for you have rescued my soul from death,
you kept my feet from stumbling
that I may walk in the presence of God
and enjoy the light of the living.

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

MARK 3:7-12

My Soul's Beloved, 

By this time in Your ministry, You had become well known as You went everywhere preaching, teaching, and healing. Aside from the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who saw You as a threat to the status quo, the people thronged about You wherever You went. When You entered a town or a village, word of Your arrival spread like wildfire, and they came bringing their sick in heart, mind, and soul, looking to touch You, be touched by You, and be healed.

Unlike people with a celebrity-like status in the world, You did not seek the crowds but often withdrew from them with Your disciples as You did on this occasion as well. You were at the lakeside with them when people came pouring in from different places. You asked for a boat, so You get into it and preach and teach from there, for the crowd pressing around You would have crushed You as they pressed around You. 

The boat with You in it is symbolic of the Church You founded with You at its head and with Peter and the other disciples. It is not enough to go to healing conferences, praise and worship prayer meetings, and listen to preaching that stir up religious fervor momentarily. No. We are called to repent, to be baptized, to receive the Sacraments, to obey God's Law, follow the teachings of Holy Mother Church, live the Beatitudes, and be a blessing to each other. Most of us come to You for what we can get from You, Lord, but when we are faced with the cross and with suffering, many of us slink away. Yet, there is no other way to get to the Kingdom of God than to pick up our cross daily, knowing You carry it with us, and follow You.

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.

ST. AGNES, VIRGIN & MARTYR, ON WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 2 IN ORDINARY TIME - 2026

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people. MT 4:23

1 SAMUEL 17:32-33,37,40-51

My Soul's Beloved, 

David slew Goliath with a sling and a smooth stone. This was not a permanent victory of the people of Israel against their enemies. You, however, O Lord, smote evil through Your passion and death by crucifixion and destroyed the power of evil and death forever. 

The five smooth stones that David picked from the stream represent Your 5 wounds, inflicted by the nails that held You fast to the Cross. Only one wound would have purchased the salvation of the world, but the Father wanted to reveal to us the infinite depths of His love for us, His wayward children. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

The way of evil is deception. Goliath looked far more invincible than he really was. Despite his height, his experience as a warrior, and his armor, he was no match for God, who was with David and who delivered the enemy into his hands. All we need is You, Lord, and we need to have the faith of David, and we too will be invincible against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

So many scoff at God and at You, Lord, through ignorance, but we who have faith walk in it and see miracles and signs of Your love everywhere. Every lash of the whip on Your Body, every taunt, all the mockery You endured, the spittle, the blows, and the nails that were hammered into Your hands and feet and splintered bones as You were pinned to the Cross, and finally the spear that was plunged deep into Your side, piercing Your Sacred Heart, has won the final victory. Satan has his hour, Beloved, but You have won the day for all of us who are grafted to You. Thank You, Lord.

David said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
‘The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you!’
He took his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he went to meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him, came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come over here and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ But David answered the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will give your dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord gives the victory, for the Lord is lord of the battle and he will deliver you into our power.’
No sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David left the line of battle and ran to meet the Philistine. Putting his hand in his bag, he took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the stone penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine down and killed him. David had no sword in his hand. Then David ran and, standing over the Philistine, seized his sword and drew it from the scabbard, and with this he killed him, cutting off his head. The Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and took to flight.

PSALM 143(144):1-2,9-10

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my arms for battle,
who prepares my hands for war.

He is my love, my fortress;
he is my stronghold, my saviour
my shield, my place of refuge.
He brings peoples under my rule.

To you, O God, will I sing a new song;
I will play on the ten-stringed lute
to you who give kings their victory,
who set David your servant free.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

MARK 3:1-6

My Soul's Beloved, 

So much about our indifference to Truth and the love of God grieves You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. We see this in Your reaction to the Pharisees who refused to answer You because they knew their response would condemn them. Here, in the synagogue, was a man with a withered hand. It was the sabbath day, and Your heart was moved with pity for the poor man. You were quite aware of what the reaction of the Pharisees would be, yet You did not let it hinder You. 

We, on the other hand, are very careful not to upset the status quo for fear of retribution or a negative reaction. We weigh the pros and cons of doing something, and then the moment passes, and we have lost the opportunity given to us by God to do good. Too often, the world hastens to ensure that the rich get richer and more powerful, and then it kowtows to them while the ones in real need of help are ignored and pushed to the peripheries, where we can safely pretend they do not exist.

You invited the man to 'Stand up out in the middle!' You gave the Pharisees a chance to redeem themselves, but they did not. Impatient and angry with them at their refusal to speak up for what was right and true, You said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it and was healed. The response of the Pharisees was to go out immediately and plot against You and discuss how to destroy You.

Jesus went into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.