Thursday, January 19, 2012 (Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.
-- St. Irenaeus, Adversus haereses

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: 1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7
(Saul Becomes Jealous of David and then he is Persecuted)
6 It happened as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music.
7 The women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands.
8 Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

9 Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
19:1-7
1 Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David.
2 Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill you: now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, and live in a secret place, and hide yourself:
3 and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will commune with my father of you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.
4 Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you:
5 for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel: you saw it, and did rejoice; why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?
6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.
7 Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as before. 
Psalms: Psalm 56:2-3, 9-13
2 My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me.
3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.
9 Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me.
10 In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word.
11 I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
12 Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered my soul from death, And prevented my feet from falling, That I may walk before God in the light of the living.
Gospel: Mark 3:7-12
(A Crowd by the Lake)
7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea,
8 from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him.
9 He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn’t press on him.
10 For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him.
11 The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!”
12 He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.