FECAMDS UNIJOS

FIRST READING
I shall not put forth my hands against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed
A reading from the first Book of Samuel (1 Samuel 24:2-20)
In those days: Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’s Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe. And afterwards David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my Lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words, and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave, and went upon his way. Afterwards David also arose, and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance. And David said to Saul, “why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Behold, David seeks your hurt’? Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave; and some bade me kill you, but I spread you. I said, ‘I will not put forth my hand against my Lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ See, my father, see, the skirt of your robe in my hand; for by the fact that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me upon you; but my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea! May the Lord therefore be judge, and give sentence between me and you, and see to it, and plead my cause, and deliver me from your hand.” When David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil. And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safe? So may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now, behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand.”

The word of the Lord



RESPONSORIAL PSALM (Psalm57:2.3-4.6 and 11 (R. 2a)
R. Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.

Have mercy on me, God, have mercy,
For in you my soul has taken refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I take refuge,
Till the storms of destruction pass by. R.

I call to you, God the Most High,
To God who provides for me.
May he send from heaven and save me,
And put to shame those who assail me.
May God send his loving mercy and faithfulness. R.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
May your glory shine on earth!
For your mercy reaches to the heavens,
And your truth to the skies. R.



ALLELUIA 2 Corinthians5:19
Alleluia. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Alleluia.



GOSPEL
He called to him those whom he desired to be with him.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark. (Mark 3:13-19)
At that time: Jesus went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons: Simon whom he surnamed Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed Boanerges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

The Gospel of the Lord.

FIRST READING
To obey is better than sacrifice. The Lord has rejected you from being king.
A reading from the first Book of Samuel (1 Samuel 15:16-23)
In those days: Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Say on.” And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. ’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop on the spoil, and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

The word of the Lord.



RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 50:8-9.16bc-17.2l and 23 (R. 23bc)
R. To one whose way is blameless, I will show the salvation of God.

“I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices;
your offerings are always before me.
I do not take more bullocks from your farms,
nor goats from among your herds.” R.

“How can you recite my commandments,
and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise correction,
and cast my words behind you.” R.

“You do this, and should I keep silence?
Do you think that I am like you?
I accuse you, lay the charge before you.
A sacrifice of praise gives me honour,
and to one whose way is blameless,
I will show the salvation of God.” R.



ALLELUIA Hebrews 4: 12
Alleluia. The word of the Lord is living and active, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Alleluia.



GOSPEL
“The bridegroom is with them.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 2: I 5-22)
At that time: John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins ; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins.”

The Gospel of the Lord.