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The Word today, 02A

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Jan 17
  • 3 min read

January 19 - January 24, 2026



1 Samuel 15:16-23 Today we hear of a clash between a prophet and a king, between Samuel and Saul. Details of this story are difficult for us today: why would God order extermination? Yet, even in this excerpt there is something for reflection: what does God require from us—outward gesture or inward obedience?


Mark 2:18-22 The gospel is about the shock of the new: in Jesus, new teaching must lead to new practices to sustain new life.


St Fabian, bishop of Rome and martyr

St Sebastian, martyr


1 Samuel 16:1-13 As we saw at Christmas, Bethlehem and king David are important in Christian religious imagination. Today we hear why this is so, as a very persistent Samuel is sent to find a king to succeed the rejected Saul. The fact that David was originally a shepherd also resonates in the story of Jesus, the Son of David, our good shepherd and our king.


Mark 2:23-28 This Gospel, very familiar, is more powerful than we think. The Sabbath was given by God at creation and to Moses on Mount Sinai. Jesus sets the Sabbath aside, which means his authority is somehow even greater.


St Agnes, virgin and martyr


1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51 This story of the weak against the strong, the small against the mighty, has inspired people down the centuries. For Israel at the time, then as now a very small state surrounded by powerful enemies, the story offered great encouragement. There is a message for today: it is not always the mighty who have the last say.


Mark 3:1-6 Our conflict story is again about the Sabbath but it is more intense because they were watching him. The Sabbath was meant to mark creation and liberation: what better gesture than to heal a man? And yet, tradition gets in the way.


St Vincent, deacon and martyr


1 Samuel 18:6-9, 19:1-7 In the stories we are hearing, Saul comes across as an unstable character, capable of unpredictable violence. He is dangerously jealous of the younger David. A good word put in by Jonathan, Saul’s son, calms the king down, at least for the moment. There’s something for us too: in a conflict, the right word can be very effective.


Mark 3:7-12 Jesus was immensely attractive to people, who felt drawn to him and made signifcant sacrifices to get to hear him. We are not as “gospel greedy” today but we could be if we listened from within.



1 Samuel 24:3-21 Today, a drama takes place. Saul, again unstable, sets out to kill David. By a brilliant, generous gesture, David convinces Saul of his good intentions. It’s a great story with a lesson for us as well: not exercising power can be much more effective than exercising it.


Mark 3:13-19 For any Bible reader, the number twelve must recall the twelves tribes of Israel, descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob. By appointing twelve men, Jesus symbolises his own programme: the restoration of Israel. In reality, they are not all equally important and one of them will turn out to be really dangerous.


St Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor


2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 17, 19, 23-27 There can be great humanity in bible stories. Today, David gets news that his enemy is dead…and yet, he weeps for him. In a very touching lament, David mourns both Saul and Jonathan. The poem of lament is very generous, very humane.


Mark 3:20-21 Today’s Gospel is short and enigmatic. Who are these relatives? The same people seem to be involved later in the chapter: 3:31 (confirmed by the omitted v. 19b: “he went home”). The issue is that even those closest to the prophet will not understand him and will even reject him.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2026f, January 18). Second Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011826.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

The Word today, Baptism of the LordA

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Jan 10
  • 3 min read

January 12 - January 17, 2026



1 Samuel 1:1-8 Today we start, at a distance, the important story of King David, a story to be followed for the next couple of weeks. The Samuel of the title was a religious leader who found and anointed the first kings of Israel. Today’s opening verses present us with the challenge of childlessness. The husband’s understanding and affection are very touching.


Mark 1:14-20 We start today a fresh reading of the Gospel of Mark: may God give us a listening heart to hear it afresh today!


St Hilary, bishop and doctor of the Church


1 Samuel 1:9-20 In the Bible, there are “story patterns” that recur. One of these story types regularly tells of a woman who has no children of her own. This is a cause of suffering and supplication. Eventually, by God’s intervention, the woman becomes pregnant. Christians are familiar with this kind of story from the Luke’s accounts of the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus. Our passage today includes a critique of the priesthood, because Eli the priest does not discern what is happening.


Mark 1:21-28 Jesus speaks (and acts) always from within, from the inside, so to speak, of his own authority.



1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20 This is one of the great stories of call and vocation in the Bible. Once more, the priest Eli is slow to understand. Eventually, however, it dawns on him that God is calling the boy, Samuel. The turning point is in the words “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” picked up perfectly by the Psalm.


Mark 1:29-39 Our Gospel reminds us of the sources of Jesus authority and spirituality: his prayer.


St Ita, virgin


1 Samuel 4:1-11 Today the reading introduces a second important element in the story of 1 and 2 Samuel: the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant was a piece of furniture, a kind of chest or box, used to symbolise God’s presence among the people. The presence of the ark gave power to its owners and the loss of it meant a corresponding loss of power. In our story, the loss of the ark and the killing of the sons of Eli are read as a punishment.


Mark 1:40-45 The compassion of Jesus is both immense and immediate. The leper inspires us to recognize our need of God.


St Fursa, abbot and missionary


1 Samuel 8:4-7,10-22 This brilliant passage conveys the unease in the Bible with monarchy as such. This may come as a surprise, but listen carefully to all the reasons why a monarch would be a bad idea. But the real objection is the rejection of God as the only true king over Israel. The desire “to be like any other nation” will, in the very long term, lead to disaster and exile.


Mark 2:1-12 This Gospel passage is really about us: we too are carried by others; we too have our sins forgiven; we too learn to walk again in the light of Gospel.


St Anthony of Egypt, abbot


1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19, 10:1 Restoring the missing verses would make the reading clearer and more entertaining. Finally, we are told of the anointing of the first king over Israel, Saul. The somewhat enigmatic story of the finding of Saul is meant to be a sign that he was God’s choice.


Mark 2:13-17 Our story is meant to be provocative on several levels: Jesus goes to the “wrong” people and, even worse, insists he was not sent to the conventionally holy who may not really know their need of God.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2026d, January 11). The Baptism of the Lord. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011126.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

The Word today, EpiphanyA

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Jan 3
  • 3 min read

January 05 - January 10, 2026


St Charles of St Andrew, priest


1 John 3:11-21 Today’s reading illustrates the richness of the First Letter. It is highly realistic — the world hates you. At the same time, it is very inspiring — our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active.


John 1:43-51 Our Gospel today contains a large number of descriptions of Jesus. If we were to describe what Jesus means to us, what would we say today? (The mention of the fig tree can puzzle. One explanation goes like this. In rabbinic tradition, it had been concluded that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a fig tree, given that the fig is the first species mentioned. It became a symbol of the Torah, the later “tree” of knowledge, guidance on the part of goodness. Thus, seeing Philip under.


The Epiphany of the Lord (See special notes for the feast.)



1 John 3:22-4:6 Something of the difficult situation of the Johannine community comes to expression here. Clearly, there has been a split over doctrine and there is great anxiety that the true believers might be “contaminated” by false teaching.


Matthew 4:12-17,23-25 Just before the feast of the Baptism, we are presented with the teaching of John the Baptist. Jesus was a follower of John and accepted his baptism. He also took up the teaching of John about the coming kingdom and about conversion / repentance.



1 John 4:7-10 When we speak of the love of God, it could mean two things. The foundational gift is God’s love for us first of all and in the strength of that love we are able to love in turn.


Mark 6:34-44 All the miracles are to be read at two levels. There is the level of a story in the life of Jesus. Then, there is the level of the story in my life today. Already, we hear echoes of the Eucharist in the telling: Jesus said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples. We are those disciples today.



1 John 4:11-18 Continuing from yesterday, how could we best respond to God’s astonishing love of us? 1 John explores in a very helpful way the many dimensions of the love affair between God and us.


Mark 6:45-52 One more, the miracle story is to be read at two levels. This is true especially of the walking on them water. When the later community felt the absence of Jesus, this story served to remind them: ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ We are the same today: we too need this word of presence and encouragement.



1 John 5:5-13 1 John 4:19-5:4 How would you know your love of God was genuine? Here’s a practical test. The letter of John — highly spiritual — is also highly practical: man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen.


Luke 4:14-22 Today we hear Luke’s telling of Jesus’ visit to his hometown and synagogue. Again, Luke “locates” the proclamation of Jesus, using another mighty citation from Isaiah. There can be no separation of the Gospel and the social teaching Jesus — these are one and the same.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2026, January 4). The Epiphany of the Lord. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010426.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 
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