Monday of the 2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Mass Readings
First Reading – 1 Sam 15:16-23
Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Speak!” Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’ Why then have you disobeyed the LORD? You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.” Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban. But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the best of what had been banned, to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.” But Samuel said: “Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission than the fat of rams. For a sin like divination is rebellion, and presumption is the crime of idolatry. Because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 (R.23b)
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”R.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”R.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”R.
Gospel – Mk 2:18-22
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
Featured Saints
St. Macarius the Great, priest and abbot (†390). Disciple of St. Anthony of Egypt , he lived as a hermit of the desert for more than 50 years. Having gathered some disciples, he built, with them, the monastery of Scetis in Egypt.
St. Bassian, bishop (†409). Following the example of St. Ambrose, he fought the Arian Heresy in his Diocese of Lodi, Italy.
Sts. Liberata and Faustina, virgins (†580). Two sisters from a noble family of Piacenza (Italy). Inspired to lead an ascetic life, they founded a monastery dedicated to Santa Margherita close to the Como River.
St. John, bishop (†595). He served the Church in the Diocese of Ravenna, when Italy was devastated by the war against the Lombards.
St. Remigius of Rouen, bishop (†c. 762). Brother of King Pepin the Short. He had a great influence on the introduction of Gregorian chant in France.
St. Arsenius, bishop (†tenth century). He entered monastic life at twelve years of age. He was named Bishop of Corfu, Greece, and was very dedicated to his flock and diligent in nocturnal prayer.
St. Pontianus, martyr (†2nd century). After courageously enduring a series of torments for the love of his Faith, he was put to death by the sword at Spoleto (Italy), during the persecution of the Emperor Antoninus.
Blessed Marcelo Spinola y Maestre, bishop (†1906). Archbishop of Seville, Spain; an outstanding apostle of charity, he showed ardent zeal for the sanctification of souls in preaching, the confessional, and spiritual direction.
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