Thursday 22 January 2026 (other days)
Thursday of week 2 in Ordinary Time
Using calendar: England - Portsmouth - Hampshire - Solent Area. You can change this.
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Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(II).
| First reading |
|---|
| 1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7 |
‘Saul my father seeks to kill you.’
In those days: As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.’
And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, ‘They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?’ And Saul kept an eye on David from that day on.
And 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. And Jonathan told David, ‘Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.’ And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, ‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?’ And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, ‘As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.’ And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
| Responsorial Psalm |
|---|
| Ps 56(55):2-3. 9-10b. 10c-11. 12-13. ℟5b |
In God I trust; I shall not fear.
Have mercy on me, O God,
for people assail me;
they fight me all day long and oppress me.
My foes assail me all day long:
many fight proudly against me.
In God I trust; I shall not fear.
You have kept an account of my wanderings;
you have placed my tears in your flask;
are they not recorded in your book?
Then my foes will turn back
on the day when I call to you.
In God I trust; I shall not fear.
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.
In God I trust; I shall not fear.
What can man do to me?
I am bound by the vows I have made you.
O God, I will offer you praise.
In God I trust; I shall not fear.
| Gospel Acclamation |
|---|
| Cf. 2 Timothy 1:10 |
Alleluia, alleluia.
Our Saviour Christ Jesus abolished death
and brought life to light through the gospel.
Alleluia.
| Gospel | Mark 3:7-12 |
|---|
‘The unclean spirits cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he ordered them not to make him known.’
At that time: Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
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The readings on this page are from the English Standard Version, which is used at Mass in Great Britain. The Jerusalem Bible (which is used at Mass in much of the English-speaking world) will appear instead if you set this page to use a calendar from outside Great Britain. The New American Bible readings, which are used at Mass in the United States, are available in the Universalis apps, programs and downloads.
