Mass Readings
Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 20th January, 2026Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday’s Readings
Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Follow the call of the Lord
Saints of the Day; Jan 2oth; Ss Fabian and Sebastian, martyrs.
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below todays’ Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the first book of Samuel. 16: 1-13
Samuel anointed David where he stood with his brothers; and of the Lord seized on David.
The Lord said to Samuel,
‘How long will you go on mourning over Saul when I have rejected him as king of Israel?
Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his sons.’
Samuel replied,
‘How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will kill me.’
Then the Lord said,
‘Take a heifer with you and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord”. Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and then I myself will tell you what you must do; you must anoint to me the one I point out to you.’
Samuel did what the Lord ordered and went to Bethlehem.
The elders of the town came trembling to meet him and asked,
‘Seer, have you come with good intentions towards us?’
‘Yes,’ he replied ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.’
He purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought,
‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one stands there before him’,
but the Lord said to Samuel,
‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart’.
Jesse then called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said,
‘ The Lord has not chosen this one either’.
Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, ‘The Lord has not chosen this one either’.
Jesse presented his seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not chosen these‘.
He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’
He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out looking after the sheep‘. 
Then Samuel said to Jesse,
‘Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he comes’.
Jesse had him sent for, a boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing.
The Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one’.
At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from that day on. As for Samuel, he rose and went to Ramah.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 88: 20, 21-22, 27-28
Response I have found David, my servant.
1. Of old you spoke in a vision. To your friends the prophets you said:
‘I have set the crown on a warrior, I have exalted one chosen from the people. Response
2. ‘I have found David my servant and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him Response
3. ‘He will say to me: “You are my father, my God, the rock who saves me.”
And I will make him my first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.’ Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 18: 18
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I am consider the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
or Eph 1: 17. 18
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 2: 23-28 Glory to you, O Lord
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
And he replied,
‘Did you never read what David did in his time of need when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the loaves of offering which only the priests are allowed to eat, and how he also gave some to the men with him?‘
And he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; the Son of Man is master even of the sabbath’.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday Second Week in Ordinary Time Mark 2:23-28
Both of today’s readings suggest that our way of seeing can be very limited. In the first reading, when Samuel saw the first of Jesse’s sons he thought, ‘Surely, the Lord’s anointed one stands there’. However, Samuel heard the Lord say to him, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height… God does not see as humans see; humans look at appearances but the Lord looks at the heart’. It turned out that the son of Jesse whom God had chosen, his youngest son, David, had least to recommend him, just going on appearances. The Lord saw something in David that no human being could see. There is another instance of limited human seeing in the gospel reading. When the Pharisees saw Jesus’ disciples picking and eating ears of corn on the Sabbath, they saw people who were breaking the Sabbath Law requiring rest from labour.
When Jesus looked upon the action of his disciples, he saw a legitimate attempt to satisfy hunger. He went on to say to the Pharisees that human need will often take priority offer religious law, including the Sabbath law, ‘the Sabbath was made for humans, no humans for the Sabbath’. Both readings remind us that our own way of seeing can often be very limited. We can so easily judge on the basis of appearances, rather than seeing what is beyond appearances to what is deepest in the person. Our calling is to grow into the Lord’s way of seeing, with the help of his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. The first step on that journey of deeper seeing is to acknowledge our own blindness and our need for fuller light.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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Saints of the Day; Jan 2oth; Ss Fabian and Sebastian, martyrs.
1. Fabian, bishop of Rome, (layman+pope) died as one of the first victims of the persecution under the emperor Decius in 250. In spite of being “a layman and a stranger” (Eusebius) became bishop of Rome in 236. Reorganised the Church in Rome. Called by his contemporary, Saint Cyprian, “a man incomparable in the holiness of his life and the glory of his witness.”
2. Sebastian died perhaps in the late third century. Nothing of his life is known for certain. Tradition says he was a soldier who was martyred after sustaining other Christians in their trials. Venerated in Rome since the fourth century.
They are honoured together since their names are linked together in the Calendar of Filocalus of 354, which gives the commemoration dates of past popes and martyrs. They are also named together as companions in the Litany of the Saints.
Patrick Duffy tells their story.
Fabian was a layman who became pope in 236, chosen, according to Eusebius, because a dove landed on his head when the community gathered for the election. He was an excellent administrator. He divided Rome into seven areas each served by a deacon. He organised building works in the cemeteries (Catacombs) and brought back the bodies of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus from Sardinia. His fourteen years as pope seem to have been mostly a period of peace, but when the persecution of Decius took place he was one of its first victims. His epitaph in the catacomb of St Callistus reads simply: “Fabian, bishop, martyr.”
Sebastian – Soldier and Aartyr shot 
Sebastian was probably a native of Milan, born of Christian parents. He was drafted into the army and became the captain of the guard of Maximinian at Rome. Because of this he was able to help some Christians arrested during the persecution of Diocletian. But on finding this out, the Emperor Diocletian ordered him to be shot with arrows.
Thrown into the Sewer
The Christians recovered his body, washed it and wrapped it in a shroud and buried it outside outside the walls along the Appian Way in the vaults now known as the catacombs of St Sebastian.
Sebastian a Subject of artists
The figure of St Sebastian pierced by arrows is one of the most recognisable images in art and has been the theme of many artists both of the renaissance and the modern era.
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Memorable Proverbs for today
The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.
~ Tertullian ~
also
Good, better, best. Never let it rest.
‘Til your good is better and your better, best.
~ St. Jerome ~
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