Mass Readings
Liturgical Readings for : Friday, 30th January, 2026Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday’s Readings
Friday of the Third week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Saints of the Day: Jan 30th 1. St Aidan, bishop. 2. Bl Margaret Ball and Francis Taylor, martyrs
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below todays’ Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Samuel 11: 1-10, 13-17
‘Station Uriah in the thick of the fight so that he may be struck down and die’.
At the turn of the year, the time when kings go campaigning, David sent Joab and with him his own guards and the whole of Israel. They massacred the Ammonites and laid siege to Rabbah. David however remained in Jerusalem.
Then David sent messengers and had her brought. She came to him, and he slept with her; now she had just purified herself from her courses. She then went home again. The woman conceived and sent word to David, ‘I am with child’.
Then David sent Joab a message, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite’,
whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came into his presence, David asked after Joab and the army and how the war was going. David then said to Uriah, ‘Go down to your house and enjoy yourself’. Uriah left the palace, and was followed by a present from the king’s table. Uriah however slept by the palace door with his master’s bodyguard and did not go down to his house.
This was reported to David; ‘Uriah‘ they said ‘did not go down to his house’.
So David asked Uriah, ‘Have you not just arrived from a journey? Why do you not go to your home?’
The next day David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk. In the evening Uriah went out and lay on his couch with his master’s bodyguard, but he did not go down to his house.
Next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. In the 
‘Station Uriah in the thick of the fight and then fall back behind him so that he may be struck down and die’.
Joab, then besieging the town, posted Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce fighters. The men of the town sallied out and engaged Joab; the army suffered casualties, including some of David’s bodyguard; and Uriah the Hittite was killed too.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 50:3-7, 10-11 R/v 3
Response: Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have sinned.
1. Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness. In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. Response
2. My offences truly I know them; my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done. Response
3. That you may be justified when you give sentence and be without reproach when you judge,
O see, in guilt I was born, a sinner was I conceived. Response
4. Make me hear rejoicing and gladness, that the bones you have crushed may thrill.
From my sins turn away your face and blot out all my guilt. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 27
Alleluia, alleluia!
You will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life.
Alleluia!
Or Mt 11: 25
Alleluia, alleluia!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds the seed will remain for ever.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Mark 4: 26-34 Glory to you, O Lord
Theme: A man throws seed on the land. While he sleeps the seed is growing; how,he does not know.
Jesus said to the crowd: 
‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man throws seed on the land. Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know. Of its own accord the land produces first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the crop is ready, he loses no time: he starts to reap because the harvest has come.’
He also said,
‘What can we say the kingdom of God is like? What parable can we find for it? It is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade.’
Using many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, so far as they were capable of understanding it. He would not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were alone.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Friday Third Week in Ordinary Time Mark 4:26-34
The first of the two parables in today’s gospel reading suggests that when a farmer has sown seed in the ground, he has to step back and allow nature to bring the seed to fruition. It is only when the seed is fully grown that the farmer swings into action again, harvesting the crop. Between sowing and harvesting, he has to leave the seed alone. If he were to start poking around in the soil to see how the seed is doing, he would greatly inhibit its growth. When Jesus says the kingdom of God is like that, what does he mean? He may be saying that the coming of God’s kingdom into our lives and into our world isn’t all down to us. We have our work to do, as the farmer has to sow and harvest. However, the real work of spiritual growth within ourselves and in our world is God’s doing.
As Saint Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.’ Having done what we can, we have to step back and allow God to do what only God can do. Sometimes, God’s good work can be happening all around us, even when we are doing very little. God can be working powerfully in and through our lives in those times when we seem to have little to give, perhaps because of advancing years or illness. The good work we have done in the past can be bearing fruit in ways that we might never suspect. God’s good work continues, even when we seem to have little to show for our efforts. What the Lord asks of us is perseverance, not to lose heart.
We are to keep faithful, especially when times are lean and difficult.
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 Gospel reflection is available with our thanks from Reflections on the Weekday Readings My Words Will Not Pass Away by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f https://www.messenger.ie/product/my-words-will-not-pass-away-reflections-on-the-weekday-readings-for-the-liturgical-year
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Saints of the Day: Jan 30th: 1. St Aidan, bishop. 2. Bl Margaret Ball and Francis Taylor, martyrs
1 St Aidan. An inscription on the wall of the Church of Ireland (Anglican) Cathedral of St Aidan in Ferns, Co Wexford, tells of his burial place.
Patrick Duffy tells what is known about St Aidan and the diocese.
Many Irish saints have an intimate form to their name and Aidan, or, as he is also called, Mogue, is a case in point. Mogue is derived from the Irish Mo Aodh Óg (= “my young Aodh” or “my darling Aodh”). Ferns (Fearna, the alder tree), where he set up his church, became his episcopal seat.
Born on Inis Breachmhaigh, Templeport Lake, C o.Covan
Aidan was born in Inis Breachmhaigh, now known as Port, Inch or Mogue’s Island, in Templeport Lake, near Bawnboy in County Cavan, around 550. Both his father Setna and his mother Eithne were of noble origin. There was no boat to take the infant to the mainland to be baptised, so he is said to have been miraculously floated across the lake on a slab of stone to where Saint Kilian was waiting to baptise him. The parish church of Templeport parish (St. Mogue’s Church in Bawnboy) in the diocese of Kilmore is called after him and the church’s holy water font is said to be made from part of that slab of stone.
Studies at Clonard and in Wales
As a small boy, Aidan was held as a hostage by the High King of Ireland, Áedh MacAinmuirech, of the Cenél Conaill, probably to insure the loyalty of his family. When he was released, Aidan studied to become a monk under St Finnian of Clonard, where he made friends with St Molaise, who would later found the monastery of Devenish Island on the River Erne. From Clonard Aidan went to study under St David at Kilmuine (Cil-mynyw) in Wales. During his time here David placed him in charge of a church at Llawhaden (pronounced LLAN-HAUA-DEN) in the hundred (county sub-division) of Dungleddy in the centre of Pembrokeshire, where a church remains dedicated to him to this day.
Saint Edan’s Cathedral, Ferns … the saint became Bishop of Ferns in 598, a year after Saint Augustine became Archbishop of Canterbury
Return to Ireland
In 580, Aidan returned to Ireland, going to the coast of Wexford. Here he served in the area around Ferns. In 598 Brandubh, king of the Uí Cinsealaigh in Leinster, defeated and killed King Áedh MacAinmuirech at the Battle of the Pass of Dunbolg (near Holywood, Co Wicklow). Brandubh called a celebratory synod at which he elevated Ferns to the status of a diocese and made Aidan its first bishop giving him nominal supremacy (Ard-Escops or chief bishop) over the other bishops of the region.
Lives of St Aidan
The written Lives of St Aidan tell of many miracles showing his generosity and kindness. One story tells how some spurious beggars hid their clothes, dressed in rags, and asked Aidan for help; knowing what they had done, Aidan gave away their clothes to some more deserving poor, and sent off the imposters with neither clothes nor alms.
Other stories tell of feats of austerity, such as fasting on barley bread and water for seven years, as well as reciting 500 Psalms daily.
Other Monasteries in Cavan, Waterford and Leitrim
Other monasteries were said to have been founded by Aidan at Drumlane, near Milltown, Co Cavan; at Dísert-Nairbre in County Waterford; and at Rossinver on Lough Melvin’s shore in County Leitrim, where he died on the 31 January 632. He was said to have been buried in the church that he had established there. A bronze reliquary in which his relics were kept is currently preserved in Dublin.
The Diocese of Ferns
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Memorable Proverbs for today
The goal of a good pastor is to raise up good pastors;
~Francis Khan~
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Saints of the Day: Jan 30th 2. Bl Margaret Ball and Francis Taylor, martyrs
Bl Margaret Ball and Francis Taylor, a lay woman and a lay man respectively, were among a representative group of seventeen Irish martyrs of the 16th and 17th centuries beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22nd September 1992.
Patrick Duffy gives a brief resumé of their lives.
Margaret Ball: died in prison in Dublin 1584
But Walter was not for turning. When he was elected Mayor of Dublin, he had his own mother arrested and drawn through the streets, on a wooden hurdle, as she could no longer walk, to Dublin Castle. Here she remained imprisoned for the rest of her life. If she had renounced her faith she could have returned home, but she refused and died in prison aged 70 in 1584. The chapel-of-ease, called Blessed Margaret Ball Church, built in the 1980s on the Coolock Road at Santry in Larkhill parish, Dublin, was named in her honour.
Francis Taylor of Swords, layman, Lord Mayor of Dublin: died in prison 1621
(A bronze sculpture of him along with Margaret Ball stands to the left of the main entrance to the Pro-Cathedral of St Mary’s (The Immaculate Conception) in Marlborough St, Dublin 1)
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Memorable Wise Words for today
Soldiers and war heroes are honoured and commemorated,
explorers granted immortal fame, martyrs, revered,
but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?
~ Anne Frank ~
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