Mass Readings
Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 27th January, 2026Léachtaí Gaeilge
Next Sunday’s Readings
Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
We now live in the new time of Jesus’ Covenant
Saint of the Day; Jan 27 : St Angela Merici (1470-1540)
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below todays’ Readings and Reflection.
FIRST READING
A reading from the second book of Samuel 6: 12-15, 17-19
David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark f the Lord with acclaim.
Thus David and all the House of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with acclaim and the sound of the horn. They brought the ark of the Lord in and put it in position inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered holocausts before the Lord, and communion sacrifices.
And when David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. He then distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israelites, men and women, a roll of bread to each, a portion of dates, and a raisin cake. Then they all went away, each to his own house.
The Word of the Lord. And with your spirit.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 23: 7, 8, 9, 10
Response Who is the king of glory? He, the Lord, he is the king of glory
1. O gates, lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory! Response
2. Who is the king of glory? The Lord, the mighty, the valiant,
the Lord, the valiant in war. Response
3. O gates, lift high your heads; grow higher, ancient doors.
Let him enter, the king of glory! Response
4. Who is he, the king of glory? He, the Lord of armies,
he is the king of glory. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118:135
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
or Mk 11. 25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 3:31-35
Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.
His mother and brothers now arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you’.
He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?‘
And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said,’
Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
*******************************
Gospel Reflection Tuesday Third Week in Ordinary Time Mark 3:31-35
The bringing of the ark of God, or the Ark of the Covenant, in procession to Jerusalem was a very significant event for the people of Israel under their king, David. The ark of God was a container which held the two tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. On Mount Sinai, God had promised the people of Israel that he would be their God, and they in turn promised God that they would be his people by living according to the Ten Commandments. This container with its contents symbolized God’s covenant with his people and theirs with him. It embodied God’s choice of the people of Israel in the service of all humanity.
As the ark of God is brought to the citadel of David in Jerusalem, it is celebrated with elements with which we are very familiar from our own liturgy, especially the Eucharist. There is music and song, there is sacrifice and there is communion, the sharing of food. At every Eucharist, we generally have some singing. At every Eucharist, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, his loving surrender to God and to humanity on Calvary, is sacramentally present to us. At every Eucharist, we enter into communion with the Lord as Bread of Life and with each other as members of his body. So much of our faith has deep roots in the religion of Israel.
In the gospel reading we have another element that is central to our Eucharist, the ministry of the word. Jesus is in a house in Capernaum with people sitting around him listening to him preaching, proclaiming God’s word, God’s will. He identifies those sitting around him as his brothers and sisters and mother, his new spiritual family. We all belong to that family and at the Eucharist we both celebrate and consolidate our belonging to the Lord’s family.
________________________________
The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & 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/
________________
Saint of the Day: Jan 27; St Angela Merici (1470-1540)
Angela Merici was born in Desenzano (Italy) about 1474; died in Brescia on this day in 1540. She became a Franciscan tertiary and subsequently founded the Company of Saint Ursula (Ursulines). Her vision provided an alternative to the forms of religious life then available for women: members remained in their own homes, living as virgins and observing a rule she composed. Honoured as a woman of prayer, for her evangelical way of life, for her pilgrimages, and for her creative response to the needs of women in the Church.
If feminism means promoting the dignity of women, Angela who founded the Ursuline community, can certainly claim to be among the first. Although twenty-five years after her death the Church imposed the cloister, the choral Office and the wearing of the religious habit of her community, the original Ursulines were much more like members of present-day secular institutes.
From Desenzano on Lake Garda
Angela was the fifth of six children born at Desenzano at the south of Lake Garda in Italy. But four siblings died young and were soon followed by the parents. Angela was cared for by the family of an uncle.
The Legend of St Ursula and a “company of virgins”
In her teenage years Angela found inspiration in the legend of St Ursula. It told of a fifth century British princess who extracted extraordinarily favourable conditions for the dignity of girls as a condition for her marriage, of a pilgrimage to Rome and of eventual martyrdom at Cologne. See The Legend of St Ursula
One day while Angela was sitting in the fields, her deceased sister appeared to her telling her that God wanted her to found “a company of virgins“. Angela took the next step she could – becoming a Franciscan tertiary and with other young women forming a support group for unmarried girls, at first in Desenzano. When this was successful, she started another one in nearby Brescia, then a city suffering the chaos of war.
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
After this Angela went on a pilgrimage with her companions to the Holy Land. As they were passing through Crete she was mysteriously struck blind. So when they reached the Holy Land, her companions had to describe the holy places to her as she could not see them. Equally mysteriously on the return journey, she recovered her sight at the same place.
“A social class of virgins”
On her way home Angela was received in audience by Pope Clement VII, who invited her to move to Rome, but she felt her call was to the work she had begun in Brescia. Young women who did not marry or enter a convent had little prospects there other than prostitution or menial service. Angela created “a social class of virgins“, a “company” run almost on military lines under a “virgin-mistress“. They referred the problems they could not handle to four “widow-matrons” or “colonels” chosen from among the aristocracy of Brescia.
In 1535 Angela and some companions moved together into a house near the church of St Afra in Brescia. She became known for having an open house and an open heart. Though initially arousing some enmity,
Angela won people over. The women lived either at home or in groups of twos and threes in small houses, praying, fasting and reaching out to help other women with education and training. They also made a commitment to chastity.
Death and Influence
Angela died in 1540 and her Ursuline community was approved by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese 1534-49) in 1544. However, in 1572, Pope Gregory XIII (Ugo Buoncompagni 1572-85) at the request of Saint Charles Borromeo, then archbishop of Milan, declared the Ursulines a religious order with enclosure under the rule of St Augustine. It later spread to France, Canada and the United States. Nano Nagle, who had joined them in France for a time, brought them to Ireland in 1771. Today they have houses, colleges and schools in Cork, Dublin, Sligo, Thurles, Waterford and a mission in Kenya.
For information on the Ursuline Sisters in Ireland, see: www.ursulines.ie
******************************
Memorable Proverbs for today
History has not always remembered our names,
But we have been setting tables for two thousand years,and making room for others to follow Christ.
Jesus always made room for us, even if the church has not always followed suit.
~Danielle Shroyer ~
*********************************