Blessed Virgin Mary 

St. Vincent of Saragossa, deacon  & Martyr

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

２Samuel 1:11-12, 19, 23-27

After the death of Saul,

When David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days. On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

When he approached David, the man threw himself to the ground in homage. David asked him, “Where are you from ?” And he answered,”I have escaped from the Israelite camp. “David then said,” Tell me what happened.” And the man told him, “The soldiers fled from the battle but many of them fell and died.

Saul and his son  Jonathan – they too are dead.”At this, David took hold of his clothes and tore them and his men did the same. And they mourned, weeping and fasting until evening for the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, for all the people of Judah and for the nation of Israes.

Your glory, O Israel, is slain upon your mountains! How the mighty ones have fallen! Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished, neither in life nor in death were they partes; swifter than eagles they were and stronger than lions.

Women of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in precious scarlet. How the valiant have fallen! In the midst of the battle Jonathan lies slain on you mountains.

I grieve for you , my brother Jonathan; how dear have you been to me! Your love for me was wonderful, even more than the love of women. How the valiant have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”

    

Ps 80:2-3, 5-7

Let us see your face, Lord,and we shall be saved.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

Mark 3:20-21

They went home. The crowd began to gather again and they couldn’t even have a meal.  Knowing what was happening his relatives came to take charge of him: “He is out of his mind,” they said.

    

Outliers

Today, we have the shortest gospel reading of the entire year, but one that speaks volumes about who we are! We all long to be special and extraordinary but cannot risk our securities and step beyond ourselves; and for the same reason, we simply cannot bear someone else doing so!

Thus, we love to normalize everything and everyone around us, so as to feel good about ourselves. In other words, we hate outliers and cut them to size. A line from the movie Three Idiots captures this dynamic:”When our friends fail, we feel bad; when they succeed, we feel worse.”

Jesus himself reminded his people that “no prophet is honoured among his own people.” No wonder the relatives of Jesus could not bear his growing uniqueness and popularity and, hence, had to label him “out of mind.” How do we treat the outliers in our families, religious communities, our little worlds?

 

Week Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children