First Reading

First Book of Samuel (1 Sm 16: 1-13)

Samuel anointed David in the midst of his brothers. The Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.

The LORD said to Samuel:

“How long will you grieve for Saul,
whom I have rejected as king of Israel?
Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”

But Samuel replied:

“How can I go?
Saul will hear of it and kill me.”

To this the LORD answered:

“Take a heifer along and say,
‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do;
you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.”

Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him.
When he entered Bethlehem,
the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired,

“Is your visit peaceful, O seer?”

He replied:

“Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.
So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet.”

He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves
and invited them to the sacrifice.
As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought,

“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”

But the LORD said to Samuel:

“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because he sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”

Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,
who said,

“The LORD has not chosen him.”

Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said,

“The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,

“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”

Then Samuel asked Jesse,

“Are these all the sons you have?”

Jesse replied,

“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said to Jesse,

“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”

Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,

“There–anoint him, for this is he!”

Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
When Samuel took his leave, he went to Ramah.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 89: 20, 21-22, 27-28

I have found David, my servant.

Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
“On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth.”

“I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
That my hand may be always with him,
and that my arm may make him strong.”

“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my savior.’
And I will make him the first-born,
highest of the kings of the earth.”

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 2: 23-28)

The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,
his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.
At this the Pharisees said to him,

“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

He said to them,

“Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?
How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest
and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,
and shared it with his companions?”

Then he said to them,

“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

First Book of Samuel (1 Sm 15: 16-23)

Obedience is better than sacrifice; the Lord has rejected you as ruler.

Samuel said to Saul:

“Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”

Saul replied,

“Speak!”

Samuel then said:

“Though little in your own esteem,
are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying,
‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction.
Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD?
You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.”

Saul answered Samuel:

“I did indeed obey the LORD
and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me.
I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.”

But Samuel said:

“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 50: 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”

“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”

“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 2: 18-22)

The bridegroom is with them.

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,

“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them,

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

— The Gospel of the Lord.