First Reading

The Wisdom of Ben Sira (Sir 47: 2-11)

With his whole being, David sang praises, he loved his Creator.

Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings,
so was David in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people’s disgrace,
When his hand let fly the slingstone
that crushed the pride of Goliath.
Since he called upon the Most High God,
who gave strength to his right arm
To defeat the skilled warrior
and raise up the might of his people,
Therefore the women sang his praises,
and ascribed to him tens of thousands
and praised him when they blessed the Lord.
When he assumed the royal crown, he battled
and subdued the enemy on every side.
He destroyed the hostile Philistines
and shattered their power till our own day.
With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung;
He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year
So that when the Holy Name was praised,
before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.
The Lord forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever;
He conferred on him the rights of royalty
and established his throne in Israel.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 18: 31, 47 and 50, 51

Blessed be God my salvation!

God’s way is unerring,
the promise of the LORD is fire-tried;
he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.

The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O LORD, among the nations,
and I will sing praise to your name.

You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart, and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 6: 14-29)

It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.

King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,
and people were saying,

“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”

Others were saying,

“He is Elijah”;

still others,

“He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”

But when Herod learned of it, he said,

“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”

Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,

“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,

“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”

He even swore many things to her,

“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”

She went out and said to her mother,

“What shall I ask for?”

Her mother replied,

“The head of John the Baptist.”

The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,

“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”

The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

First Book of Kings (1 Kgs 2: 1-4, 10-12)

I am going the way of all flesh. Take courage and be a man.

When the time of David’s death drew near,
he gave these instructions to his son Solomon:

“I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the LORD, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
as they are written in the law of Moses,
that you may succeed in whatever you do,
wherever you turn, and the LORD may fulfill
the promise he made on my behalf when he said,

‘If your sons so conduct themselves
that they remain faithful to me with their whole heart
and with their whole soul,
you shall always have someone of your line
on the throne of Israel.’”

David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David.
The length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years:
he reigned seven years in Hebron
and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

Solomon was seated on the throne of his father David,
with his sovereignty firmly established.

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

1 Chronicles 29: 10, 11ab, 11d-12a, 12bcd

Lord, you are exalted over all.

“Blessed may you be, O LORD,
God of Israel our father,
from eternity to eternity.”

“Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,
majesty, splendor, and glory.”

“LORD, you are exalted over all.
Yours, O LORD, is the sovereignty;
you are exalted as head over all.
Riches and honor are from you.”

“In your hand are power and might;
it is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.”

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

The Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 6: 7-13)

 He began to send them out.

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits.
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick
– no food, no sack, no money in their belts.
They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
He said to them,

“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there.
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.”

So they went off and preached repentance.
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

— The Gospel of the Lord.

First Reading

Second Book of Samuel (2 Sm 24: 2, 9-17)

It is I who have sinned; it is I who have done wrong. But these are sheep; what have they done?

King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him,

“Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba
and register the people, that I may know their number.”

Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered:
in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service;
in Judah, five hundred thousand.

Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,
and said to the LORD:

“I have sinned grievously in what I have done.
But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your servant,
for I have been very foolish.”

When David rose in the morning,
the LORD had spoken to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying:

“Go and say to David, This is what the LORD says:
I offer you three alternatives;
choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.”

Gad then went to David to inform him.
He asked:

“Do you want a three years’ famine to come upon your land,
or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you,
or to have a three days’ pestilence in your land?
Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me.”

David answered Gad:

”I am in very serious difficulty.
Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful;
but let me not fall by the hand of man.”

Thus David chose the pestilence.
Now it was the time of the wheat harvest
when the plague broke out among the people.
The LORD then sent a pestilence over Israel
from morning until the time appointed,
and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died.
But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,
the LORD regretted the calamity
and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people,

“Enough now! Stay your hand.”

The angel of the LORD was then standing
at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking the people,
he said to the LORD:

“It is I who have sinned;
it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.
But these are sheep; what have they done?
Punish me and my kindred.”

— The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 32: 1-2, 5, 6, 7

Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.

For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.

You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.

Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark (Mk 6: 1-6)

A prophet is not without honor except in his native place.

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place,
accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said,

“Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”

And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,

“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”

So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

— The Gospel of the Lord.