Tuesday, Second Week in Ordinary Time
First Reading
1 Samuel 16:1–13
The Lord said to Samuel: “Fill your horn with oil and go; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.” When Samuel saw Eliab, he thought he must be God’s anointed, but the Lord said, “Do not judge by appearance; the Lord sees the heart.”Seven of Jesse’s sons were presented, but none were chosen until the youngest, David, tending the sheep, was summoned and anointed.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 89:20–22, 27–28
I have found David my servant.
The psalm proclaims God’s faithful choice and strength given to David, highlighting divine care grounded in covenant love.
Gospel
Mark 2:23–28
As Jesus and his disciples walked through grainfields on the Sabbath, the disciples plucked ears of corn. The Pharisees objected; Jesus replied that the Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. He concludes, “So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
Reflection
Today’s readings speak to how God discerns value and how Christ reorients human expectations.
In the First Reading, God repeatedly redirects Samuel’s attention from surface qualities to the deeper calling within a person’s heart. The anointing of David — chosen not for stature or appearance, but for his interior disposition — reminds us that God’s wisdom discerns far beneath outward measures of success or worth.
In the Gospel, Jesus reframes the purpose of the Sabbath. Rather than a rigid set of rules, the Sabbath — like all sacred practice — is intended to support human flourishing in God’s presence. Jesus’ teaching invites disciples to see law not as constraint, but as servant to love and mercy.
Taken together, these readings call us to root our lives not in appearances, tradition-for-its-own-sake, or rigid compliance, but in hearts attuned to the living God. God looks deeply; Jesus shows the way forward into a life shaped by mercy, genuine freedom, and care for others.
A moment of pause
Where might God be inviting you today to see beyond surface — and to open your heart to his correction and mercy?
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