From: Mark 3:1-6

The Curing of the Man with a Withered Hand

[1] Again He (Jesus) entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a
withered hand. [2] And they watched Him, to see whether He would heal him
on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. [3] And He said to the man
who had the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And He said to them, “Is it lawful
on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were
silent. [5] And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of
heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his
hand was restored. [6] The Pharisees went out, and immediately held counsel
with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him.

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Commentary:

5. The evangelists refer a number of times to the way Jesus looks at people (e.g.
at the young man: Mark 10:21; at St. Peter: Luke 22:61, etc). This is the only
time we are told He showed indignation—provoked by the hypocrisy shown in
verse 2.

6. The Pharisees were the spiritual leaders of Judaism; the Herodians were those
who supported the regime of Herod, benefiting politically and financially thereby.
The two were completely opposed to one another and avoided each other’s com-
pany, yet they combined forces against Jesus. The Pharisees wanted to see the
last of Him because they considered Him a dangerous innovator. The most re-
cent occasion may have been when He pardoned sins (Mark 2:1ff) and interpre-
ted with full authority the law of the Sabbath (Mark 3:2); they also want to get rid
of Him because they consider that He lowered their own prestige in the eyes of
the people by the way He cured the man with the withered hand. The Herodians,
for their part, despised the supernatural and eschatological tone of Christ’s mes-
sage, since they looked forward to a purely political and temporal Messiah.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51 ©

David said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’

‘The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.’ Then Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you!’

He took his staff in his hand, picked five smooth stones from the river bed, put them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch, and with his sling in his hand he went to meet the Philistine. The Philistine, his shield-bearer in front of him, came nearer and nearer to David; and the Philistine looked at David, and what he saw filled him with scorn, because David was only a youth, a boy of fresh complexion and pleasant bearing. The Philistine said to him, ‘Am I a dog for you to come against me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come over here and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.’ But David answered the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have dared to insult. Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand and I shall kill you; I will cut off your head, and this very day I will give your dead body and the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord gives the victory, for the Lord is lord of the battle and he will deliver you into our power.’

No sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David left the line of battle and ran to meet the Philistine. Putting his hand in his bag, he took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; the stone penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine down and killed him. David had no sword in his hand. Then David ran and, standing over the Philistine, seized his sword and drew it from the scabbard, and with this he killed him, cutting off his head. The Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and took to flight.

Psalm

Psalm 143:1-2,9-10 ©

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock,

who trains my arms for battle,

who prepares my hands for war.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

He is my love, my fortress;

he is my stronghold, my saviour

my shield, my place of refuge.

He brings peoples under my rule.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

To you, O God, will I sing a new song;

I will play on the ten-stringed lute

to you who give kings their victory,

who set David your servant free.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock.

Gospel Acclamation

Heb4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.Mt4:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom

and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Jesus went again into a synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him, discussing how to destroy him.