From: Mark 3:7-12

Cures Beside the Sea of Galilee

[7] Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Gali-
lee followed; also from Judea [8] and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the
Jordan and from about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing all that He did,
came to Him. [9] And He told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him; [10] for
He had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon Him to touch
Him. [11] And whenever the unclean spirits beheld Him, they fell down before Him
and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” [12] And He strictly ordered them not to
make Him known.

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Commentary:

10. During our Lord’s public life people were constantly crowding round Him to
be cured (cf. Luke 6:19; 8:45; etc). As in the case of many other cures, St. Mark
gives us a graphic account of what Jesus did to these people (cf. Mark 1: 31,41;
7:31-37; 8:22-26; John 9:1-7, 11, 15). By working these cures our Lord shows
that He is both God and man: He cures by virtue of His divine power and using
His human nature. In other words, only in the Word of God become man is the
work of our Redemption effected, and the instrument God used to save us was
the human nature of Jesus—His Body and Soul—in the unity of the person of the
Word (cf. Vatican II, “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 5).

This crowding round Jesus is repeated by Christians of all times: the holy human
nature of our Lord is our only route to salvation; it is the essential means we must
use to unite ourselves to God. Thus, we can today approach our Lord by means
of the sacraments, especially and pre-eminently the Eucharist. And through the
sacraments there flows to us, from God, through the human nature of the Word,
a strength which cures those who receive the sacraments with faith (cf. St Tho-
mas Aquinas, “Summa theologiae”, III, q. 62, a. 5).

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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 18:6-9,19:1-7 ©

On their way back, as David was returning after killing the Philistine, the women came out to meet King Saul from all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing to the sound of tambourine and lyre and cries of joy; and as they danced the women sang:

‘Saul has killed his thousands,

and David his tens of thousands.’

Saul was very angry; the incident was not to his liking. ‘They have given David the tens of thousands,’ he said ‘but me only the thousands; he has all but the kingship now.’ And Saul turned a jealous eye on David from that day forward.

Saul told Jonathan his son and all his servants of his intention to kill David. Now Jonathan, Saul’s son, held David in great affection; and so Jonathan warned David; ‘My father Saul is looking for a way to kill you,’ he said ‘so be on your guard tomorrow morning; hide away in some secret place. Then I will go out and keep my father company in the fields where you are hiding, and will talk to my father about you; I will find out what the situation is and let you know.’

So Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father; he said, ‘Let not the king sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you, and what he has done has been greatly to your advantage. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it yourself and rejoiced; why then sin against innocent blood in killing David without cause?’ Saul was impressed by Jonathan’s words and took an oath, ‘As the Lord lives, I will not kill him.’ Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought him to Saul, and David attended on him as before.

Psalm

Psalm 55:2-3,9-14 ©

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

Have mercy on me, God, men crush me;

they fight me all day long and oppress me.

My foes crush me all day long,

for many fight proudly against me.

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

You have kept an account of my wanderings;

you have kept a record of my tears;

(are they not written in your book?)

Then my foes will be put to flight

on the day that I call to you.

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

This I know, that God is on my side.

In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I shall not fear;

what can mortal man do to me?

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

I am bound by the vows I have made you.

O God, I will offer you praise

for you have rescued my soul from death,

you kept my feet from stumbling

that I may walk in the presence of God

and enjoy the light of the living.

In God I trust: I shall not fear.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Jn6:63,68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or	cf.2Tim1:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death

and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.