Tuesday, January 19 2016 Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 1 Sm 16:1-13

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.

Responsorial Psalm PS 89:20, 21-22, 27-28

R. (21a) 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.”
R. I have found David, my servant.
“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.”
R. I have found David, my servant.
“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.”
R. I have found David, my servant.

Alleluia See Eph 1:17-18

R. 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.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 2:23-28

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.”

REFLECTION 

A FRESH ANOINTING

"There – anoint him, for this is he!" –1 Samuel 16:12

Some of us are grieving. We are disappointed and listless. The Lord's word to us is: "Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way" (1 Sm 16:1). Although we may be grieving, let's not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30). Rather, let's say with Jesus: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore He has anointed me" (Lk 4:18). Let us receive a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit and anoint others with the power of the Spirit.

Are you disappointed with your spouse, job, parish, government, etc.? Don't just sit there spiritually paralyzed. You are Christians, followers of Christ, Whose name means "the Anointed One." Let God's anointing be renewed in your life. Then ask the Lord to show you someone you can anoint with the Holy Spirit. Maybe there is only one family member, parishioner, co-worker, or neighbor willing to receive your prayers for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Maybe several people are open to the Spirit, but the Lord leads you to reach out to only a certain one (see 1 Sm 16:7ff). As Samuel ministered the Spirit to David, Ananias to Saul (Acts 9:17ff), Peter to Cornelius (Acts 10:25ff), and Paul to twelve Ephesians (Acts 19:2ff), so follow the Lord's lead and anoint someone with the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER:	Father, as You anointed Jesus, anoint me with the Holy Spirit and power so I may go about doing good works and healing those in the grip of the devil (Acts 10:38).
PROMISE:	"The Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath." –Mk 2:28
PRAISE:	Joan received the Holy Spirit and passed on the anointing to her husband.