24 January 2026 (Saturday) / Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop, Doctor of the Church on Saturday of week 2 in Ordinary Time / Saint Francis De Sales, Bishop, Religious Founder, Doctor of the Church Obligatory Memorial / Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

24 January 2026 (Saturday)

Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop, Doctor of the Church on Saturday of week 2 in Ordinary Time.

Saint Francis De Sales, Bishop, Religious Founder, Doctor of the Church Obligatory Memorial.

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Second Samuel 1: 1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 80: 2-3, 5-7
Alleluia: Acts 16: 14
Gospel: Mark 3: 20-21

First Reading : 2 Samuel 1:1‐4, 11‐12, 17, 19, 23‐27

David returned from his rout of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. On the third day a man came from the camp where Saul had been, his garments torn and earth on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did homage. ‘Where do you come from?’ David asked him. ‘I have escaped from the Israelite camp’ he said. David said to him, ‘What happened? Tell me.’ He replied, ‘The people have fled from the battlefield and many of them have fallen. Saul and his son Jonathan are dead too.’
  Then David took hold of his garments and tore them, and all the men with him did the same. They mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, for the people of the Lord and for the House of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
  Then David made this lament over Saul and his son Jonathan.
Alas, the glory of Israel has been slain on your heights!
How did the heroes fall?
Saul and Jonathan, loved and lovely,
neither in life, nor in death, were divided.
Swifter than eagles were they,
stronger were they than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul
who clothed you in scarlet and fine linen,
who set brooches of gold
on your garments.
How did the heroes fall
in the thick of the battle?
O Jonathan, in your death I am stricken,
I am desolate for you, Jonathan my brother.
Very dear to me you were,
your love to me more wonderful
than the love of a woman.
How did the heroes fall
and the battle armour fail?

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 79(80):2‐3,5‐7

Let your face shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
O shepherd of Israel, hear us,
  you who lead Joseph’s flock,
shine forth from your cherubim throne
  upon Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh.
O Lord, rouse up your might,
  O Lord, come to our help.
Let your face shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.
Lord God of hosts, how long
  will you frown on your people’s plea?
You have fed them with tears for their bread,
  an abundance of tears for their drink.
You have made us the taunt of our neighbours,
  our enemies laugh us to scorn.
Let your face shine on us, O Lord, and we shall be saved.

Alleluia: Acts 16: 14
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
14 Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel : Mark 3:20‐21

Jesus went home, and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.

For our reflection today:

For Jesus, what matters above all is reaching out to save those far off, healing the wounds of the sick, restoring everyone to God’s family! And this is scandalous to some people! Jesus is not afraid of this kind of scandal! He does not think of the closed-minded who are scandalized even by a work of healing, scandalized before any kind of openness, by any action outside of their mental and spiritual boxes, by any caress or sign of tenderness which does not fit into their usual thinking and their ritual purity. He wanted to reinstate the outcast, to save those outside the camp (cf. Jn 10). There are two ways of thinking and of having faith: we can fear to lose the saved and we can want to save the lost. Even today it can happen that we stand at the crossroads of these two ways of thinking. The thinking of the doctors of the law, which would remove the danger by casting out the diseased person, and the thinking of God, who in his mercy embraces and accepts by reinstating him and turning evil into good, condemnation into salvation and exclusion into proclamation. (Francis - Homily in the Holy Mass with the new cardinals, 15 February 2015)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed  and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)