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First Reading: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him,
"Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba
and register the people, that I may know their number."
Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered:
in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service;
in Judah, five hundred thousand.
Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,
and said to the Lord:
"I have sinned grievously in what I have done.
But now, Lord, forgive the guilt of your servant,
for I have been very foolish."
When David rose in the morning,
the Lord had spoken to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying:
"Go and say to David, 'This is what the Lord says:
I offer you three alternatives;
choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.'"
Gad then went to David to inform him.
He asked: "Do you want a three years' famine to come upon your land,
or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you,
or to have a three days' pestilence in your land?
Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me."
David answered Gad: "I am in very serious difficulty.
Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful;
but let me not fall by the hand of man."
Thus David chose the pestilence.
Now it was the time of the wheat harvest
when the plague broke out among the people.
The Lord then sent a pestilence over Israel
from morning until the time appointed,
and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died.
But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,
the Lord regretted the calamity
and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people,
"Enough now! Stay your hand."
The angel of the Lord was then standing
at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking the people,
he said to the Lord: "It is I who have sinned;
it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.
But these are sheep; what have they done?
Punish me and my kindred."
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7
R./ Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R./ Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the Lord,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R./ Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R./ Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R./ Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Gospel Reading: Mark 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, "Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house."
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Opening Prayer
God, our Father without equal,
your Son, your living Word, came among us
as one of our own, our own flesh and blood.
Dispose us to welcome him always
and to listen to what he tells us,
also when his word upsets and disturbs us.
And give us too, the courage
to pass on his word to one another,
that it may liberate us all
and lead us to you as your one people.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction
In the mind of God's people, God was their defender; by creating an army through conscription, David was as if usurping the power of God, taking upon himself what was properly the task of God himself.
Gospel Introduction
A man or woman like us from down the street, whose parents we know, how dare he or she speak God's word to us—if it is God's word! Jesus, the town carpenter whom everyone knew, how could he work miracles and where did he get this strange message? The Church with all its faults and the priest who is not any better than we are, how dare they speak to us in the name of God? God speaks through ordinary people. God's word and message are stronger than the weak messengers he sends to speak his prophetic word. The people of Nazareth did not accept Jesus. Do we accept those who speak out for what is right and good?
General Intercessions
– That our Church may keep listening to the prophets among us, for the Spirit speaks through them, we pray:
– That God's people may keep listening to the words Jesus speaks in our assemblies as a word spoken to each of us today, we pray:
– That in the silence of the voiceless, God's people may hear the voice of the Lord crying out for justice and compassion, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
you ask of us to accept with faith
your word spoken by your messengers
and above all by your living Word, Jesus Christ.
Make us truly recognize and welcome
the humble coming of your Son
in these simple signs of bread and wine.
Let his word and that of his prophets
take root in us and change us
into a community in which prevail
the love, the justice, and the forgiveness
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, loving Father,
you let us share in your strength
through Jesus, your Son in our midst.
Let his Word that we have heard
come true in our lives
and give us the courage to proclaim it
without false shame or fear
to anyone willing to listen.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.
Blessing
We have heard Jesus: let his Word not fall on deaf ears. And may we not keep it for ourselves, but pass it on as a challenge to create together a community in which justice and love rule with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
