A reading from the letter of Samuel
2, 6:12b-15, 17-19
David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron,
came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place
within the tent David had pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people,
to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left for their homes.
From the Gospel according to Mark
3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
This word of Jesus radically renewed the family, so that the strongest, most important bond for us Christians is no longer that of blood, but of the love of Christ. His love transforms the family, freeing it from the dynamics of selfishness, which derive from the human condition and from sin; he frees it and enriches it with a new bond, even stronger but free, not dominated by the interests and conventions of kinship, but animated by gratitude, recognition, and reciprocal service. (…) Jesus Christ has called us to be part of his family, in which what counts is doing the will of the Father who is in Heaven. And this new family of Jesus, while it gives a new meaning to family relations – between spouses, parents and offspring, brothers and sisters – at the same time also “leavens” the life of the ecclesial and civil community. For example, it nurtures gratuitousness, respect, acceptance and other human values. (…) And so, in the city, in the villages, in the parishes, the word “fraternity” is not only a nice figure of speech, an ideal for dreamers; it has a foundation, Jesus Christ, who made us all brothers and sisters, and it has a path, the Gospel, that is, the way of walking in love, in service, in forgiveness, and in bearing each other’s burdens. (Francis – Address to the pilgrimage of the diocese of Asti, 5 May 2023)
Gospel and Word of the Day – 27 January 2026 –
A reading from the letter of Samuel
2, 6:12b-15, 17-19
David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron,
came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place
within the tent David had pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people,
to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left for their homes.
From the Gospel according to Mark
3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
This word of Jesus radically renewed the family, so that the strongest, most important bond for us Christians is no longer that of blood, but of the love of Christ. His love transforms the family, freeing it from the dynamics of selfishness, which derive from the human condition and from sin; he frees it and enriches it with a new bond, even stronger but free, not dominated by the interests and conventions of kinship, but animated by gratitude, recognition, and reciprocal service. (…) Jesus Christ has called us to be part of his family, in which what counts is doing the will of the Father who is in Heaven. And this new family of Jesus, while it gives a new meaning to family relations – between spouses, parents and offspring, brothers and sisters – at the same time also “leavens” the life of the ecclesial and civil community. For example, it nurtures gratuitousness, respect, acceptance and other human values. (…) And so, in the city, in the villages, in the parishes, the word “fraternity” is not only a nice figure of speech, an ideal for dreamers; it has a foundation, Jesus Christ, who made us all brothers and sisters, and it has a path, the Gospel, that is, the way of walking in love, in service, in forgiveness, and in bearing each other’s burdens. (Francis – Address to the pilgrimage of the diocese of Asti, 5 May 2023)
A reading from the letter of Samuel
2, 6:12b-15, 17-19
David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom
into the City of David amid festivities.
As soon as the bearers of the ark of the LORD had advanced six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
Then David, girt with a linen apron,
came dancing before the LORD with abandon,
as he and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD
with shouts of joy and to the sound of the horn.
The ark of the LORD was brought in and set in its place
within the tent David had pitched for it.
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
When he finished making these offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
He then distributed among all the people,
to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel,
a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake.
With this, all the people left for their homes.
From the Gospel according to Mark
3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
This word of Jesus radically renewed the family, so that the strongest, most important bond for us Christians is no longer that of blood, but of the love of Christ. His love transforms the family, freeing it from the dynamics of selfishness, which derive from the human condition and from sin; he frees it and enriches it with a new bond, even stronger but free, not dominated by the interests and conventions of kinship, but animated by gratitude, recognition, and reciprocal service. (…) Jesus Christ has called us to be part of his family, in which what counts is doing the will of the Father who is in Heaven. And this new family of Jesus, while it gives a new meaning to family relations – between spouses, parents and offspring, brothers and sisters – at the same time also “leavens” the life of the ecclesial and civil community. For example, it nurtures gratuitousness, respect, acceptance and other human values. (…) And so, in the city, in the villages, in the parishes, the word “fraternity” is not only a nice figure of speech, an ideal for dreamers; it has a foundation, Jesus Christ, who made us all brothers and sisters, and it has a path, the Gospel, that is, the way of walking in love, in service, in forgiveness, and in bearing each other’s burdens. (Francis – Address to the pilgrimage of the diocese of Asti, 5 May 2023)