Daily Mass Readings for January 14, 2024: Gospel — Jo 1, 35-42

³ and the lamp of God had not yet been extinguished. Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord as well; the ark of God was also there. 1 0 :¹ Then Samuel took a small container of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head. Samuel kissed him and said, “The Lord has chosen you to lead his people Israel! You will rule over the Lord’s people and you will deliver them from the power of the enemies who surround them. This will be your sign that the Lord has chosen you as leader over his inheritance. ² When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin’s border. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! He is asking, “What should I do about my son?”’ ³ “As you continue on from there, you will come to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel will meet you. One of them will be carrying three young goats, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a container of wine. ⁴ They will ask you how you’re doing and will give you two loaves of bread. You will accept them. ⁵ Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. ⁶ Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person. ⁷ “When these signs have taken place, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God will be with you. ⁸ You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days until I arrive and tell you what to do.” ⁹ As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his inmost person. All these signs happened on that very day. 1 ⁰ When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a company of prophets was coming out to meet him. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul and he prophesied among them. 1 ¹ When everyone who had known him previously saw him prophesying with the prophets, the people asked one another, “What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?” 1 ² A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?” 1 ³ When Saul had finished prophesying, he went to the high place. 1 ⁴ Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where did you go?” Saul replied, “To look for the donkeys. But when we realized they were lost, we went to Samuel.” 1 ⁵ Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.” 1 ⁶ Saul said to his uncle, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell him what Samuel had said about the matter of kingship. 1 ⁷ Then Samuel called the people together before the Lord at Mizpah. 1 ⁸ He said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt and I delivered you from the power of the Egyptians and from the power of all the kingdoms that oppressed you. 1 ⁹ But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your trouble and distress. You have said, “No! Appoint a king over us.” Now take your positions before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.’” 2 ⁰ Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 2 ¹ Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found. 2 ² So they inquired again of the Lord, “Has the man arrived here yet?” The Lord said, “He has hidden himself among the equipment.” 2 ³ So they ran and brought him from there. When he took his position among the people, he stood head and shoulders above them all. 2 ⁴ Then Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one whom the Lord has chosen? Indeed, there is no one like him among all the people.” All the people shouted out, “Long live the king!” 2 ⁵ Then Samuel talked to the people about how the kingship would work. He wrote it all down on a scroll and set it before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away to their homes. 2 ⁶ Even Saul went to his home in Gibeah. With him went some brave men whose hearts God had touched. 2 ⁷ But some wicked men said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. 1 9 :¹ Then Saul told his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan liked David very much. ² So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you. So be careful tomorrow morning. Find a hiding place and stay in seclusion. ³ I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are. I will speak to my father about you. When I find out what the problem is, I will let you know.” ⁴ So Jonathan spoke on David’s behalf to his father Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, his actions have been very beneficial for you. ⁵ He risked his life when he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord gave all Israel a great victory. When you saw it, you were happy. So why would you sin against innocent blood by putting David to death for no reason?” ⁶ Saul accepted Jonathan’s advice and took an oath, “As surely as the Lord lives, he will not be put to death.” ⁷ Then Jonathan called David and told him all these things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he served him as he had done formerly. ⁸ Now once again there was war. So David went out to fight the Philistines. He defeated them thoroughly, and they ran away from him. ⁹ Then an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing the lyre. 1 ⁰ Saul tried to nail David to the wall with the spear, but he escaped from Saul’s presence, and the spear drove into the wall. David escaped quickly that night. 1 ¹ Saul sent messengers to David’s house to guard it and to kill him in the morning. Then David’s wife Michal told him, “If you do not save yourself tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” 1 ² So Michal lowered David through the window, and he ran away and escaped. 1 ³ Then Michal took a household idol and put it on the bed. She put a quilt made of goats’ hair over its head and then covered the idol with a garment. 1 ⁴ When Saul sent messengers to arrest David, she said, “He’s sick.” 1 ⁵ Then Saul sent the messengers back to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me on his bed so I can kill him.” 1 ⁶ When the messengers came, they found only the idol on the bed and the quilt made of goats’ hair at its head. 1 ⁷ Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me this way by sending my enemy away? Now he has escaped!” Michal replied to Saul, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away or else I will kill you!’” 1 ⁸ Now David had run away and escaped. He went to Samuel in Ramah and told him everything that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth. 1 ⁹ It was reported to Saul saying, “David is at Naioth in Ramah.” 2 ⁰ So Saul sent messengers to capture David. When they saw a company of prophets prophesying with Samuel standing there as their leader, the Spirit of God came upon Saul’s messengers, and they also prophesied. 2 ¹ When it was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they prophesied too. So Saul sent messengers a third time, but they also prophesied. 2 ² Finally Saul himself went to Ramah. When he arrived at the large cistern that is in Secu, he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” They said, “At Naioth in Ramah.” 2 ³ So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. The Spirit of God came upon him as well, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 2 ⁴ He even stripped off his clothes and prophesied before Samuel. He lay there naked all that day and night. (For that reason it is asked, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”)

1 ³ “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 1 5 :¹ Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, ² and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. ³ For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, ⁴ and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than 5 0 ⁰ of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1 ⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain. In fact, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 1 ¹ Whether then it was I or they, this is the way we preach and this is the way you believed. 1 ² Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 1 ³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 1 ⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. 1 ⁵ Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. 1 ⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 1 ⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. 1 ⁸ Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 1 ⁹ For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone. 2 ⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 2 ¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also came through a man. 2 ² For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 2 ³ But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him. 2 ⁴ Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power. 2 ⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 2 ⁶ The last enemy to be eliminated is death. 2 ⁷ For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. 2 ⁸ And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all. 2 ⁹ Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they baptized for them? 3 ⁰ Why too are we in danger every hour? 3 ¹ Every day I am in danger of death! This is as sure as my boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 ² If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 3 ³ Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” 3 ⁴ Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame! 3 ⁵ But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 3 ⁶ Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies. 3 ⁷ And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed—perhaps of wheat or something else. 3 ⁸ But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 3 ⁹ All flesh is not the same: People have one flesh, animals have another, birds and fish another. 4 ⁰ And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly body is one sort and the earthly another. 4 ¹ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. 4 ² It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 4 ³ It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 4 ⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 4 ⁵ So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 4 ⁶ However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 4 ⁷ The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 4 ⁸ Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 4 ⁹ And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven. 5 ⁰ Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 5 ¹ Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 5 ² in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 5 ³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 5 ⁴ Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen,“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 5 ⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?Where, O death, is your sting?” 5 ⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 5 ⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 5 ⁸ So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 :¹ From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, ² to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. ³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! ⁴ I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge— ⁶ just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you— ⁷ so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 ⁰ I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose. 1 ¹ For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you. 1 ² Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.” 1 ³ Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul? 1 ⁴ I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 1 ⁵ so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! 1 ⁶ (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) 1 ⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. 1 ⁸ For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 ⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” 2 ⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? 2 ¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. 2 ² For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 2 ³ but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 2 ⁴ But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 2 ⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 2 ⁶ Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. 2 ⁷ But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 2 ⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 2 ⁹ so that no one can boast in his presence. 3 ⁰ He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 3 ¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”