Daily Mass Readings for February 23, 2025: Gospel — Lc 6,27-38

² So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, accompanied by 3 ,000 select men of Israel, to look for David in the wilderness of Ziph. ⁷ So David and Abishai approached the army at night and found Saul lying asleep in the entrenchment with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the army were lying all around him. 9 :¹ There was a Benjaminite man named Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. Kish was a prominent person. ² He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people. ³ The donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off, so Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys.” ⁴ So Saul crossed through the hill country of Ephraim, passing through the land of Shalisha, but they did not find them. So they crossed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he crossed through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them. ⁵ When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come on, let’s head back before my father quits worrying about the donkeys and becomes anxious about us!” ⁶ But the servant said to him, “Look, there is a man of God in this town. He is highly respected. Everything that he says really happens. Now let’s go there. Perhaps he will tell us where we should go from here.” ⁷ So Saul said to his servant, “All right, we can go. But what can we bring the man, since the food in our bags is used up? We have no gift to take to the man of God. What do we have?” ⁸ The servant went on to answer Saul, “Look, I happen to have in my hand a quarter shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us where we should go.” ⁹ (Now it used to be in Israel that whenever someone went to inquire of God he would say, “Come on, let’s go to the seer.” For today’s prophet used to be called a seer.) 1 ⁰ So Saul said to his servant, “That’s a good idea! Come on. Let’s go.” So they went to the town where the man of God was. 1 ¹ As they were going up the ascent to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water. They said to them, “Is this where the seer is?” 1 ² They replied, “Yes, straight ahead! But hurry now, for he came to the town today, and the people are making a sacrifice at the high place. 1 ³ When you enter the town, you can find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people won’t eat until he arrives, for he must bless the sacrifice. Once that happens, those who have been invited will eat. Now go on up, for this is the time when you can find him.” 1 ⁴ So they went up to the town. As they were heading for the middle of the town, Samuel was coming in their direction to go up to the high place. 1 ⁵ Now the day before Saul arrived, the Lord had told Samuel: 1 ⁶ “At this time tomorrow I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin. You must consecrate him as a leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked with favor on my people. Their cry has reached me.” 1 ⁷ When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said, “Here is the man that I told you about. He will rule over my people.” 1 ⁸ As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.” 1 ⁹ Samuel replied to Saul, “I am the seer! Go up in front of me to the high place! Today you will eat with me and in the morning I will send you away. I will tell you everything that you are thinking. 2 ⁰ Don’t be concerned about the donkeys that you lost three days ago, for they have been found. Whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you, and all your father’s family?” 2 ¹ Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the smallest of Israel’s tribes, and is not my family clan the smallest of all the clans in the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you speak to me in this way?” 2 ² Then Samuel brought Saul and his servant into the room and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. There were about thirty people present. 2 ³ Samuel said to the cook, “Give me the portion of meat that I gave to you—the one I asked you to keep with you.” 2 ⁴ So the cook picked up the leg and brought it and set it in front of Saul. Samuel said, “What was kept is now set before you! Eat, for it has been kept for you for this meeting time, from the time I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day. 2 ⁵ When they came down from the high place to the town, Samuel spoke with Saul on the roof. 2 ⁶ They got up at dawn and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up, so I can send you on your way.” So Saul got up and the two of them—he and Samuel—went outside. 2 ⁷ While they were going down to the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” So he did. Samuel then said, “You remain here awhile, so I can inform you of God’s message.” 1 2 :¹ Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done everything you requested. I have given you a king. ² Now look! This king walks before you. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have walked before you from the time of my youth till the present day. ³ Here I am. Bring a charge against me before the Lord and before his chosen king. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I wronged? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe so that I would overlook something? Tell me, and I will return it to you!” ⁴ They replied, “You have not wronged us or oppressed us. You have not taken anything from the hand of anyone.” ⁵ He said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his chosen king is witness this day, that you have not found any reason to accuse me.” They said, “He is witness!” ⁶ Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is the one who chose Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt. ⁷ Now take your positions, so I may confront you before the Lord regarding all the Lord’s just actions toward you and your ancestors. ⁸ When Jacob entered Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord. The Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and they led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place. ⁹ “But they forgot the Lord their God, so he gave them into the hand of Sisera, the general in command of Hazor’s army, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 1 ⁰ Then they cried out to the Lord and admitted, ‘We have sinned, for we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the images of Ashtoreth. Now deliver us from the hands of our enemies so that we may serve you.’ 1 ¹ So the Lord sent Jerub Baal, Barak, Jephthah, and Samuel, and he delivered you from the hands of the enemies all around you, and you were able to live securely. 1 ² “When you saw that King Nahash of the Ammonites was advancing against you, you said to me, ‘No! A king will rule over us’—even though the Lord your God is your king. 1 ³ Now look! Here is the king you have chosen—the one that you asked for! Look, the Lord has given you a king. 1 ⁴ If you fear the Lord, serving him and obeying him and not rebelling against what he says, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God, all will be well. 1 ⁵ But if you don’t obey the Lord and rebel against what the Lord says, the hand of the Lord will be against both you and your king. 1 ⁶ “So now, take your positions and watch this great thing that the Lord is about to do in your sight. 1 ⁷ Is this not the time of the wheat harvest? I will call on the Lord so that he makes it thunder and rain. Realize and see what a great sin you have committed before the Lord by asking for a king for yourselves.” 1 ⁸ So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord made it thunder and rain that day. All the people were very afraid of both the Lord and Samuel. 1 ⁹ All the people said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God on behalf of us—your servants—so we won’t die, for we have added to all our sins by asking for a king.” 2 ⁰ Then Samuel said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. You have indeed sinned. However, don’t turn aside from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 2 ¹ You should not turn aside after empty things that can’t profit and can’t deliver, since they are empty. 2 ² The Lord will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. The Lord was pleased to make you his own people. 2 ³ As far as I am concerned, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you! I will instruct you in the way that is good and upright. 2 ⁴ However, fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Just look at the great things he has done for you! 2 ⁵ But if you continue to do evil, both you and your king will be swept away.” 1 3 :¹ Saul was [thirty] years old when he began to reign; he ruled over Israel for [forty] years. ² Saul selected for himself 3 ,000 men from Israel. Of these 2 ,000 were with Saul at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel; the remaining 1 ,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. He sent all the rest of the people back home. ³ Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost that was at Geba and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul alerted all the land saying, “Let the Hebrews pay attention!” ⁴ All Israel heard this message, “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel is repulsive to the Philistines!” So the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. ⁵ Meanwhile the Philistines gathered to battle with Israel. Then they went up against Israel with 3 ,000 chariots, 6 ,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, and cisterns. ⁷ Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. ⁸ He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. 1 ⁰ Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. 1 ¹ But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me, and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 1 ² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering.” 1 ³ Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed the commandment that the Lord your God gave you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 1 ⁴ But now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him, and the Lord has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.” 1 ⁵ Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin. Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about 6 0 ⁰ men. 1 ⁶ Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash. 1 ⁷ Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual; 1 ⁸ another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboyim in the direction of the desert. 1 ⁹ A blacksmith could not be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, “This will prevent the Hebrews from making swords and spears.” 2 ⁰ So all Israel had to go down to the Philistines in order to get their plowshares, cutting instruments, axes, and sickles sharpened. 2 ¹ They charged two-thirds of a shekel to sharpen plowshares and cutting instruments, and one-third of a shekel to sharpen picks and axes, and to set ox goads. 2 ² So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them. 2 ³ A garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash. 2 2 :¹ So David left there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s family learned about it, they went down there to him. ² All those who were in trouble or owed someone money or were discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. He had about 4 0 ⁰ men with him. ³ Then David went from there to Mizpah in Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God is going to do for me.” ⁴ So he had them stay with the king of Moab; they stayed with him the whole time that David was in the stronghold. ⁵ Then Gad the prophet said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Go to the land of Judah.” So David left and went to the forest of Hereth. ⁶ But Saul found out the whereabouts of David and the men who were with him. Now Saul was sitting at Gibeah under the tamarisk tree at an elevated location with his spear in hand and all his servants stationed around him. ⁷ Saul said to his servants, “Listen up, you Benjaminites! Is Jesse’s son giving fields and vineyards to all of you? Or is he making all of you commanders and officers? ⁸ For all of you have conspired against me! No one informs me when my own son makes an agreement with the son of Jesse. Not one of you feels sorry for me or informs me that my own son has commissioned my own servant to hide in ambush against me, as is the case today!” ⁹ But Doeg the Edomite, who had stationed himself with the servants of Saul, replied, “I saw this son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob. 1 ⁰ He inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions. He also gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.” 1 ¹ Then the king arranged for a meeting with the priest Ahimelech son of Ahitub and all the priests of his father’s house who were at Nob. They all came to the king. 1 ² Then Saul said, “Listen, son of Ahitub.” He replied, “Here I am, my lord.” 1 ³ Saul said to him, “Why have you conspired against me, you and this son of Jesse? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God on his behalf, so that he opposes me and waits in ambush, as is the case today!” 1 ⁴ Ahimelech replied to the king, “Who among all your servants is faithful like David? He is the king’s son-in-law, the leader of your bodyguard, and honored in your house. 1 ⁵ Was it just today that I began to inquire of God on his behalf? Far be it from me! The king should not accuse his servant or any of my father’s house, for your servant is not aware of all this—not in whole or in part!” 1 ⁶ But the king said, “You will surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house!” 1 ⁷ Then the king said to the messengers who were stationed beside him, “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, for they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, but they did not inform me.” But the king’s servants refused to harm the priests of the Lord. 1 ⁸ Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” So Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests. He killed on that day 8 ⁵ men who wore the linen ephod. 1 ⁹ As for Nob, the city of the priests, Doeg struck down men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys, and sheep—all with the sword. 2 ⁰ But one of the sons of Ahimelech son of Ahitub escaped and fled to David. His name was Abiathar. 2 ¹ Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. 2 ² Then David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day when Doeg the Edomite was there that he would certainly tell Saul! I am guilty of all the deaths in your father’s house. 2 ³ Stay with me. Don’t be afraid. Whoever seeks my life is seeking your life as well. You are secure with me.” 2 3 :¹ They told David, “The Philistines are fighting in Keilah and are looting the threshing floors.” ² So David asked the Lord, “Should I go and strike down these Philistines?” The Lord said to David, “Go, strike down the Philistines and deliver Keilah.” ³ But David’s men said to him, “We are afraid while we are still here in Judah. What will it be like if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” ⁴ So David asked the Lord once again. But again the Lord replied, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” ⁵ So David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines. He took away their cattle and thoroughly defeated them. David delivered the inhabitants of Keilah. ⁶ Now when Abiathar son of Ahimelech had fled to David at Keilah, he had brought with him an ephod. ⁷ When Saul was told that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has boxed himself into a corner by entering a city with two barred gates.” ⁸ So Saul mustered all his army to go down to Keilah and besiege David and his men. ⁹ When David realized that Saul was planning to harm him, he told Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” 1 ⁰ Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, your servant has clearly heard that Saul is planning to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me. 1 ¹ Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, please inform your servant.”Then the Lord said, “He will come down.” 1 ² David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah deliver me and my men into Saul’s hand?” The Lord said, “They will deliver you over.” 1 ³ So David and his men, who numbered about 60 0 , set out and left Keilah; they moved around from one place to another. When told that David had escaped from Keilah, Saul called a halt to his expedition. 1 ⁴ David stayed in the strongholds that were in the desert and in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. Saul looked for him all the time, but God did not deliver David into his hands. 1 ⁵ David realized that Saul had come out to seek his life; at that time David was in Horesh in the wilderness of Ziph. 1 ⁶ Then Jonathan son of Saul left and went to David at Horesh. He encouraged him through God. 1 ⁷ He said to him, “Don’t be afraid! For the hand of my father Saul cannot find you. You will rule over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul realizes this.” 1 ⁸ When the two of them had made a covenant before the Lord, David stayed at Horesh, but Jonathan went to his house. 1 ⁹ Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Isn’t David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 2 ⁰ Now at your own discretion, O king, come down. Delivering him into the king’s hand will be our responsibility.” 2 ¹ Saul replied, “May you be blessed by the Lord, for you have had compassion on me. 2 ² Go and make further arrangements. Determine precisely where he is and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning. 2 ³ Locate precisely all the places where he hides and return to me with dependable information. Then I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will find him among all the thousands of Judah.” 2 ⁴ So they left and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the rift valley to the south of Jeshimon. 2 ⁵ Saul and his men went to look for him. But David was informed and went down to the rock and stayed in the wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard about it, he pursued David in the wilderness of Maon. 2 ⁶ Saul went on one side of the mountain, while David and his men went on the other side of the mountain. David was hurrying to get away from Saul, but Saul and his men were surrounding David and his men to capture them. 2 ⁷ But a messenger came to Saul saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!” 2 ⁸ So Saul stopped pursuing David and went to confront the Philistines. Therefore that place is called Sela Hammahlekoth. 2 9 (24:1 ) Then David went up from there and stayed in the strongholds of En Gedi.

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.