Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 88 : 20, 21-22, 27-28
In the past You spoke in a vision; You said of Your faithful servant : “I have set the crown upon a mighty one; on one chosen from the people.”
“I have found David My servant, and with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand will be ever with him and My arm will sustain him.”
“He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’ I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”
Liturgical Colour : Green and Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.
What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.
Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.
Liturgical Colour : Green and Red (Martyrs)
1 Samuel 15 : 16-23
Samuel then told Saul, “Enough! Let me tell you what YHVH said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Please tell me.” So Samuel went on and said, “Though you had no confidence in yourself, you became chief of the tribes of Israel, for YHVH wanted to anoint you king over Israel.”
“Then He sent you with this command, ‘Go. Completely crush the Amalekite offenders, engaging them in battle until they are destroyed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of YHVH but instead swooped down on the spoil, doing what was evil in His sight?”
To this, Saul replied, “I have obeyed the voice of YHVH and have carried out the mission for which He sent me. I have captured Agag, king of Amalek and completely destroyed the Amalekites. If my men spared the best sheep and oxen from among those to be destroyed, it was in order to sacrifice them to YHVH, your God, in Gilgal.”
Samuel then said, “Does YHVH take as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obedience to His command? Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission better than the fat of rams. Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and stubbornness like holding onto idols. Since you have rejected the word of YHVH, He too has rejected you as king.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 39 : 2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10
With resolve I waited for the Lord; He listened and heard me beg. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”
As the scroll says of me, to do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your law is within my heart.
In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Isaiah 49 : 3, 5-6
He said to me, “You are Israel, my servant. Through you I will be known.”
And now YHVH has spoken, He who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said : “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel.”
“I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
Psalm 20 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
The king rejoices in Your strength, o Lord, and exults in Your saving help. You have granted him his desire; you have not rejected his request.
You have come to him with rich blessings; You have placed a golden crown upon his head. When he asked, You gave him life – length of days forever and ever.
He glories in the victory You gave him; You shall bestow on him splendour and majesty. You have given him eternal blessings, and gladdened him with the joy of Your presence.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)
1 Samuel 9 : 1-4, 17-19 and 1 Samuel 10 : 1a
There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a valiant Benjaminite. Kish had a son named Saul, a handsome young man who had no equal among the Israelites, for he was a head taller than any of them.
It happened that the asses of Kish were lost. So he said to his son Saul, “Take one of the boys with you and go look for the asses.” They went all over the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah but did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim and the land of Benjamin, but the asses were nowhere to be found.
So, when Samuel saw Saul, YHVH told him, “Here is the man I spoke to you about! He shall rule over My people.” Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and said, “Tell me, where is the house of the seer?”
Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me. In the morning, before you leave, I will tell you all that is in your heart.
Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head.
Liturgical Colour : White (Priests and Abbots)
Psalm 88 : 16-17, 18-19
Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.
You give us glory and power; and Your favour gives us victory. Our king is in the hands of the Lord; the God of Israel is our shield.
Liturgical Colour : White (Priests and Abbots)
1 Samuel 8 : 4-7, 10-22a
Because of this, all the chiefs of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel in Ramah. They said to him, “You are already old and your sons are not following your ways. Give us a king to rule over us as in all the other nations.
Samuel was very displeased with what they said, “Give us a king to rule us,” and he prayed to YHVH. And YHVH told him, “Give to this people all that they ask for.”
So Samuel answered those who were asking him for a king, and he told them all that YHVH said to him, “Look, these will be the demands of your king : he will take your sons and assign them to his chariot and his horses and have them run before his chariot. Some he will assign as commanders over a thousand men and commanders over fifty. Others will till his ground and reap his harvest, make his implements of war and the equipments for his chariots.”
“He will take your daughters as well to prepare perfumes, to cook and to bake for him. He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive orchards and give them to his officials.”
“He will take a tenth portion of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your menservants and maidservants, the best of your cattle and your asses for his own work.”
“He will take the tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves. When these things happen, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. But by then, YHVH will not answer you.”
The people paid no attention to all that Samuel said. They insisted, “No! We want a king to govern us as in all the other nations. Our king shall govern us, lead us and go ahead of us in our battles.”
Upon hearing all that his people said, Samuel repeated it to YHVH. But YHVH said to him, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 43 : 10-11, 14-15, 24-25
Yet now You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. You have let our enemies drive us back and our adversaries plunder us.
You have made us the butt of our neighbours’ insult, the scorn and laughingstock of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations; they look at us and shake their heads.
Awake, o Lord! Why are You asleep? Arise! Reject us not forever. Why hideYour face from us? Why forget our misery and woes?
