First Reading II Samuel 1:1-4,11-12,19, 23-27 Gospel Mark 3:20-21

No accurate information has come down to us about the life of St. Agnes. We don’t even know when she lived. Some say she died in 304 A.D. St. Ambrose and St. Augustine tell us that she died as a martyr at the age of thirteen. Her name is revered in the Roman Canon (First Eucharistic Prayer), so she must have been very important in the early days of the Church
Each year in Rome on this feast, two lambs are blessed in the basilica built over her tomb. The word “agnes” means “lamb.” From the wool of these lambs, the pallia are woven. The pallium is the vestment worn only by residential archbishops. A new archbishop must go to Rome to receive the pallium. The pallia are kept in a chest in St. Peter’s Basilica, directly over the tomb of St. Peter.
Whatever the story of Agnes, today we pay tribute to a young and zealous person who preferred purity and virtue to life itself. May God grant that our youth today will have that same kind of faith.

The weekday readings: In the first reading, David hears of the death of Saul and Jonathan and mourns them. The reading leaves out some of the sordid parts of the story. David killed the messenger of their death. But the emphasis of the reading is on David’s lament for the king and for Jonathan. We might have expected that David would mourn for his friend Jonathan. But it was unexpected that he should mourn for Saul who had tried so many times to kill him.
The gospel also is a difficult one. Apparently the relatives of Jesus did not believe in him. They thought that he was out of his mind. Perhaps a theme for today might be: How do we act when we do not fully understand the Scriptures? First, we need to realize that the Bible is an account of the relationship of God’s people to their God. They did not always know the full truth, and at times, even knowing it, they did not follow it perfectly. Second, we cannot project our 21st century notions back to the time of Jesus. We should not be scandalized when even some of his family did not accept him. After all, even the apostles denied him when crises arose. Ultimately, God will bring everything out all right even when we don’t fully understand.