Wednesday 4 February 2026 Wednesday, 4th Week in Ordinary Time – Year II Antiphons on page 773 and Readings on page 787 of the Daily Missal

Send us Fan MailEntrance Antiphon: cf. Psalm 105:47Save us, O Lord our God! And gather us from the nations, to give thanks to your holy name, and make it our glory to praise you. First Reading: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17A reading from the second Book of SamuelIn those days: King David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, who were with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.”And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand.But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, I pray you, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.” And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’”So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three monthsbefore your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning until the appointed time; and there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men. And when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented of the evil, and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was smiting the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray you, be against me and against my father’s house.”The Word of the LordResponsorial psalm: Ps 32:1-2.5.6.7R./ O Lord, forgive the guilt of my sin.Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,whose sin is remitted.Blessed the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,in whose spirit is no guile.To you I have acknowledged my sin; my guilt I did not hideI said, “I will confess my transgression to the Lord.”And you have forgiven the guilt of my sin.So let each faithful one pray to you in the time of need.The floods of water may reach high,but such a one they shall not reach.You are a hiding place for me;you keep me safe from distress;you surround me with cries of deliverance.R./ O Lord, forgive the guilt of my sin.Alleluia, Alleluia.My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; and I know them, and they follow me.Alleluia.Gospel: Mark 6:1-6A reading from the holy Gospel according to MarkAt that time:Jesus came to his own country;and his disciples followed him.And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue;and many who heard him were astonished, saying,“Where did this man get all this?What is the wisdom give