Daily Readings

April 24, 2025

Thursday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 3:11–26

In those days: While the lame man clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name – by faith in his name – has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 8:2ab and 5, 6–7a, 7b–9

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic

is your name through all the earth!

what is man that you should keep him in mind,

the son of man that you care for him?

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

Yet you have made him little lower than the angels;

with glory and honour you crowned him,

gave him power over the works of your hands.

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

You put all things under his feet,

All of them, sheep and oxen,

yes, even the cattle of the fields,

birds of the air, and fish of the sea

that make their way through the waters.

Response: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name through all the earth! (Or: Alleluia)

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

Luke 24:35–48

At that time: The two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marvelling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

Reflection

The disciples, when initially confronted with Jesus, are filled with doubt and fear. They think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus responds by asking them to examine His hands and feet, where the wounds from the crucifixion were. This direct encounter with the scars of His crucifixion serves as undeniable proof of His identity. It reassures the disciples and dispels their doubts and fears and fills them with courage to be witnesses in the days to come. Today’s Gospel passage reinforces the reality of the resurrection, emphasises the importance of Scripture, commissioning believers to be witnesses, and highlights the transformative power of forgiveness and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It challenges us to embrace our role as witnesses of the risen Christ and to participate in the mission of proclaiming the Good News to all nations.

Saint Fidelis - Martyr (1576-1622)

A native of the town of Sigmaringen in south-western Germany, where his father was mayor, Mark Roy practised law for six years and, famed for his scrupulous honesty and life of mortification, made himself a name as the “advocate of the poor”. Corruption in the law courts however caused him at 34 to abandon his profession in favour of the priesthood; then, selling all his possessions for the benefit of the poor, he joined the Capuchins at Freiburg in 1612, taking the name of Fidelis.

Fidelis’ burning zeal, coupled with his oratorical and writing skills, was directed especially towards the conversion of those who had fallen prey to Calvinism and Zwinglianism. As a result of his manner of reforming a Benedictine monastery at Pfäefers in 1621, and his missionary work among the Zwinglians in the Swiss Canton, Pope Gregory XV, in 1622, made him head of the Grisons missions.

He travelled in absolute poverty, depending solely on Providence for his daily needs. Armed with his Crucifix, Bible, Breviary and the Capuchin rule, he evangelized freely, oblivious to the threats and insults from the Protestants, at times focusing his attention on the city magistrates in lengthy conferences lasting into the night, the conversion and public recantation of the most influential citizen resulting in numerous other conversions, further alarming the Protestant ministers who roused public ire by imputing political motives to his mission. Thus, in 1622, he was dragged from the pulpit by an angry mob and, on his refusal to apostatize, was slain. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.

Reflection: “The Catholic religion is the faith of all ages” (Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen).

Daily Readings

April 23, 2025

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 3:1–10

In those days: Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 105:1–2, 3–4, 6–7, 8–9

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

Give thanks to the Lord; proclaim his name.

Make known his deeds among the peoples.

O sing to him, sing his praise;

tell all his wonderful works!

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.

Turn to the Lord and his strength;

constantly seek his face. 

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

O children of Abraham, his servant,

O descendants of the Jacob he chose,

he, the Lord, is our God;

his judgments are in all the earth. 

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

He remembers his covenant forever:

the promise he ordained for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

Response: Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice. (Or: Alleluia)

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

Luke 24:13–35

That very day [the first day of the week,] two of the disciples of Jesus were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognising him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is towards evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Reflection

Jesus gently rebukes the Emmaus disciples for their spiritual blindness and “foolishness” in not believing the prophets’ words about the Messiah’s suffering and glory. Their ignorance of the Scriptures demonstrates how a lack of knowledge or understanding can contribute to spiritual blindness. Without a foundation in God’s Word, we may fail to recognise His hand at work in our lives. Thus, we reflect today on the themes of spiritual blindness, revelation, and the transformative power of recognizing the resurrected Christ.  On our journey of faith, Jesus is often present with us, even when we may not initially recognise Him. Through Scripture, the breaking of bread, and moments of revelation, He opens our eyes to His presence and His redemptive work in our lives.

Saint Adalbert of Prague - Bishop, martyr (956-997)

Christened Vojtech at birth in the princely Slavnik family of Libice in East Bohemia, Adalbert was trained in theology at Magdeburg under its first Archbishop, Saint Adalbert, whose name he eventually took at his “confirmation”.

The first Czech occupant of the See of Prague, Adalbert was a man of vibrant energy and zeal and, much given to austerity, strove to reform the clergy, suppress abuses of various kinds and eliminate pagan practices, as also to spread Christianity throughout Bohemia and neighbouring Hungary. However, distressed by the superficial attitude evident towards the Faith, Adalbert left Prague in 982 for Rome, where he became a Benedictine monk.

Persuaded by the Pope he returned to Prague in 992; but disillusioned with the lack of change in the situation, he left Prague again in 995 only to learn of the brutal massacre of the Slavnik family and its supporters that followed. Now refused permission to return to his See, he obtained Papal release from his episcopal obligations and dedicated himself entirely to missionary activity, becoming a close friend and trusted adviser of the Roman Emperor, Otto III, on matters concerning the progressive Christianization of the Slavs.

True to the meaning of his baptismal name, Adalbert was to truly prove “a consolation to the army” of Jesus Christ. Invited by the Polish king, Boleslas I the Great, he set about organizing missionary work among the heathen Prussians on the Baltic coast where he was martyred in 997. His body, ransomed by Boleslas, was buried at Gniezno in Poland and later transferred to Prague in 1039.

Reflection: “Fortitude is a moral and supernatural virtue which makes a person generous and fearless in the pursuit of holiness, in spite of difficulties, fear, force and even death” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

April 22, 2025

Tuesday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts 2:36–41

[On the day of Pentecost,] Peter said to the Jews, “Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33:4–5, 18–19, 20 and 22

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

The word of the Lord is faithful, 

and all his works to be trusted. 

The Lord loves justice and right, 

and his merciful love fills the earth.

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

Yes, the Lord’s eyes are on those who fear him, 

who hope in his merciful love, 

to rescue their souls from death, 

to keep them alive in famine. 

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

Our soul is waiting for the Lord. 

He is our help and our shield. 

May your merciful love be upon us, 

as we hope in you, O Lord. 

Response: His merciful love fills the earth. (Or: Alleluia)

Alleluia

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

John 20:11–18

At that time: Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and that he had said these things to her.

Reflection 

When Mary Magdalene initially encounters Jesus at the tomb, she doesn’t recognize him. However, when Jesus calls her by name, her recognition is immediate. This moment underscores the deeply personal nature of Jesus’ relationship with His followers. He knows each of them intimately and calls them by name. This recognition speaks of the idea that faith is not a generic, one-size-fits-all experience but a deeply personal and individualized connection with Christ. Today’s gospel passage offers a powerful reflection on the human experience of grief, the recognition of the risen Christ through a personal encounter, and the transformational impact of encountering the Living Lord. It reminds us of the personal and intimate nature of our faith in Jesus and the call to share our testimonies with others, spreading the message of hope, joy, and transformation that comes through Him.

Saint Soter - Pope, Martyr (-175)

Saint Soter was a native of Fondi near Gaeta in Italy. It was upon the death of Saint Anicetus in 166, that Soter was raised to the Papacy thus becoming the 12th in the succession of Popes. One of the rising heretical sects which this Pope had to combat during his 9-year reign was that of Montanus, a Phrygian, who taught that certain sins could never be forgiven and claimed that he was God’s messenger for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. To Saint Soter is also attributed a precept that all the faithful, excepting only such as were guilty of a notable crime, should receive Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday.

A letter which the Pope sent to the persecuted Church at Corinth has unfortunately been lost, but an extant fragment of the reverent reply of Saint Dionysius, the Bishop of Corinth, is interesting for its reference to “the abundance which the Pope has sent to the saints, and the consolation which he has offered with words of comfort to the brethren who came to him, as a loving father would to his children.” “Today, the Lord’s day, we have read your letter and we will always wish to re-read it and to be admonished, the same as by the earlier letter which was sent to us by Clement.”

Saint Soter is believed to have suffered martyrdom in 175 under Marcus Aurelius.

Reflection: “Unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

Daily Readings

April 21, 2025

Monday in the Octave of Easter

Reading 1

Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22–33

[On the day of Pentecost,] Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 16:1–2a and 5, 7–8, 9–10, 11

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup;

you yourself who secure my lot.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,

who even at night directs my heart.

I keep the Lord before me always;

with him at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

And so, my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;

even my flesh shall rest in hope.

For you will not abandon my soul to hell,

nor let your holy one see corruption.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

You will show me the path of life,

the fullness of joy in your presence,

at your right hand, bliss forever.

Response: Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Or: Alleluia)

Sequence  (optional)

Victimae paschali laudes

Christians, to the Paschal Victim
            Offer your thankful praises!
A Lamb the sheep redeems;
            Christ, who only is sinless,
            Reconciles sinners to the Father.
Death and life have contended in that combat stupendous:
            The Prince of life, who died, reigns immortal.
Speak, Mary, declaring
            What you saw, wayfaring.
“The tomb of Christ, who is living,
            The glory of Jesus’ resurrection;
bright angels attesting,
            The shroud and napkin resting.
Yes, Christ my hope is arisen;
            to Galilee he goes before you.”
Christ indeed from death is risen, our new life obtaining.
            Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
            Amen. Alleluia.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it and be glad.

Gospel

Matthew 28:8–15

At that time: The women departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Reflection

Today, we celebrate the joy of the resurrection and bear witness to the transformative power of the risen Lord in our lives and the world. In today’s gospel passage, the women who witnessed the angel at the tomb and later encountered the risen Jesus provided testimony that confirmed the reality of His resurrection. Their firsthand accounts served as credible and powerful evidence. The women were eyewitnesses to the angel’s message and their encounter with the risen Jesus. Their testimony was based on what they had personally seen and experienced, making it a compelling and reliable account. Today’s gospel passage offers a rich context for reflection on the resurrection of Jesus. It highlights the emotional impact of encountering the risen Christ, the power of truth, the importance of testimony, and the challenges of opposition and rejection.

Saint Anselm - Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church (1033-1109)

Born in Aosta in the Italian Alps, Saint Anselm came from the noble Lombard family. After the death of his mother, Ermenberga, a pious Burgundian woman, he fled home on account of his father’s violence and harshness. In 1060 he took the Benedictine habit at Bec (Normandy), where his illustrious countryman Blessed Lanfranc had started his famous school. Outstanding for his learning, he was within a span of three years made Prior and, after another 15 years, Abbot.

In 1093 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury, in the hope that he would tackle the encroachments of King William the Red. Reconciliation was effected in 1107, when the king relinquished his claim to investing Bishops and Abbots.

Gentle and self-effacing by nature, Anselm was unyielding on matters of principle. A man of fearless zeal, he strongly denounced the slave trade and staunchly defended the Filioque (“and from the Son”), a doctrine that indicated matter-of-factly that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son.

His thinking as evident in his philosophical and theological works, the Monologium and the Proslogium, with the ontological argument for the existence of God as also Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man), a dialogue with a non-Christian have had such a deep and abiding influence upon the Church’s philosophy and theology as to earn him the titles of “Father of Scholasticism” and “Doctor of the Universal Church”. Anselm died at Canterbury in 1109.

Reflection: “O Lord, our God, grant us the grace to desire you with our whole heart, that in desiring you we may seek and find you; that finding you we may love you, and loving you we may despise the sins from which you have redeemed us” (Saint Anselm).

Daily Readings

April 16, 2025

Wednesday of Holy Week

Reading 1

Isaiah 50:4–9a

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backwards. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty?

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 69:8–10, 21–22, 31 and 33–34

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

It is for you that I suffer taunts,

that shame has covered my face.

To my own kin I have become an outcast,

a stranger to the children of my mother.

Zeal for your house consumes me,

and taunts against you fall on me.

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

Taunts have broken my heart;

here I am in anguish.

I looked for solace, but there was none;

for consolers – not one could I find.

For food they gave me gall;

in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

Then I will praise God’s name with a song;

I will glorify him with thanksgiving:

The poor when they see it will be glad,

and God-seeking hearts will revive;

for the Lord listens to the needy,

and does not spurn his own in their chains.

Response: In your great mercy, answer me, O Lord, for a time of your favour.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King; you alone are compassionate with our faults.

Gospel

Matthew 26:14–25

At that time: One of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where would you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage invites us to reflect on the themes of betrayal, temptation, loyalty, and the sovereignty of God. Judas was a member of Jesus’ inner circle. His decision to betray Jesus is a stark reminder that betrayal and unfaithfulness can come from unexpected sources, even from those who are closest to us. We are challenged today to examine our loyalty and commitment to Christ and consider the potential for betrayal in each of us. We need to examine our own choices, seeking faithfulness and integrity in our relationship with Christ and with others. In the end, we are reminded of the profound grace and forgiveness that Christ offers, even in the face of betrayal.

Saint Marie Bernarde Soubirous - Virgin (1844-1879)

The eldest of 9 children of Francoise [a miller] and Louise Soubirous, Sister Marie-Bernarde Soubirous, popularly known as Bernadette, was born at Nevers in Lourdes, at the foothills of the French Pyrenees.

In 1858, Bernadette, together with her sister Marie and a friend named Jeanne, were out  looking for firewood for the family hearth when, in a grotto of Massabielle along the river Gave, she beheld a vision of Our Lady which she described to her companions thus: “A Lady of unspeakable beauty, dressed in white, drawn in at the waist by a blue sash. She had a white veil on her head and falling down her back.... Her feet were bare and there was a rose on each of them. On her right arm, a rosary of white beads... whose chain was golden, all shining like the two roses on her feet.”

Mary, who appeared to and conversed with Bernadette on 17 other occasions, said: “I promise to make you happy, if not in this world, at least in the next” (18 February); “Penance! Penance! Penance!” (24 February); “Go and tell the Priests that a chapel must be built here” (27 February); “I am the Immaculate Conception” (25 March).

Bernadette endured much opposition from family, civil authorities and clergy alike, all of whom refused to believe her. The Bishop of Tarbes appointed a Commission of ecclesiastical and medical experts to inquire into the reality and nature of the apparitions and miracles that had occurred at Lourdes. Before the reports of the commission were even approved by the Bishop three years later, the fame of Lourdes had spread worldwide, its position as a place of pilgrimage firmly established!

In 1866, Bernadette commenced her novitiate at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Nevers, and in 1878, the year she made her perpetual vows, she renewed before the representatives of the Bishops of Tarbes and Nevers the depositions she had made 20 years before, regarding the grotto apparitions. Bernadette died of Asthma and TB in 1879 with a smile on her face at her impending encounter with her “Lady in White” and was canonized in 1933.

Reflection: “You must learn to love suffering. Our Lord gives his crown of thorns to his friends. Seek nothing better.” “I am happier in my bed with my crucifix, than a queen on her throne” (Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous).

Daily Readings

April 15, 2025

Tuesday of Holy Week

Reading 1

Isaiah 49:1–6

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him – for I am honoured in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength – he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Psalm

Psalm 71:1–2, 3–4a, 5–6ab, 15ab and 17

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge; 

let me never be put to shame. 

In your justice, rescue me, free me; 

incline your ear to me and save me. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

Be my rock, my constant refuge, 

a mighty stronghold to save me, 

for you are my rock, my stronghold. 

My God, free me from the hand 

of the wicked. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope, 

my trust, O Lord, from my youth. 

On you I have leaned from my birth; 

from my mother’s womb, 

you have been my help. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

My mouth will tell of your justice,

and all the day long of your salvation, 

O God, you have taught me from my youth, 

and I proclaim your wonders still. 

Response: My mouth will tell of your salvation, Lord.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King, obedient to the Father; you were led to your crucifixion like a gentle lamb to the slaughter. 

Gospel

John 13:21–33, 36–38

At that time: [Jesus, reclining with his disciples,] was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the money bag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast”, or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterwards.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow till you have denied me three times.

Reflection 

Today’s gospel passage invites us to reflect on themes of love, betrayal, discipleship, and trust. It calls us to emulate Christ’s sacrificial love in our interactions with others and to recognize that our love for one another is a powerful testimony of our faith in Him. It also emphasizes love as a defining mark of discipleship. It calls all Christians to love one another in a manner that reflects Christ’s sacrificial and selfless love. This love is not merely an internal feeling but is manifested through actions and service to others. Our love serves as a powerful testimony to the world of our identity as followers of Jesus.

Saint Benedict Joseph Labre - Confessor (1748-1783)

The eldest of 15 children of a well-to-do peasant of Amettes, near Boulogne in France, Benedict studied for some years with an uncle who was the Vicar of Erin until he realized that he lacked a priestly vocation and felt called to the cloister. However, he was successively turned away by the Carthusians, the Trappists and the Cistercians, by which time he was 22. 

With a pilgrimage to Rome began his unique life as “the holy tramp”—13 years of continuous pilgrimage to the great shrines of; maintaining a strict fast and abstinence, he begged along the way, sharing the little he received by way of food and alms with the poor and the needy. His baggage comprised only his New Testament, Breviary, “The Imitation of Christ” and some books of prayer. Wrapped in prayer and peace, he remained perennially cheerful. 

Seven years of pilgrimages later, after becoming a Franciscan tertiary, he stayed on in Rome but, having no cell or fixed abode, he took his modicum of sleep amidst the ruins of the Colosseum where, in the dead of night, he would implore God’s mercy with outstretched arms before the Stations of the Cross. He frequented churches that held the 40 Hours’ devotion and spent hours in ecstasy, thus becoming known as the “beggar of perpetual adoration”. 

When he died during Holy Week 1783, aged 35, such crowds poured into Santa Maria dei Monti where he “lay in state” that the Easter Mass could not be sung and the military was called in to maintain order. The hundred-and-thirty-six miraculous cures attributed to his intercession within the first three months lead to his canonization in 1883.

Reflection: “God is so good and merciful, that to obtain heaven it is sufficient to ask it of him from our hearts” (Saint Benedict Joseph Labre).

Daily Readings

April 14, 2025

Monday of Holy Week

Reading 1

Isaiah 42:1–7

Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 27:1, 2, 3, 13–14

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

whom should I dread?

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

When those who do evil draw near

to devour my flesh,

it is they, my enemies and foes,

who stumble and fall.

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Though an army encamp against me,

my heart would not fear.

Though war break out against me,

even then would I trust.

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong;

be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Verse Before the Gospel

Hail to you, our King; you alone are compassionate with our faults.

Gospel

John 12:1–11

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denari and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage invites us to reflect on the themes of love, sacrifice, worship, and the impending crucifixion of Jesus. We are encouraged to examine our attitudes and actions in the light of Mary’s extravagant devotion and to consider how we can offer our best to honour Christ in our lives. Judas’ reaction to Mary’s worship is in stark contrast. He criticises her, claiming that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. However, John points out that Judas didn’t truly care for the poor but was motivated by greed. This contrast highlights the sincerity and purity of Mary’s worship in contrast to Judas’ hypocrisy.

Saint Lydwine

Saint Lydwine is the patroness of sickness. Lydwine of Schiedam was born at Schiedam, Holland, one of nine children of a working man. After an injury in her youth, she became bedridden and suffered the rest of her life from various illnesses and diseases. She experienced mystical gifts, including supernatural visions of heaven, hell, purgatory, apparitions of Christ, and the stigmata. Thomas a Kempis wrote a biography of her. She was canonized Pope Leo XIII in 1890.

Lydwine suffered a fall while ice skating in 1396, when a friend collided with her and caused her to break a rib on the right side. From this injury, she never recovered. An abscess formed inside her body which later burst and caused Lydwine extreme suffering. Eventually, she was to suffer a series of mysterious illnesses which in retrospect seemed to be from the hands of God. Lydwine heroically accepted her plight as the will of God and offered up her sufferings for the sins of humanity.

Daily Readings

April 12, 2025

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Ezekiel 37:21–28

Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backsliding in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there for ever, and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst for evermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst for evermore.”

Responsorial Psalm

Jeremiah 31:10, 11–12ab, 13 

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,

and declare it in the coastlands far away;

say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Sion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord.

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

Response: The Lord will keep us, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Verse Before the Gospel

Ezekiel 18:31

Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, says the Lord, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Gospel

John 11:45–57

At that time: Many of the Jews who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage invites us to contemplate the significance of Jesus’ miraculous signs, the diversity of human responses to his ministry, and the sovereignty of God’s plan. God’s sovereign plan has been revealed in the unfolding events surrounding Lazarus’ resurrection and the growing opposition to Jesus. We see how God’s purposes are accomplished, even in the face of human resistance, and that His ultimate plan is centred on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Let us reflect on our faith and willingness to follow Christ, even when it requires surrendering our desires for power and control.

Saint Gemma Galgani - Virgin (1878-1903)

Gemma was the fourth of 8 children whose parents Enrico and Aurelia, were extremely devout. Aurelia died in 1886, having planted in Gemma the seeds of her devotion to Our Lord’s Passion. Unable to express her emotions about the moment of intimacy between her soul and Jesus at her First Holy Communion at 9, Gemma did make good her resolve to be “always good.”

Gemma loved solitude and quiet, and was always most reserved in talking. One day, after she had received Holy Communion, Our Lord said to her: “Gemma, I expect you on Calvary, that Mount towards which you have been led.” After a long, painful illness patiently borne, she made a vow of chastity and in 1899, Saint Gabriel appeared to her, promising to make the novena in honour of Saint Margaret Mary with her, which he did each night. After a good confession and receiving Holy Communion, she arose completely cured. Her attempt at nun-hood was thwarted by the condition of her health.

Gemma received the sacred “stigmata” on the vigil of the Feast of the Sacred Heart in 1899 apart from experiencing other phenomena of the Passion, such as the sweat of blood, the scourging, the crowning with thorns, etc. Under the spiritual direction of the Passionist Fathers, Gemma, who was also blessed with the gift of prophecy apart from ecstacies, visions and revelations, came to be widely known for her sanctity and many favours were obtained through her prayers.

Gemma died in 1903, having offered herself as a sacrifice for sinners, particularly for unworthy priests. She was canonized in 1940.

Reflection: “I am not at rest, nor shall I be, until Jesus has enkindled a little of his love in me!” “Love Jesus, and nothing else!” (Saint Gemma Galgani)

Daily Readings

April 11, 2025

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Jeremiah 20:10–13

I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.” But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonour will never be forgotten. O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 18:2–3a, 3bc–4, 5–6, 7

Response: In my anguish I called to the Lord, and he heard me.

I love you, Lord, my strength;

O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my saviour.

Response: In my anguish I called to the Lord, and he heard me.

My God, my rock where I take refuge;

my shield, my saving strength, my stronghold.

I cry out, “Praised be the Lord!”

and see, I am saved from my foes.

Response: In my anguish I called to the Lord, and he heard me.

The waves of death rose about me;

the torrents of destruction assailed me;

the snares of the grave surrounded me;

the traps of death confronted me.

Response: In my anguish I called to the Lord, and he heard me.

In my anguish I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry to him reached his ears.

Response: In my anguish I called to the Lord, and he heard me.

Verse Before the Gospel

See John 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are spirit and life, you have the words of eternal life.

Gospel

John 10:31–42

At that time: The Jews picked up stones again to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came and Scripture cannot be broken – do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming’, because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage reveals the intense opposition Jesus faced due to his claims of divinity. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing Jesus as the Son of God and the challenges of belief and unbelief. Profound misunderstandings and unbelief can arise when individuals fail to grasp the true nature of Jesus’ identity and teachings. It is important to approach Jesus with an open heart, willing to accept his divine claims, even when they challenge our existing beliefs and traditions. Let us reflect on our understanding of Jesus’ identity and the significance of faith in Him as the divine Saviour.

Saint Stanislaus - Bishop, Martyr (1030-1079)

Saint Stanislaus was born in Szczepanow near Krakow on 26 July 1030.  His parents, members of the Polish nobility, were devout Catholics. Following their death Stanislaus distributed his inheritance among the poor. Not long after his ordination, he was appointed canon and preacher at the cathedral of Krakow, and then Vicar General.

Humble to the core, he accepted his election as Bishop of Krakow in 1072 only upon the express command of Pope Alexander II. An exemplary shepherd, he stood fearlessly for right and justice, never hesitating to denounce vice even in high places. His inability to sway King Boleslas II of Poland from the scandal he was causing by the cruel treatment of his subjects and by his unbridled lust to the excommunication of the king and the suspension of all public services in the cathedral, he himself retiring to the chapel of Saint Michael in a suburb of Krakow.

The king was furious and, in 1079, sent some of his knights to kill the holy bishop. But when they did not dare to carry out the command, he himself burst into the chapel where Stanislaus was celebrating Mass and split his head with his sword. As a result, Pope Gregory VII laid all Poland under an interdict. Consequently, in 1081, Boleslas was dethroned and exiled, and two years later died in Hungary as a penitent with the Benedictines.

Stanislaus, whose body was enshrined in the main altar of the Cathedral in 1089 by his successor, was canonized in 1253 at Assisi, the first Polish saint ever and principal patron of Poland.

Reflection: “Fathers and mothers owe four things to their children: maintenance, instruction, correction and good example” (Saint John Baptist de la Salle).

Daily Readings

April 10, 2025

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Genesis 17:3–9

In those days: Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 105:4–5, 6–7, 8–9

Response: The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

Turn to the Lord and his strength;

constantly seek his face.

Remember the wonders he has done,

his marvels and his words

of judgment.

Response: The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

O children of Abraham, his servant,

O descendants of the Jacob he chose,

he, the Lord, is our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

Response: The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

He remembers his covenant forever:

the promise he ordained

for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

Response: The Lord remembers his covenant forever.

Verse Before the Gospel

Psalm 95:8

O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts as at Meribah.

Gospel

John 8:51–59

At that time: Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage presents a powerful interaction between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, highlighting his promises of eternal life, his divine identity, and the challenges of comprehending spiritual truths. It calls us to reflect on our own beliefs and openness to God’s revelation through Jesus Christ. Eternal life is a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ. It extends beyond physical death, assuring believers of an everlasting relationship with God. It also underscores the profound truth of Jesus’ divine identity and the significance of faith and obedience in receiving this gift.

Saint Fulbert - Bishop, Confessor (c 960-1029

Born in the Picardy region of France, Saint Fulbert studied at the Benedictine abbey at Reims where he had as his instructor the famous Gerbert of Aurillac, who in 999 was to become Pope Sylvester II. Fulbert was the founder of the cathedral school at Chartres, which before long became the most renowned institution of its kind in France, attracting as he did students even from Germany, Italy and England. In appreciation of his wisdom and learning, his pupils styled him the “Venerable Socrates”.

For the last 22 years of his life he was Bishop of Chartres and as such laboured at the reform of the clergy and against the practice of assigning church benefices to laymen; he did not hesitate to even rebuke some of his fellow Bishops for their worldly-minded, military adventures. A personal friend of Saint Odilo of Cluny, of Blessed Richard of Saint Vannes, and of Saint Abbo of Fleury, he wholeheartedly endorsed their great monastic reforms.

Saint Fulbert is also hailed as a poet. He composed a number of hymns to Our Lady, for whom he had a special devotion, and introduced the feast of her Nativity in his diocese. He died on 10 April 1029 and was buried in the monastery church of Saint Pere-de-Chartres.

Reflection: “To discipline the intellect, one must study what is more necessary and do so systematically, constantly and in a supernatural spirit, that is, with the desire to know, love and practise the truth” (Blessed James Alberione).

Daily Readings

April 9, 2025

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Daniel 3:14–20, 24/91–25/92, 28/95

In those days: Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counsellors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

Responsorial Psalm

Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Response: You are to be praised and highly exalted forever!

“Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors,

and to be praised and highly exalted forever;

and blessed is your glorious, holy name

and to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.

Response: You are to be praised and highly exalted forever!

Blessed are you in the shrine of your holy glory

and to be extolled and highly glorified forever.

Response: You are to be praised and highly exalted forever!

Blessed are you, who sits upon cherubim and looks upon the deeps,

and to be praised and highly exalted forever.

Response: You are to be praised and highly exalted forever!

Blessed are you upon the throne of your kingdom

and to be extolled and highly exalted forever.

Response: You are to be praised and highly exalted forever!

Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven

and to be sung and glorified forever.

Response: You are to be praised and highly exalted forever!

Verse Before the Gospel

See Luke 8:15

Blessed are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Gospel

John 8:31–42

At that time: Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practises sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house for ever; the son remains for ever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father – even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.”

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage prompts us to consider the nature of true discipleship, the freedom found in Jesus’ truth, and the importance of our spiritual lineage based on faith and obedience. It also calls us to reflect on Jesus’ divine identity and to recognize Him as the source of ultimate freedom and truth. Nevertheless, it reveals a dramatic shift from belief to hostility among a group of Jews who initially believed in Jesus. Their response accentuates the challenges Jesus faced in his ministry, as well as the deep-seated resistance some people have to accept him and his divine claims. It serves as a cautionary tale, urging us to approach Jesus with open hearts and a willingness to accept the truth he offers.

Saint Waldetrudis - Widow (-c 688)

Saint Waldetrudis belonged to an exceptional family of saints. Her parents were Saints Walbert and Bertilia; her sister, Saint Aldegundis, Foundress-Abbess of Maubeuge; her husband, Saint Vincent Madalgarius, and their four children Saints Landericus, Dentelinus, Madelberta and Aldetrudis. The last two named were both abbesses of Maubeuge.

Waldetrudis and Madalgarius, a nobleman by birth, lived a happy Christian married life. Sometime after the birth of their last child, Madalgarius withdrew to the abbey of Haumont which he had founded, and there took the name of Vincent.

Waldetrudis stayed on in the world two more years and then humbly withdrew to a life of poverty and simplicity at a place called “Castrilocus in Monte”, around which developed the abbey of Chateaulieu and the city of Mons (Belgium). Here she gave herself completely to works of mercy and was well known for her miracles of healing both before and after her death.

Reflection: “I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your home, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:35-36).

Daily Readings

April 8, 2025

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Numbers 21:4–9

In those days: From Mount Hor the Hebrews set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go round the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 102:2–3, 16–21

Response: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

O Lord, hear my prayer,

and let my cry come to you.

Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress.

Turn your ear toward me;

on the day when I call, speedily answer me.

Response: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

The nations shall fear the name of the Lord,

and all the earth’s kings your glory.

When the Lord shall build up Sion,

he will appear in all his glory.

Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;

he will not despise their prayers.

Response: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Let this be written for ages to come,

that a people yet unborn

may praise the Lord;

The Lord looked down from

his holy place on high,

looked down from heaven to the earth,

to hear the groans of the prisoners,

and free those condemned to die.

Response: O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Verse Before the Gospel

The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live forever.

Gospel

John 8:21–30

At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

Reflection

The tension between Jesus’ divine identity and the disbelief of the religious leaders has reached its peak. To recognize Jesus as the Son of God and the source of salvation, we need faith. We need to consider our own beliefs about Jesus and the need to embrace the truth of his identity and mission. Jesus’ declaration as the “I AM” in John’s gospel is a profound affirmation of his divine identity and mission. It links him to the god of the Old Testament and emphasizes his role as the Messiah and the source of eternal life. Understanding this statement is essential to grasping the depth of Jesus’ identity and the significance of the Christian faith.

Saint Julie Billiart - Virgin (1751-1816)

Early in life, Marie Rose Julie Billiart, the fifth of a devout family of seven children in Piccardy, France, showed a deep attachment to things spiritual and took a vow of chastity at 14. Two years later, the family business having failed miserably, Julie had to “hire out” and work for others. About 1770, radiating a contagious love of God and an eagerness to be spiritually helpful to the young around her, she was permitted to receive Holy Communion daily—something unheard of at the time.

An attempt made on her father’s life so unnerved Julie, then 23, as to leave her paralysed and bedridden for the next 30 years. Her saintly spirit intact, however, her mystical life and her intimacy with God deepened further. Repeatedly in danger of death at the hands of the Republicans during the French Revolution (1789-95) she had to be precipitously moved from place to place, Mass and Communion becoming possible only at odd intervals. Through it all Julie continued to direct her charitable works from her bed, particularly anxious to offset the evil of the day by providing, through pious friends, for the education of poor orphans and, later on, of girls in general.

In August 1803, with the cooperation of Francoise Blin de Bourdon, Visçountess of Gezaincourt, and of Father Joseph Varin d’Ainville, Superior of the Fathers of the Faith, Julie set her work on a permanent footing with the founding of the “Institute of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur”. The following June, the then 53 year-old crippled, urged by a certain priest named Father Enfantin, took ‘a single step for the love of the Sacred Heart’ and found herself completely cured!

In time, she founded ten convents in France and Belgium. Considerable opposition and misunderstanding, particularly on the part of the Bishop of Amiens, caused her, in 1809, to transfer the motherhouse to Namur, Belgium.

Marie Rose Julie Billiart who died in 1816 was canonized in 1969.

Reflection: “If we consider ourselves of no account, God will work through us! Our institute will never prosper unless we are women of prayer!” (Saint Julie Billiart)

Daily Readings

April 7, 2025

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Reading I

Daniel 13:41c–62 (Longer Form: Daniel 13:1–9, 15–17, 19–30, 33–62)

In those days: The assembly condemned Susanna to death. Then Susanna cried out with a loud voice and said, “O eternal God, who does discern what is secret, who is aware of all things before they come to be, you know that these men have borne false witness against me. And now I am to die! Yet I have done none of the things that they have wickedly invented against me!” The Lord heard her cry. And as she was being led away to be put to death, God aroused the holy spirit of a young lad named Daniel; and he cried with a loud voice, “I am innocent of the blood of this woman.” All the people turned to him and said, “What is this that you have said?” Taking his stand in the midst of them, he said, “Are you such fools, you sons of Israel? Have you condemned a daughter of Israel without examination and without learning the facts? Return to the place of judgment. For these men have borne false witness against her.” Then all the people returned in haste. And the elders said to him, “Come, sit among us and inform us, for God has given you that right.” And Daniel said to them, “Separate them far from each other, and I will examine them.” When they were separated from each other, he summoned one of them and said to him, “You old relic of wicked days, your sins have now come home, which you have committed in the past, pronouncing unjust judgments, condemning the innocent, and letting the guilty go free, though the Lord said, ‘Do not put to death an innocent and righteous person’. Now then, if you really saw her, tell me this: Under what tree did you see them being intimate with each other?” He answered, “Under a mastic tree.” And Daniel said, “Very well! You have lied against your own head, for the angel of God has received the sentence from God and will immediately cut you in two.” Then he put him aside and commanded them to bring the other. And he said to him, “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you and lust has perverted your heart. This is how you both have been dealing with the daughters of Israel, and they were intimate with you through fear; but a daughter of Judah would not endure your wickedness. Now then, tell me: Under what tree did you catch them being intimate with each other?” He answered, “Under an evergreen oak.” And Daniel said to him, “Very well! You also have lied against your own head, for the angel of God is waiting with his sword to saw you in two, that he may destroy you both.” Then all the assembly shouted loudly and blessed God, who saves those who hope in him. And they rose against the two elders, for out of their own mouths Daniel had convicted them of bearing false witness; and they did to them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbour; acting in accordance with the law of Moses, they put them to death. Thus innocent blood was saved that day.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 23:1–3a, 3b–4, 5, 6

Response: Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

The Lord is my shepherd;

there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures

where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me;

he revives my soul.

Response: Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

He guides me along the right path,

for the sake of his name.

Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death,

no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

Your crook and your staff will give me comfort.

Response: Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

You have prepared a table before me

in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil;

my cup is overflowing.

Response: Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell

for length of days unending.

Response: Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

Verse before the Gospel

Ezekiel 33:11

I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

Gospel

John 8:12–20

At that time: Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” So the Pharisees said to him, “You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflection

Jesus’ declaration, “I am the light of the world,” carries profound implications for our life. It asserts that he is not merely a prophet, teacher, or moral leader but the divine, eternal God incarnate. He is one with the Father, as he consistently emphasizes throughout the Gospel of John. The passage invites us to embrace and follow Jesus, the light and the source of spiritual illumination and truth. We are challenged to follow him, allowing his light to dispel the darkness of sin and ignorance in our lives. It is important to recognize God’s testimony in Jesus to respond with faith and obedience.

Saint John Baptist De La Salle - Confessor (1651-1719)

John Baptist de la Salle was made a canon of the cathedral of Reims at age 16 and ordained priest at 27. A model of piety and humility, he was gradually drawn through his love for the poor, into what was to become his life-work.

At that time Jansenism—whose twin focus was the denial of man’s ability to resist temptation and the rejection of the doctrine that Christ died for all men—had taken firm root in France; the constant foreign and internal wars had brought people famine, ruin and untold suffering; education was neglected, ignorance and vice abounding. Faced with such desperate conditions, John de la Salle rejoiced at being asked to help found two free schools for the poor. He took personal and active interest in the teachers and their methods, encouraged them, housed and fed them under his own roof, thus guaranteeing them against excessive expenditure which might have consumed their meagre earnings.

To John the education of the poor was an urgent need. The Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools, founded about 1680 on simplicity, mortification and absolute reliance upon Divine Providence, finally blossomed into the flourishing and worldwide religious congregation it is today. There were to be no priests in his institute but only brothers, their lives fully consecrated as “educators of the mind” and “apostles of the soul”. Above all he insisted on the teaching of the Faith in Catholic Schools and the use of the vernacular instead of Latin in school texts, so that through the pupils’ reading ability the parents at home might also receive an education in Christian doctrine and morals.

His writings embrace the fundamentals of scientific pedagogy, Christian behaviour and manners, Christian doctrine, treatises on the religious life, method of mental prayer and numerous meditations — all simple, direct and vigorous in approach.

John Baptist de la Salle died in 1719, was canonized in 1900, and declared patron of all teachers in 1950.

Reflection: “Zeal with prudence, light with charity, and firmness with gentleness” (Saint John Baptist de la Salle).

Daily Readings

April 6, 2025

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Reading I

Isaiah (43:16-21)

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honour me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6.

Response: What great deeds the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad.

When the LORD brought back the exiles of Sion, we thought we were dreaming. Then was our mouth filled with laughter; on our tongues, songs of joy.

Response: What great deeds the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad.

Then the nations themselves said, “What great deeds the LORD worked for them!” What great deeds the LORD worked for us! Indeed, we were glad.

Response: What great deeds the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad.

Bring back our exiles, O LORD, as streams in the south. Those who are sowing in tears will sing when they reap.

Response: What great deeds the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad.

They go out, they go out, full of tears, bearing seed for the sowing; they come back, they come back with a song, bearing their sheaves.

Response: What great deeds the Lord worked for us! Indeed, we were glad.

Reading II

Philippians (3:8-14)

Brethren, indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Verse before the Gospel

Joel 2:12-13

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, for I am gracious and merciful. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel

John (8:1-11)

At that time Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Reflection

Prophet Isaiah enumerates the works of the Lord in the first exodus as he brings a new message from God. The events brought to the attention of the people are the marvelous signs he did as the people crossed the Red Sea, such as parting the mighty waters, letting the horses and the chariots of the Egyptians to enter the sea and getting perished there as the waters return on them with mighty force. God is going to do something new and goes on to describe a number of symbolic things: God will make a way in the wilderness and make water flow in the desert whose waters the wild animals can drink and honour God. When we read this prophecy in the season of Lent there is nothing to doubt that the newness that God promises is the salvation he brings through his Son Jesus through his suffering and death.

In a moving passage Paul writes about a number of events from his personal life after his encounter with Christ. He now considers all that was advantageous to him earlier as rubbish. The knowledge of Christ is superior to everything else. After this Paul goes on to explain that we gain acceptance before God by faith and not through the works of the law.

The story of the woman caught in adultery is a supreme example of Jesus’ attitude towards sinners. The Jewish opponents bring a woman whom they say is caught in the act of committing adultery before Jesus, in order to test him. The Scribes and Pharisees know that the punishment for such a crime is death by stoning. In a situation of considerable distress, the woman is of no concern to the Scribes and Pharisees. Commentators regularly point out that the Pharisees and are not concerned with execution of justice but only with the possibility of entrapping Jesus. When Jesus asks the accusers to pass judgement only if they themselves were without sin, they begin to exit the scene until only Jesus and the woman are left standing on the spot. Nothing is said of the people. They also may have departed, leaving Jesus alone with the woman.

Jesus asks the woman if there is anyone who would accuse her and she says that there is no one. Jesus then says that nor will he accuse here and he urges her to avoid the sin in the future. None of them can lay claim to be without sin. Jesus then dismisses the woman telling her to go and not to sin again. The command to sin no more offers her the possibility of a newness of life in a right relationship with God. What we see in this episode is Jesus’ ability to handle tough situations. The Pharisees who bring the woman are tense, but Jesus is calm and relaxed throughout; he accepts the woman openly and lovingly, as an adult and as a person. He has a sureness of touch; he can handle the situation and the relationship with her because he has nothing to be afraid of in himself. Jesus is a totally integrated person: spiritually and emotionally.

Source: The Sunday Liturgy

Saint Celestine I - Pope, Confessor (-432)

Born in Campania, Italy (date unknown), Celestine was a Deacon in Rome when he was elected to succeed Boniface I on 20 September 422. An outstanding feature of his pontificate which lasted till 432 was its vigorous attack on the twin heresies then prevailing, viz., Nestorianism and Pelagianism.

It was Celestine himself who had approved the choice of Nestorius as Patriarch of Constantinople in 428. However, the latter’s teachings, stressing on the one hand that Christ’s human and divine natures were each independent of the other, and, on the other, denouncing Mary’s title of “Theotokos”—God-bearer—came as a rude jolt to him. His untiring efforts to change such heretical thinking having come to naught, Celestine entrusted Cyril, the saintly Archbishop of Alexandria with the task of condemning Nestorius’ heresy and obtaining his recantation at the Third Council of Ephesus held in 431. Celestine’s approval of the council’s decree deposing and excommunicating Nestorius eventually led to a schism that remained unresolved for over a century.

Earlier, in 429, Celestine deputed two French bishops, viz., Saint Germanus of Auxerre and Saint Lupus of Troyes to Rome to refute the doctrine of Pelagius that minimalized the role of divine grace in man’s salvation. In 431, Celestine consecrated Saint Palladius at Rome and sent him as the first bishop of Ireland, to evangelize the Irish.

Saint Celestine passed away on 27 July 432. Buried in the cemetery of Saint Priscilla on the Via Salaria, his mortal remains were subsequently moved to the Basilica di Santa Prassede.

Reflection: “If I were trying to please men, I should not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

Daily Readings

April 5, 2025

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Jeremiah 11:18–20

The Lord made it known to me and I knew; then you showed me their deeds. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 7:2–3, 9bc–10, 11–12

Response: O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.

O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.

Save and rescue me from all my pursuers,

lest they tear me apart like a lion,

and drag me off with no one to rescue me.

Response: O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.

Give judgment for me, O Lord,

for I am just and blameless of heart.

Put an end to the evil of the wicked!

Make the just man stand firm;

it is you who test mind and heart,

O God of justice! 

Response: O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.

God is a shield before me,

who saves the upright of heart.

God is a judge, just and powerful and patient,

not exercising anger every day.

Response: O Lord, my God, I take refuge in you.

Verse Before the Gospel

See Luke 8:15

Blessed are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Gospel

John 7:40–53

At that time: When they heard the words of Jesus, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” They went each to his own house.

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage presents a snapshot of the diverse opinions and beliefs surrounding Jesus during his earthly ministry. It challenges us to examine our own beliefs, prejudices, and openness to the transformative power of Jesus’ words. It also emphasizes the importance of seeking the truth and recognizing the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies in Jesus Christ. The gospel passage also shows the spiritual blindness and prejudice of the religious leaders, highlighting the detrimental effects of close-minded, prejudiced, and preconceived notions. It serves as a reminder to remain open to the work of God and to approach matters of faith with humility and a willingness to consider alternative perspectives.

Saint Vincent Ferrer - Confessor (1350-1419)

Born in Valencia to parents of noble lineage, Vincent completed his philosophy at age 14 and joined the Dominicans at 17. In 1384 he became professor at the cathedral school, and in 1391 adviser to King John I of Aragon and confessor to the queen. On the election of Cardinal Piedro de Luna as Pope Benedict XIII at avignon, Vincent became his Grand Penitentiary and confessor, and in 1399 legate a latere Christi with full powers to preach penance and prepare the faithful for God’s judgement.

Poorly clad and travelling mostly on foot throughout France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland, he drew huge throngs of people with his well-prepared sermons that no church was found adequate enough to accommodate! Stupendous miracles of healing marked his progress. He evidently had the gift of tongues, for in each of these countries, with all their different languages, he steadily succeeded in touching the hearts of his hearers and awakening their consciences, frequently pausing to enable his hearers to recover from weeping. In Spain alone he brought 25,000 Jews and 8,000 Moors into the Church, in northern Italy and southeastern France thousands of Waldensians and Cathari, too; unlettered peasants came closer to the Church.

Blessed with the gift of prophecy, Vincent once singled out in a crowd in Alessandria (northwestern Italy) the youthful Saint Bernardine of Siena who was to later evangelize his native Italy. An indication of the esteem in which Vincent was held throughout Spain can be gauged from the fact that in 1409 he was appointed one of the judges to decide upon the successor to the throne, Ferdinand of Castile owing his election to his influence.

To Vincent goes the credit for the dramatic end to the 36-year long schismatic disharmony in the Church. Having failed to urge the antipope Benedict XIII, first in 1408 and then in 1415, to resign in favour of Clement VII (living at Avignon, France), Vincent mounted the pulpit before a huge assembly presided over by Benedict himself and him. Abandoned by his supporters Benedict instantly fled!

Vincent’s entire life was one of great austerity. He slept little and prayed much, fasting rigorously. He died in 1419 while evangelizing Brittany and was canonized in 1455.

Reflection: “Many religious glory in the name of poverty but shun the sufferings and humiliations which are attached to it. They glory in the name but fly from the reality” (Saint Vincent Ferrer).

Daily Readings

April 4, 2025

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Wisdom 2:1a, 12–22

Ungodly men reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God or hope for the wages of holiness or discern the prize for blameless souls.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 34:17–18, 19–20, 21 and 23 

Response: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked

to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

When the just cry out, the Lord hears,

and rescues them in all their distress.

Response: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;

those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

Many are the trials of the just man,

but from them all the Lord will rescue him.

Response: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

He will keep guard over all his bones;

not one of his bones shall be broken.

The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.

All who trust in him shall not be condemned.

Response: The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

Verse Before the Gospel

Matthew 4:4b

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Gospel

John 7:1–2, 10, 25–30

At that time: Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflection

In today’s gospel passage, we observe a complex and dynamic scene of Jesus’ ministry. It shows his willingness to engage with various opinions and challenges, his proclamation of himself as sent by the Father whom he knows, and the ongoing opposition he faced as a result of this revelation of his relationship with the Father. It calls us to examine our beliefs, seek the truth in Jesus, and respond to his invitation to faith and eternal life.  Jesus, the Living Water, is the source of spiritual life, satisfaction, and eternal fulfilment. He invites all who are spiritually thirsty to come to Him and experience a deep, lasting quenching of that thirst (v. 37-38).  This metaphor underscores the central theme of Jesus as the way to salvation and the fulfilment of our deepest spiritual needs.

Saint Isidore - Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church (c 560-636)

Hailing from a noble Roman family in Cartagena, Spain, Saint Isidore was the younger brother of three other saints, viz., Leander, Archbishop of Seville, Fulgentius, Bishop of Eeija, and Florentina, the nun who is said to have governed 1,000 religious in 40 convents.

In 599 Isidore succeeded his own brother at Seville. He so governed the great See for 37 years as to strengthen Church discipline and encourage monasticism and, in time, even converting to the Faith from Arianism the Visigoths, ruling Spain for almost 200 years.

Among his synods, the fourth national council at Toledo in 633 was particularly important in that it obliged each Bishop to establish a seminary in his respective diocese and to encourage the study of Greek, Hebrew, law and medicine. An amazingly learned man, considered the last of the ancient Christian philosophers and great Latin Fathers, Isidore compiled a Spanish missal and breviary and so is credited with being the author of the beautiful Mozarabic Liturgy.

This “School-master of the Middle Ages” who had mastered every branch of science, the best known among his versatile writings being his Etymologiae, a systematic anthology of knowledge which became the most popular text book for instruction in theology, asceticism, history, geography, astronomy, grammar, biography etc in the Middle Ages, died in 636, was canonized in 1598 and declared Doctor of the Church in 1722.

Reflection: “The suffering of adversity does not degrade you but exalts you. Human tribulation teaches you; it does not destroy you. The more we are afflicted in this world, the greater is our assurance for the next. The more we sorrow in the present, the greater will be our joy in the future” (Saint Isidore of Seville).

Daily Readings

 April 3, 2025

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Exodus 32:7–14

In those days: The Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it for ever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 106:19–20, 21–22, 23

Response: O Lord, remember us with the favour you show to your people.

They fashioned a calf at Horeb,

and worshiped an image of metal;

they exchanged their glory

for the image of a bull that eats grass.

Response: O Lord, remember us with the favour you show to your people.

They forgot the God who was their saviour,

who had done such great things in Egypt,

such wonders in the land of Ham,

such marvels at the Red Sea.

Response: O Lord, remember us with the favour you show to your people.

For this he said he would destroy them,

but Moses, the man he had chosen,

stood in the breach before him,

to turn back his anger from destruction.

Response: O Lord, remember us with the favour you show to your people.

Verse Before the Gospel

John 3:16

God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son; that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Gospel

John 5:31–47

At that time: Jesus said to the Jews, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage highlights the importance of testimony and evidence in recognizing Jesus’ divine authority and identity. We are challenged to examine our beliefs and the witness we bear for Christ, reminding us that the testimony of others, Jesus’ works, the Father’s witness, and the Scriptures, all point to the reality of Jesus as the Son of God and the source of eternal life. Ultimately, we are challenged to respond in faith and bear witness to the truth of Jesus in our own lives. The witness of the Father in today’s gospel emphasizes the divine validation of Jesus’ identity and mission. It highlights the significance of faith, the consistency with God’s character, and the transformative power of embracing God’s testimony through His Son. Jesus invites us to recognize and respond to the Father’s witness by placing our faith in Him, thereby experiencing the eternal life that comes from knowing God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Saint Richard of Chichester - Bishop, Confessor (1197-1253)

This English saint to whom we owe the beautiful prayer, “Lord Jesus, Saviour, friend and brother, grant that I may know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly”, was orphaned at an early age. Regaining by sheer dint of courage and hard work his family’s fortune which had been mismanaged by his guardian, he turning it over to his brother, Robert, and went on to obtain for himself an excellent education at Oxford, Paris and Bologna.

Famed equally for his expertise in Canon Law and for the sanctity of his life, he was appointed Chancellor of the University of Oxford and, soon after, archdiocesan Chancellor at Canterbury; as an intimate friend, he accompanied Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury into exile in France, when this became necessary due to the interference of King Henry III in the filling of vacant Sees.

In 1244 Richard, by then a priest, was consecrated bishop of Chichester by Innocent IV in 1245 in preference to the king’s nominee. However, Richard was allowed to take charge of his see by Henry only when the latter was threatened with excommunication.

Richard lived in extreme simplicity, sharing much of his income with the poor; though for two years the crown withheld his diocesan revenues, he did much to raise the calibre of his clergy by issuing a set of statutes to regulate their life and work, even insisting upon every priest having a copy of the same and carrying it along to the synods.

Richard died in 1253 and was canonized by Urban IV in 1262.

Reflection: “God is faithful, and if we serve him faithfully he will provide for our needs” (Saint Richard of Chichester).

Daily Readings

April 2, 2025

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Isaiah 49:8–15

Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favour I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.” Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted. But Sion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 145:8–9, 13cd–14, 17–18

Response: The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is kind and full of compassion,

slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

How good is the Lord to all,

compassionate to all his creatures.

Response: The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,

and holy in all his deeds.

The Lord supports all who fall,

and raises up all who are bowed down.

Response: The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

The Lord is just in all his ways,

and holy in all his deeds.

The Lord is close to all who call him,

who call on him in truth.

Response: The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

Verse Before the Gospel

John 11:25a, 26

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord; everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Gospel

John 5:17–30

At that time: Jesus answered the Jews, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Reflection

Today’s gospel passage offers us profound theological insights into 1) the nature of Jesus’ divinity; 2) Jesus’ relationship with the Father; 3) his authority over life and judgment; 4) the role of faith in salvation; and 5) the importance of aligning our lives with God’s will. It challenges us to recognize and trust in Jesus as the source of eternal life and to seek conformity with God’s purposes in our lives. It also underscores the importance of faith and unity within the community of believers. The discourse presents Jesus’ claim to equality with God in various aspects, including shared work, sonship, authority, unity in purpose, the ability to grant eternal life, and divine sovereignty. It’s a foundational passage highlighting Jesus’ divinity and reinforcing the idea that he and the Father are one in purpose and mission. This concept of equality with God is central to Christian theology and underscores the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Saint Francis of Paola - Confessor (1416-1507)

The belief of Robert Martolella’s parents that his birth, after years of childlessness, was the result of the intercession of Saint Francis d’Assisi was further reinforced with the healing they obtained through his intercession for their young infant’s eye. The boy was 13 when they fulfilled their vow of having him spend a year in a Franciscan monastery, donning a Franciscan habit, in accordance with medieval practice, where he proved himself a model of extraordinary humility, abnegation and love of prayer.

Returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, Assisi and other places, he took the name of Francis and began the austere, solitary life in a lonely cave on the sea-coast where, in 1435, he built a chapel and three cells when two companions joined him as anchorites, thus forming the nucleus of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Francis, later known as ‘Minims’, “the least in the House of God”. By 1454 there were monasteries established in southern Italy and Sicily, apart from a Second Order for nuns and a Third Order for those who would live out his charism in the world. Central to the severity of their life was charity, humility and poverty, abstinence covering all meat and animal products.

Outspoken in reproving even the King of Naples for his evil ways, Francis’ fame reached France where the dying Louis XI sought him out before dying a penitent death. Resultantly, he spent 25 years in France as counsellor to Charles VIII and Louis XII, successive occupants of the throne, restoring peace between France and Spain.

Francis died on Good Friday 1507, aged 91, leaving behind a legacy of 400 convents, the Order’s five provinces covering Italy, France, Germany and Spain, and was canonized in 1519.

Reflection: “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Daily Readings

April 1, 2025

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Reading 1

Ezekiel 47:1–9, 12

In those days: [The angel] brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me round on the outside to the outer gate that faces towards the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastwards with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

Response: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

God is for us a refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in time of distress:

so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,

though the mountains quake to the heart of the sea.

Response: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,

the holy place, the dwelling of the Most High.

God is within, it cannot be shaken;

God will help it at the dawning of the day.

Response: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come and behold the works of the Lord,

the awesome deeds he has done on the earth.

Response: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Verse Before the Gospel

Psalm 51:12a, 14a

Create a pure heart for me, O God; restore in me the joy of your salvation.

Gospel

John 5:1–16

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids – blind, lame, and paralysed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterwards Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Reflection

Jesus heals a man who was invalid for thirty-eight years. This healing incident reminds us of the profound and transformative nature of Jesus’ ministry and his role as the source of spiritual and physical healing. It challenges us to move from a place of brokenness to one of wholeness through our encounter with Christ and his transformative grace. The incident serves as a powerful symbol of spiritual healing by illustrating the disabled man’s condition as a symbol of humanity’s spiritual brokenness. The Pool of Bethesda is a symbol of worldly attempts to find spiritual relief. Jesus is the divine healer, offering grace and salvation. The healing word of Jesus points to God’s transformative power. The Sabbath controversy challenges us to go beyond legalism. The man’s faith and response show the steps involved in spiritual renewal. This passage invites us to consider our spiritual condition and our need for the healing and transformation that only Jesus can provide.

Saint Hugh - Bishop, Confessor (1053-1132)

It was at the early age of 25 and while still a layman that Hugh, a native of the Dauphine (south-eastern France), was made Canon at Valence. An active defendant of the reforms promulgated by Pope Saint Gregory VII, he was consecrated Bishop of Grenoble two years later and laboured zealously, though unsuccessfully, to eradicate the evils of simony and concubinage in his diocese. In 1082, convinced of his own ineffectiveness, he resigned from the Bishopric and proceeded to become a Benedictine monk at the austere abbey of La Chaise-Dieu in Auvergne; at the express orders of the Pope, however, he returned to his post the following year and there remained until he was called to his reward on 1 April 1132, what with each of the four succeeding Popes turning down his plea to be relieved of his duties. He was canonized two years later by Innocent III.

In 1084 Hugh personally conducted Saint Bruno and his six companions to the wild Alpine solitude near Grenoble, called Chartreuse, and presented them with the land on which they went on to construct their first Carthusian monastery, the Grande Chartreuse (Great Chartre-house). Here he frequently shared in the monks’ life of poverty, prayer and solitary study. His personal austerity and excessive fasts that affected his health were only moderated at the insistence of Saint Bruno, his spiritual director.

To relieve the distress of the poor, Hugh, who always travelled on foot, is said to have disposed of his golden chalice and Episcopal ring and was famed for his equitable judgements, which were readily accepted by both litigants.

Reflection: “Vanity and inordinate affections suffice to damn a soul” (Saint Hugh of Grenoble).

Daily Readings

March 29, 2025

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Reading I

Hosea 6:1–6

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3–4, 18–19, 20–21ab

Response: I desire steadfast love, and not sacrifice.

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your merciful love;

according to your great compassion,

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me completely from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

Response: I desire steadfast love, and not sacrifice.

For in sacrifice you take no delight;

burnt offering from me

would not please you.

My sacrifice to God, a broken spirit:

a broken and humbled heart,

O God, you will not spurn.

Response: I desire steadfast love, and not sacrifice.

In your good pleasure, show favour to Sion;

rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Then you will delight in right sacrifice,

burnt offerings wholly consumed.

Response: I desire steadfast love, and not sacrifice.

Verse before the Gospel

Psalm 95:8

O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

Gospel

Luke 18:9–14

At that time: Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Reflection

Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, during the time of Jesus, were self-righteous people and were blind to the goodness of others. Jesus always condemned this self-righteous attitude. In Isaiah 64:6 we read, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”. Self-righteous people are self-centred and proud of their goodness. On the other hand, Jesus found many tax collectors and sinners humbling themselves and receiving the message of the kingdom acknowledging their unworthiness before God. Self-righteous people have a highly exaggerated image of themselves. Considering themselves worthy before God, they look down upon others. They like to display their good deeds. Let us look into ourselves and see whether we have any of these tendencies.

St Rupert, Bishop Confessor ( - 710)

The early history of St Rupert was formerly very obscure; and there has been considerable difference of opinion as to the date at which he actually flourished and died. According to the most reliable sources he was a Frank, though Colgan claims that he was an Irishman whose Gaelic name was Robertach. It is affirmed with certainty now that he was the son of St Bertha of Lorraine and that he was consecrated a bishop at Worms before he began his missionary activities.

About the year 697, together with several of his companions, Rupert presented himself before Duke Theodo, without whose permission nothing could be done. Theodo not only made them welcome, but also consented to listen to their preaching and to receive instruction. Rupert confirmed his preaching with miracles. The duke’s conversion and baptism was followed by that of many of the nobles as well as of many of the subjects, without much opposition having been met with.

He made the old ruined town of Juvavum, which the duke had given him, his headquarters. Renaming it Salzburg, he built there a church and a monastery with a school which were dedicated to St Peter. Rupert had been ably seconded by his companions, three of whom, Vitalis, Chuniald and Gislar, were later declared Saints.

He also admitted his sister (or niece), St Erentrudis, into the nunnery which he built at Nonnberg and of which she became the first abbess. He died at Salzburg (Austria) probably about the year 710 or 718. St Rupert’s feast is observed in Ireland as well as in Austria and Bavaria.

Reflection: “God does not command us to live dressed in hair-shirts and chains, or to chastise our flesh with scourges, but to love him above all things and our neighbour as ourselves” (St Charles Sezze).

Daily Readings

March 28, 2025

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Reading 1

Hosea 14:1–9

Thus says the Lord: Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God’, to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.” I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the corn; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 81:6c–11ab, 14 & 17

Response: I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.

A voice I did not know said to me:

I freed your shoulder from the burden;

your hands were freed from the builder’s basket.

You called in distress and I delivered you.

Response: I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.

I answered, concealed in the thunder;

at the waters of Meribah I tested you.

Listen, my people, as I warn you.

O Israel, if only you would heed!

Response: I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.

Let there be no strange god among you,

nor shall you worship a foreign god.

I am the Lord your God,

who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

Response: I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.

O that my people would heed me,

that Israel would walk in my ways!

But Israel I would feed with finest wheat,

and satisfy with honey from the rock.

Response: I am the Lord your God: listen to my voice.

Verse Before the Gospel

Matthew 4:17

Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gospel

Mark 12:28b–34

At that time: One of the scribes came up to Jesus and asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Reflection

When one of the scribes asked Jesus about the greatest commandment, he spoke of loving “the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”. In the same breath he added, ‘And the second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself”. To this answer of Jesus, the scribe added a comment – “is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices”. Confirming this comment, Jesus said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God”. By this, Jesus wanted to emphasize once again that the love of God and the love of neighbour are greater than sacrifices and rituals. Jesus always challenged ritualism. This can be seen in the parable of the Good Samaritan too where he presents the priest and the Levite in a lesser light.

St Sixtus III, Pope ( - 440)

Son of Xystus, St Sixtus was Chief Roman priest at the time of his election to succeed Pope St Celestine I on 31 July 432. He was known to St Augustine.

Sixtus was a conciliator. Following the Council of Ephesus (431) he encouraged the negotiations between Cyril of Alexandria and John of Antioch who were in disagreement regarding the two natures in Christ. When they at last came to an agreement, he wrote to congratulate them (433).

Among the other fortifications in the city, Sixtus restored the Liberian Basilica, now called St Mary Major and rebuilt the Lateran Baptistery, giving it the present form. A second basilica was joined to the Church of St Lawrence outside-the-walls to replace what had been carried off by the Visigoths. Valentinian III was persuaded by him to contribute silver and gold ornaments to the basilicas of Sts Peter, Paul and John Lateran.

After his death on 19 August 440, his mortal remains were buried in St Lawrence’s church, and his name was included in the 9th century version of the Roman Martyrology by Ado of Sens.

Reflection: “Nothing is anything more to me; everything is nothing to me, but Jesus: neither things nor persons, neither ideas nor emotions, neither honour nor sufferings. Jesus is for me honour, delight, heart and soul” (St Bernadette).

Daily Readings

March 27, 2025

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Reading 1

Jeremiah 7:23–28

Thus says the Lord: “This command I gave my people: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backwards and not forwards. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.’”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95:1–2, 6–9

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

Come, let us ring out our joy to the Lord; 

hail the rock who saves us. 

Let us come into his presence, giving thanks; 

let us hail him with a song of praise. 

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

O come; let us bow and bend low. 

Let us kneel before the God who made us, 

for he is our God and we 

the people who belong to his pasture, 

the flock that is led by his hand. 

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

O that today you would listen to his voice! 

Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, 

as on that day at Massah in the desert 

when your forebears put me to the test; 

when they tried me, though they saw my work. 

Response: O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

Verse Before the Gospel

Joel 2:12-13

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, for I am gracious and merciful

Gospel

Luke 11:14–23

At that time: Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons”, while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Reflection 

One of the ugliest accusations against Jesus was that he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons. Jesus confronted his accusers and emphasized that he was casting out demons with the finger or power of God and that such an activity announced the advent of the Kingdom of God. Jesus does not have a pact with the devil for his peaceful ministry. Jesus is the one stronger than the strong man fully armed and guarding his palace. He takes away the devil’s arms and divides his spoils. The incident shows to what extent Jesus had to face accusations from his opponents. Jesus faced all types of human sufferings including the pain caused by absolutely false accusations of serious nature. We too need to learn from Jesus and fearlessly confront the devil and his army. 

St John of Egypt, Hermit (c.300-394)

Until he was 25, John worked as a carpenter with his father. Then, feeling called by God, he left the world and committed himself to a holy solitary life in the desert. His master tried his spirit by many unreasonable demands, bidding him roll the hard rocks, tend dead trees, and the like. In all things, John obeyed with the simplicity of a child.

After a training of 16 years he withdrew to the top of a steep cliff to think only of God and his soul. The more he knew of himself, the more he distrusted himself. For the last 50 years, therefore, he saw no women, and seldom men. The result of this vigilance and purity was threefold: a holy joy and cheerfulness which consoled all who conversed with him; perfect obedience to superiors; and, in return for this: authority over creatures whom he had forsaken for the Creator.

Devils assailed him continually, but his prayer never ceased. From his long communing with God, he turned to men with gifts of healing and prophecy. Twice each week he spoke through a window with those who came to him, blessing oil for their sick and predicting future happenings. A deacon approached him in disguise and John reverently kissed his hand. To the Emperor Theodosius I he foretold his future victories and his death (394).

The last three days of his life John gave wholly to God. On the third day he was found dead on his knees as if in prayer, but his soul was with the Lord. It was the year 394.

Reflection: “Faith believes; hope prays; and charity begs in order to give to others. Humility of heart forms the prayer; confidence speaks it and perseverance triumphs over God himself” (St Peter Julian Eymard).

Daily Readings

March 26, 2025

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Reading 1

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5–9

Moses spoke to the people, saying, “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 147:12–13, 15–16, 19–20

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord! 

O Sion, praise your God! 

He has strengthened the bars of your gates; 

he has blessed your children within you. 

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

He sends out his word to the earth, 

and swiftly runs his command. 

He showers down snow like wool; 

he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. 

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

He reveals his word to Jacob; 

to Israel, his decrees and judgments. 

He has not dealt thus with other nations; 

he has not taught them his judgments. 

Response: O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord!

Verse Before the Gospel

John 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are spirit and life; you have the words of eternal life.

Gospel

Matthew 5:17–19

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Reflection

In today’s Gospel, Jesus categorically states that he came not to abolish but to fulfil the Law and the Prophets. Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament Prophecies. He completes the Law and the Prophets. Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself”. The Old Testament is most clearly understood in the light of the Christ-event. In the teachings of the Apostles found in the New Testament this truth is brought out. In 2 Corinthians 3:15-16, we read, “to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed”. It is with this understanding that we should read the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

St Ludger, Bishop, Confessor (c.744-809)

St Ludger was born near Utrecht (Holland) of wealthy and noble Frisian parents. At 9, an encounter with St Boniface, the great apostle of Germany, sufficed to decide Ludger’s career. 

In 777 Ludger was ordained to the priesthood and sent as a missionary to eastern Friesland where St Boniface had met his death at Dokkum. But after 7 years the Saxons were incited by Widukind to return to their heathen gods, and to expel all missionaries and burn their churches. As a result, Ludger spent three years in Rome and Monte Cassino until Widukind was defeated by Charlemagne in 787. He then took up his missionary activity again and with renewed enthusiasm. Not long after, the Saxons living in what is today Westphalia, were added to his missionary field, and he established his central monastery at Muenster. 

The “Apostle of Westphalia” — as he came to be known — became famed for his unfailing gentleness and bounteous charities, and these virtues, more than any military subjugation, caused great numbers of the Saxons to embrace the Christian faith. Consecrated first bishop of Muenster in 804, he laboured assiduously at building up a devout and energetic clergy, and gave much of his time to their personal instruction.

Upon his death on Passion Sunday, 26 March 809, St Ludger was buried at Werden, where his relics still remain. The ancient well at Muenster, which St Ludger used for baptisms, was, in 1909, the scene of a touching rededication by thousands of the faithful during the celebration of the 11th centenary of the diocese. 

Reflection: “Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9).

Daily Readings 

March 25, 2025, Tuesday 

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Reading 1

Isaiah 7:10–14; 8:10

In those days: The Lord spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 40:7–8a, 8b–9, 10, 11 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

You delight not in sacrifice and offerings, 

but in an open ear. 

You do not ask for holocaust and victim. 

Then I said, “See, I have come.” 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

In the scroll of the book it stands 

written of me: 

“I delight to do your will, O my God; 

your instruction lies deep within me.”

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

Your justice I have proclaimed 

in the great assembly. 

My lips I have not sealed; 

you know it, O Lord. 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

Your saving help I have not hidden in my heart; 

of your faithfulness and salvation I have spoken. 

I made no secret of your merciful love 

and your faithfulness to the great assembly. 

Response: See, I have come, Lord, to do your will.

Reading 2

Hebrews 10:4–10

Brethren: It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Verse Before the Gospel

John 1:14ab

The word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen his glory.

Gospel 

Luke 1:26–38

At that time: The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Reflection 

Traditionally, nine months before Christmas the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord remembering the moment when the Angel Gabriel brought the message of the Incarnation to our Lady. God chose Mary to be the mother of His Son. Mary on her part freely accepted this divine choice and co-operated with God. That was the great moment of the commencement of the most significant stage of the Plan of God for the redemption of humanity. In Mary’s FIAT, God found worthy reciprocity. She received the Son of God into her womb. And that made the redemption of humanity possible. The Lord intervenes in our lives too. He wants to work out his ways in us. Are we ready to allow him to do so? Are we docile to the Spirit of the Living God?

The Annunciation of the Lord

In the Feast of the Annunciation the Church celebrates the greatest event in the history of humankind, viz., the Incarnation of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We relive the significance of this beautiful event, one of the most important and best-remembered mysteries of our faith, each time we recite the Angelus — “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us” (Jn 1:14). 

This feast is celebrated on 25 March to precede the feast of Christmas by nine months. It was formerly known as the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, until its original, ancient title, the “‘Annunciation of the Lord” was restored. In fact, it is a joint feast of Our Lord and Our Lady, as Pope Paul VI says, the feast of the “Word who becomes Son of Mary, and of the Virgin who becomes Mother of God”.

The Annunciation brings into focus the fulfilment of a dual vocation. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity had a very specific purpose in becoming man, a vocation, viz., to free human beings for eternity from the ravages of sin and death. In acquiescing to God’s plan for bringing about this reality, Mary assented to fulfilling her own vocation. This act is deeply rooted in a personal choice and decision, one, however, that is essentially preceded by another choice, a choice on the part of God. 

This feast leads us to realize the magnificence of divine grace, the wonder of God’s freely given love. Going deeper, the marvel of Mary, even in the midst of the very ordinariness of her life, is the clarion call of the Creator to each of us to wake up to the marvellous creatures that we all are by divine design.

Reflection: “He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was not condescension – if compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created

man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself” (St Leo).

Daily Readings

March 24, 2025

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Reading 1

2 Kings 5:1–15a

In those days: Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favour, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, if it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 42:2, 3; 43:3, 4

Response: My soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

When can I enter and appear before the face of God?

Like the deer that yearns

For running streams,

So my soul is yearning

For you, my God.

Response: My soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

My soul is thirsting for God,

The living God;

When can I enter and appear

Before the face of God?

Response: My soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

O send forth your light and your truth;

They will guide me on.

They will bring me to your holy mountain,

To the place where you dwell.

Response: My soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

And I will come to the altar of God, to God,

My joy and gladness.

To you will I give thanks on the harp,

O God, my God.

Response: My soul is thirsting for God, the living God.

Verse Before the Gospel

Luke 4:24-30

I long for you, O Lord, my soul longs for his word, with the Lord there is mercy and plentiful redemption.

Gospel

Luke 4:24–30

At that time: When Jesus had come to Nazareth, he said to the people in the synagogue, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his home town. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.

Reflection

Jesus was not accepted in his own hometown. The people of Nazareth were too familiar with Jesus and his family, their fellow townsfolk. Joseph and Mary were ordinary people busy with the day-to-day affairs of a poor family. The people were not able to conceive the possibility of the much-awaited Messiah being born in Nazareth. Jesus told the people of his own hometown the fact that even Prophets Elijah and Elisha worked wonders for people residing far away from the habitations of the prophets. Even that appeal of Jesus was not heeded by the people. In Mark 6:5-6, we read, “And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief.”

St Catherine of Sweden, Virgin (1331-1381)

The 4th child of the Swedish Prince Ulf Gudmarsson and of St Bridget, Catherine was educated at the convent of Riseberg. At the age of 14 she was married, in deference to her father’s wishes, to a pious nobleman of German extraction, Eggard von Kuernen, a life-long invalid with whom, by mutual consent, she lived in continence.

St Catherine was widowed in 1349 and was thenceforth in Rome at her saintly mother’s side, aiding her in all her charitable endeavours and imbibing her ascetical way of life. In 1372 the two widows made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and when Bridget died in Rome two years later, Catherine brought her body back to Sweden and had it interred at the Bridgettine mother-convent at Vadstena. She then became the head of that foundation and ruled it with great skill. She took an active part in resolving the ecclesiastical controversies of her time, steadfastly supporting Urban VI against the anti-pope Clement II. Catherine died as Abbess of Vadstena on 24 March 1381 and, though not formally canonized as such, veneration of her memory as a ‘Saint’ has been approved by Pope Innocent VIII who reigned from 1484-92.

Reflection: “True humility consists in being content with all that God is pleased to ordain for us, believing ourselves unworthy to be called his servants” (St Teresa of Avila).

Daily Readings

March 23, 2025

Third Sunday of Lent

Reading I

Exodus (3:1-8a, 13-15)

In those days Moses was keeping the flock of his Father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’, and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 103:1–2, 3–4, 6–7, 8 and 11

Response: The Lord is compassionate and gracious.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all within me, his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and never forget all his benefits.

Response: The Lord is compassionate and gracious.

 It is the LORD who forgives all your sins, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with mercy and compassion.

Response: The Lord is compassionate and gracious.

The LORD does just deeds, gives full justice to all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, and his deeds to the children of Israel.

Response: The Lord is compassionate and gracious.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in mercy. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so strong his mercy for those who fear him.

Response: The Lord is compassionate and gracious

Reading II

Corinthians (10:1-6, 10-12)

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL

Mt 4:17

Glory and praise to you, O Christ. Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel

Luke (13:1-9)

There were some present at that very time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vine dresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig round it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.

Reflection

The news about the Galileans murdered by Pilate prompts Jesus to spell out the fact that death by murder or by accident is not willed by God. God does not pick and choose offenders and eliminate them. Jesus rejects the common understanding with a simple negative: this did not happen because the Galileans were more horrible sinners. Jesus uses the occasion to give an additional warning about a more fundamental issue: the threat of a tragic end is present for all. The issue is not when death will happen or why, but avoiding a terminal fate with even greater consequences. Only repentance will prevent the death that lasts. The comparison is between dying tragically in this life and perishing ultimately before God.

In a second example, Jesus mentions an otherwise unknown incident involving the collapse of a tower at Siloam that killed eighteen people. Here too, Jesus rejects the assertion that worse sin was the cause of the tragedy and again issues the warning to repent. Failure to repent definitely leaves one exposed to death. Jesus ends his response with the parable of the fig tree. The parable is about a man checking on his fig tree in his vineyard only to find that it continues to bear no fruit. His dilemma is what to do with this unproductive tree, especially since it takes nutrients from other trees in the vineyard. The fig tree should have borne fruit annually, but it does not produce. The owner’s disgust is indicated by the remark that the fig takes up space in the vineyard and robs the ground of nutrients. Thus, the other vines and fruit trees suffer. It should be cut off. The vinedresser asks to give the tree another chance to produce fruit within one more year. He will carefully care for it and fertilize it. Perhaps additional care will yield fruit, even though the tree has done nothing to deserve such special attention or such hope. The image suggests God’s patience and alludes to the short time left for response. We have to repent while there is still time. The decision is a crucial one, for if time passes without repentance, only rejection remains. God is patient, but the clock will tick only so long before the nation will lose its current opportunity to respond.

The parable becomes a metaphor for the human condition and thus offers a lesson on the human heart’s ability to respond to Christ’s love. Some people respond right away, while others need a great deal of nurturing. The gardener’s patience and skill to induce figs on the tree parallel’s Christ’s attempt to coax the soul with his love. In the end, however, some souls, as the fig trees, may not respond. All persons are guilty of sin, and all stand in need of God’s forgiveness. Rather than taking sober satisfaction in the fact that they did not suffer the same misfortunes of others, disciples should instead look to their own lives and the state of their own souls when they must face God’s judgement.

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

St Turibius De Mogrovejo, Bishop Confessor (1538-1606)

St Turibius Alfonso de Mogrovejo was a young professor of law at the great University of Salamanca (Spain) when King Philip II, recognizing his outstanding talents and deep piety, appointed him president of the court of the Inquisition at Granada in 1575. In 1580 he was designated Archbishop of Peru. Duly ordained and consecrated, though much against his own wishes, he arrived in Peru in 1581.

His 26 years in the See of Lima were filled with unbelievable apostolic labours, and his self-denial and limitless energies brought about the eradication of the numerous evils he encountered upon his arrival, his most famous battle cry being, “Christ said: ‘I am the truth’; he did not say: ‘I am the custom’!” It is estimated that he travelled throughout his vast archdiocese — over 50,000 miles! — almost always on foot, everywhere baptizing and confirming the natives, in all nearly half a million souls, including Sts Rose of Lima and Martin de Porres! Innumerable were the schools, hospitals, convents and chapels which his burning zeal saw constructed, and to him is also due the foundation of the first American seminary, at Lima, in 1591. He died on 23 March 1606 and was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.

Reflection: “Time is not our own! We shall have to render a strict account of it” (St Turibius de Mogrovejo).

Daily Readings

March 21, 2025

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Reading 1

Genesis 37:3–4, 12–13a, 17b–28

Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him” – that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colours that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 105:16–17, 18–19, 20–21

Response: Remember the wonders the Lord has done.

But he called down a famine on the land; 

he broke their staff of bread. 

He had sent a man ahead of them, 

Joseph, sold as a slave.

Response: Remember the wonders the Lord has done.

His feet were weighed down in chains,

his neck was bound with iron, 

until what he said came to pass, 

and the word of the Lord proved him true. 

Response: Remember the wonders the Lord has done.

Then the king sent orders and released him; 

the ruler of the peoples set him free. 

He made him master of his house 

and ruler of all his possessions. 

Response: Remember the wonders the Lord has done

Verse Before the Gospel

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life..

Gospel

Matthew 21:33–43, 45–46

At that time: Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people, “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence round it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than at first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

Reflection

Through the parable of the tenants in the vineyard, Jesus describes the negative response of the Jewish people to the prophets and finally to Jesus, the Son of God. They not only did not accept the prophets, but they also ill-treated them and killed them. They killed Jesus, too, the only Son of the Heavenly Father who came into the world to redeem all humankind. This should make us think of our response to Christ and those who bring to us the message of Christ. In Matthew 16:15, Jesus asks us, “Who do you say that I am?” In John 21:15-17, Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” Jesus wants a response from us. We need to take a stand.

St Nicholas De Flue, Confessor (1417 - 1487)

St Nicholas de Flue was born near the Lake of the Four Cantons, in Switzerland. He showed himself a great Christian in various spheres of life before he became a hermit.

As a young man he was for some years a soldier, fighting for his native Canton and rising to the rank of a captain. A respected citizen, he took an active part in the civil and political life of his country and held office as councillor and magistrate, all the while spending whole nights in prayer. Peace of mind, however, eluded him and so he withdrew from politics in 1465. 

But in 1467, at the age of fifty, after a vision of the Blessed Trinity, he resolved that he must leave all and go away to live entirely for God. He spent the last 20 years of his life in prayer and severe austerity. Many witnesses have testified that during those years he took neither food nor drink, but only Holy Communion.

Popularly known as Brother Klaus, Nicholas had a friendly disposition and was greatly venerated even beyond the Swiss border. People high and low, both civil as well as religious, flocked to his cell to seek his counsel and prayer.

Nicholas went to his reward on his 70th birthday, i.e., on 21 March 1487 and was beatified in 1669. Canonized by Pope Pius XII on 15 May 1947, his memory is revered by Protestants and Catholics alike.

Reflection:

“O my Lord and my God, take from me all that keeps me from you!

“O my Lord and my God, give me all that brings me nearer to you!

“O my Lord and my God, take myself from me and let me possess only you”

(Prayer of St Nicholas de Flue).

Daily Readings

March 20, 2025

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Reading 1

Jeremiah 17:5–10

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1:1–2, 3, 4 and 6

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Blessed indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the path with sinners,

nor abides in the company of scorners,

but whose delight is the law of the Lord,

and who ponders his law day and night.

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,

that yields its fruit in due season,

and whose leaves shall never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper.

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Not so are the wicked, not so!

For they, like winnowed chaff,

shall be driven away by the wind.

for the Lord knows the way of the just,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord

Verse Before the Gospel

Luke 8:15

Blessed are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

Gospel

Luke 16:19–31

At that time: Jesus said to the Pharisees, “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not do so, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house – for I have five brothers – so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Reflection

In Luke 6:20-26, we find Jesus pronouncing Blessings and Woes – Blessings on those who are poor, those who are hungry, those who weep, and those who are hated in this world; woe to those who are rich, those who are hungry, those who laugh and those who are appreciated in this world. We find these blessings and woes realized in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In 1 Chronicles 29:15, we read, “For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on earth are but like a shadow, and there is no abiding”. We are to realize this truth while we are still alive on earth. Nothing can be done after we depart from this world.

St Cuthbert, Bishop Confessor (c.635 - 687)

Brought up by a foster mother named Kenswith, this famous English Saint was a shepherd, a native of Northumbria (England). As a young man, he had to help defend his country against the attacks of King Penda of Mercia; but when peace was restored after the battle of Winwidfield in 651, he carried out his boyhood dream of becoming a monk — he joined the Benedictines at Mailros (Melrose) abbey, and soon became conspicuous for his learning and holiness, which God confirmed by numerous miracles.

He was appointed Prior at Lindisfarne, and was able, by his consummate tact and patience, and through the evident holiness of his life, to win over that entire community which had still obstinately clung to the ancient Celtic customs.

In 685, Cuthbert was consecrated Abbot-Bishop of Lindisfarne by St Theodore of Canterbury and laboured with great success at the sanctification of the faithful; but after only a year, he resigned in anticipation of his approaching death. He died on 20 March 687.

St Cuthbert is the Patron of sailors.

Reflection: “Patience is the root and guardian of all the virtues” (St Gregory the Great).

Daily Readings

March 19, 2025

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Reading 1

2 Samuel 7:4–5a, 12–14a, 16

In those days: The word of the Lord came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me. Your throne shall be established for ever.’”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 89:2–3, 4–5, 27 and 29 

Response: His descendants shall continue forever.

I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord;

through all ages my mouth will proclaim your fidelity.

I have declared your mercy is established forever

your fidelity stands firm as the heavens.

Response: His descendants shall continue forever.

With my chosen one I have made a covenant;

I have sworn to David my servant:

I will establish your descendants forever,

and set up your throne through all ages.

Response: His descendants shall continue forever.

He will call out to me, ‘You are my father,

my God, the rock of my salvation.’

I will keep my faithful love for him always;

with him my covenant shall last.

Response: His descendants shall continue forever.

Reading 2

Romans 4:13, 16–18, 22

Brethren: The promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring – not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations” – in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness”.

Verse Before the Gospel

Psalm 84:5

Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord, forever singing your praise.

Gospel

Matthew 1:16, 18–21, 24a

Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.

Reflection

Today’s Gospel introduces Joseph as a JUST MAN. This is a rare category. From Genesis 7:1, we understand that Noah was the only just man found on the face of the earth at the time of the deluge. From Genesis 18, we find that in Sodom and Gomorrah, they could not find even 10 just men. In Jeremiah 5:1, the Lord says, “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks the truth that I may pardon her.” Saint Joseph was the rarest of the rare. A just man stands out and achieves what all others are unable to achieve. But such a just man has great power. In James 5:16, we read, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working”.

St Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Little definite information has come down to us about the chosen soul who was to be, in God’s providence, the earthly guardian of Our Lady and the Foster-father of the Incarnate Word. All that is reliably known of this “just man” named Joseph is contained in the first two chapters of the Gospels of Sts Matthew and Luke. In the apocryphal writings, which furnish us with many interesting details, it is next to impossible to separate those reports which may be based on true historical occurrences from those which are the product of pious imagination.

From the fact that there is no further reference to Joseph in the Bible after the finding of the boy Jesus in the temple, it has been reasonably inferred that he did not live to see the beginning of Our Lord’s public ministry.

St Teresa of Avila (Spain) chose St Joseph as the Patron of her reform of the Carmelite Order and her nuns were given the privilege in 1689 of keeping a feast honouring his patronage.

Joseph is, no doubt, the greatest and most beloved of all the saints of the Catholic Church next only to Mary. His greatness and that of Mary is measured by their closeness to Jesus Christ when he came to earth two millennia ago as the Word-Made-Flesh, the God-With-Us, to impart eternal life to all who believed in him. Little wonder then that Pope Pius IX, on 8 December 1870, in response to the petition of the over 300 prelates assembled at Vatican Council  I (1869-70), proclaimed Joseph the Patron Saint of the Universal Church. In 1955 Pope Pius XII added the title, “Patron of workmen”, the feast to be celebrated on 1 May.

Reflection: “Some Saints are privileged to extend to us their patronage with particular efficacy in certain needs, but not in others; but our holy Patron St Joseph has the power to assist us in all cases, in every necessity, in every undertaking” (St Thomas Aquinas).

Daily Readings

March 18, 2025

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Reading 1

Isaiah 1:10, 16–20

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 50:8–9, 16bc–17, 21 and 23

Response: To one whose way is blameless, I will show the salvation of God.

I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices;

your offerings are always before me.

I do not take more bullocks from your farms,

nor goats from among your herds.

Response: To one whose way is blameless, I will show the salvation of God.

How can you recite my commandments,

and take my covenant on your lips,

you who despise correction,

and cast my words behind you.

Response: To one whose way is blameless, I will show the salvation of God.

You do this, and should I keep silence?

Do you think that I am like you?

I accuse you, lay the charge before you.

A sacrifice of praise gives me honour,

and to one whose way is blameless,

I will show the salvation of God.

Response: To one whose way is blameless, I will show the salvation of God.

Verse Before the Gospel

Ezekiel 18:31

Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, says the Lord, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

Gospel

Matthew 23:1–12

At that time: Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practise. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Reflection

We see Jesus using very harsh language when speaking about the Scribes and Pharisees. He pointed out the gap between their teaching and practice. He also found that they were performing good deeds to gain popularity and admiration from the people around them. They were proud of their abilities and achievements. Jesus therefore warned his disciples not to imitate the Scribes and Pharisees although they could listen to what they told them. Jesus did not want his disciples to use the titles of ‘Father’, ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Instructor’. The title ‘Father’ is most fittingly used for the Heavenly Father. The title ‘Rabbi’ is most fittingly used for Jesus. The title ‘Instructor’ can be used for both the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

St Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church (c.313 -387)

St Cyril succeeded Maximus as Bishop of Jerusalem at 35, but nearly 17 out of the ensuing 36 years of his stormy episcopate he spent in exile for maintaining firm faith in the divinity of Christ — he was banned twice by Arian synods and once by the Emperor Valens.

In 381, Cyril attended the Council of Constantinople and, for the first time, Jerusalem was recognized as a patriarchal See along with Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople.

Cyril was a man of gentle nature and a peacemaker. It was he who fostered the development of the “holy city” of Jerusalem as a pilgrimage centre for all Christendom. A pillar of orthodoxy and a great teacher of the early Christian era, his primary surviving work is the “Catecheses”, a collection of 23 catechetical lectures to candidates for Baptism — the first 18, based on the Jerusalem baptismal creed, given during Lent, the concluding 5 instructing the newly baptized during the week after Easter. His Eucharistic theology, an advance on that of earlier writers, interprets the Lord’s presence in the terms of the later dogma of transubstantiation, the rite pronounced in sacrificial language.

Thought to have died in 387, St Cyril was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1882.

Reflection: “Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though another hide it, you openly seal it upon your forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act” (St Cyril of Jerusalem).

Daily Readings

March 17, 2025

Monday of the Second Week in Lent

Reading 1

Daniel 9:4b–10

O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 79:8, 9, 11, 13 

Response: O Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.

Do not remember against us

the guilt of former times.

Let your compassion hasten to meet us;

for we have been brought very low.

Response: O Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.

Help us, O God our saviour,

for the sake of the glory of your name.

Free us and forgive us our sins,

because of your name.

Response: O Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.

Let the groans of the prisoners

come before you,

your strong arm reprieve

those condemned to die.

Response: O Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.

Then we, your people,

the flock of your pasture,

will give you thanks forever and ever.

From age to age we will recount your praise.

Response: O Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.

Verse Before the Gospel See

John 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are spirit and life, you have the words of eternal life.

Gospel

Luke 6:36–38

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Reflection

Jesus teaches us that whatever we do to others will boomerang on us. If we do good to others, we will experience goodness and if we do evil, we will experience evil in our own lives. The Lord wants us to live in communion with one another. In Galatians 6:2, Saint Paul tells us that by carrying one another’s burdens, we fulfil the law of Christ. “Let us not grow weary of doing good,” he further says, “for in due season we will reap if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9). In Hebrews 13:16 we read, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God”.

St Patrick, Bishop Confessor (c.385-461)

St Patrick, the great apostle and patron of Ireland, was the son of Calpurnius, a Roman Decurio in Brittany (Britain), and through his mother was closely related to St Martin of Tours. At 16, he was carried off by some Irish raiders into captivity, whereby he spent the next 6 years as a shepherd in the service of the chief Milch in Dalaradia (Antrim) before he was able to escape and make his way to Brittany and the monastery of Tours.

The British Bishop Palladius was sent to Ireland by Celestine I in 430 “to the Scots who believe in Christ”, but the hostility he encountered at the hands of the pagans compelled him to return to England where he died soon after. Thereupon Patrick, then in his forties, was consecrated Bishop and commissioned to evangelize the land of his one-time captors.

Patrick spent 7 years in the zealous evangelization of Connaught and then wandered through Ulster, Meach, Leinster and Limerick working numerous miracles. He and his companions were thrown into prison numerous times and even threatened with death, but in the end his success was astounding, chiefs and common people coming into the fold by the thousands.

Humble, yet courageous, Patrick’s determination to accept suffering and success with equal candour guided him in winning most of Ireland for Christ. Indeed, by the time he died at Sabhall in 461, he had established the Church in Ireland on a truly solid foundation.

Until his very end, this great man of prayer never relaxed his penitential exercises and mortifications. As for his indisputably genuine writings that have come down to us, his “Confessio” and his “Epistola Coroticum” deserve to be more widely known and appreciated, for they reveal God’s wonderful and providential workings in and through this great soul.

Reflection: “God’s hand for my cover, God’s path to pass over.

                    God’s buckler to guard me, God’s army to ward me” (St Patrick’s Breastplate).

Daily Readings

March 16, 2025

Second Sunday of Lent

Reading I

Genesis (15:5-12, 17-18)

In those days God brought Abram outside and said, “Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14.

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; whom should I dread?

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

O Lord, hear my voice when I call; have mercy and answer me. Of you my heart has spoken, “Seek his face.”

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

It is your face, O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me. Dismiss not your servant in anger; you have been my help.

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Do not abandon or forsake me. I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!

Response: The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Reading II

Philippians (3:17–4:1)

 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

or:

Philippians 3:20—4:1

Brothers and sisters:
Our citizenship is in heaven,  and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body
by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown,
in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.

Verse Before the Gospel

Matthew 17:5

From a bright cloud the Father’s voice is heard: this is my beloved Son, listen to him.

Gospel

Luke (9:28b-36)

At that time Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Reflection

The Transfiguration anticipates Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. It occurs when he chooses Peter, John and James to accompany him to a mountain which tradition identifies as Mount Tabor to pray. The transfiguration takes place in the context of prayer and it is fitting that Jesus along with the others has an encounter with the divine. His face changes in appearance while Moses and Elijah appear in glory. This is truly a supernatural event and the chosen disciples witness it. It is significant that Jesus speaks about his exodus during this event. The word exodus is replete with references to Jewish Passover and thus deliverance, life and freedom. Jesus’ return to the Father through his death and resurrection guarantees freedom, life and liberation for his followers. The presence of Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, connects this event with the Old Testament for Moses and Elijah are great Old Testament figures. The disciples do not understand the import of the Transfiguration until after the resurrection. That the disciples do not understand can be gauged from the statement made by Peter who wants to raise three tents. Peter is wrong in trying to make the experience permanent by assigning a tent for each one; he treats Jesus as the equal of Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah are great Old Testament prophetic figures but they are not equal to Jesus. That is why Peter’s suggestion to make three tents looks silly for he treats Jesus as equal to Moses and Elijah. The cloud covers them and a heavenly voice is heard. It is Jesus who should be listened to. This in short is what

the vision means. A cloud then overshadows the proceedings, and a voice from the cloud announces that Jesus is the Son, and commands, “hear him.” Jesus is then left alone with the disciples, who say nothing of the experience at the time. God’s voice from the cloud therefore corrects the misapprehensions: Jesus only is God’s Son and chosen one; and they are not to control the holy but respond to it: “Listen to him.” The Transfiguration marks an important stage in the revelation of Jesus as the Christ and Son of God. It is an experience similar to that of his baptism for in both instances the voice of the Father is heard calling Jesus as his beloved Son. What is needed is to appreciate the presence of Jesus alone and pay attention to his voice. What do I benefit from the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus? It is a reminder as well as an assurance that Christian lives should be oriented towards meeting the glorious Christ. But conditions apply and here the theme of the covenant in the First Reading comes to play. Belief in the resurrection is the basic tenet of our faith. All human beings will be subjected to Divine judgement and we are told that Jesus is appointed as the universal judge (Acts 17:31). If we have to receive favourable judgement, we have to prove ourselves worthy. That is the condition that we have to fulfil and it can be fulfilled only when we are alive, while we live on this earth. Therefore, let us pay more attention to how we live our Christian lives.

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

St Heribert, Bishop of Cologne (970 -1021)

One of the most renowned Prelates of the Diocese of Cologne (Germany), St Heribert was born to Count Hugo of Worms in the Palatinate of the Rhine. Brilliant and always eager to learn, he was educated at the Cathedral School of Worms and the celebrated Abbey of Gorze in Lorraine. He was attracted by the lives of the Benedictine monks there and would have joined them had not his father recalled him peremptorily to Worms, where he was given a canonry and ordained priest.

Heribert gained the confidence of Emperor Otto III, becoming not only his chancellor, but also his friend, adviser and companion. On Christmas Eve 998 he was consecrated Archbishop of Cologne in the Cathedral of St Peter, and from that moment on he devoted himself indefatigably to the duties of his high calling. He never allowed his state affairs to hinder him from his spiritual duties.

He accompanied the Emperor on a visit to Italy, where Otto breathed his last. In keeping with the latter’s wishes, his mortal remains were laid to rest at Aachen.

Duke Henry of Bavaria who succeeded Otto misinterpreted the doings of Heribert. But Heribert won him over by his life of virtue, leading to a public reconciliation between the two.

On a visit to Neuss Heribert contracted fever, of which he died on 16 March 1021, after having received the Viaticum with great fervour. At his tomb at Deutz, many miracles came to be attributed to his intercession. He is still invoked for rain.

St Heribert was canonized by Pope St Gregory VII some time between 1073 and 1074.

Reflection: “You should do no harm to anybody whatsoever; and as much as it is possible, do good to all” (St Peter Fourier).

Daily Readings

March 15, 2025

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

Reading 1

Deuteronomy 26:16–19

Moses spoke to the people, saying: “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honour high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 119:1–2, 4–5, 7–8

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord!

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord!

Blessed are those who keep his decrees!

With all their hearts they seek him.

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord!

You have laid down your precepts

to be carefully kept.

May my ways be firm

in keeping your statutes.

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord!

I will thank you with an upright heart,

as I learn your just judgments.

I will keep your statutes;

do not ever forsake me.

Response: Blessed are those who walk in the law of the Lord!

Verse Before the Gospel

2 Corinthians 6:2b

Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Gospel

Matthew 5:43–48

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Reflection

Jesus not only asks us to love our enemies, but he also gives us the Heavenly Father as a model for the same. Jesus wants us to be perfect like the heavenly Father. Saint Peter says, “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ ” (1 Pet 1:15-16). It is through a life of holiness that we prove ourselves to be the children of the Heavenly Father. Let us follow the advice of Saint Paul: “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col 3:12-13).

St Louise De Marillac, Widow (1591 - 1660)

Louise, the daughter of a military courtier, was a well-educated and socially prominent Parisian woman. At 16 she felt a strong desire to join the Poor Clares, but poor health intervened and five years later she was married to Antoine Le Gras, a secretary to Queen Marie de Medicis, and bore him a son, Michel.

With pious Antoine’s approval, she devoted all her free time to works of charity among the poor in Paris, though many considered it unbecoming of her social status. In 1619 she made the acquaintance of St Francis de Sales and St Vincent de Paul. When her husband died in 1625, Louise placed herself entirely under the latter Saint’s direction, and spent herself in superintending the various confraternities of charity which he had founded for the care of the needy.

This is regarded as the real beginning of the Sisters of Charity; for their benefit St Vincent de Paul began his famous spiritual conferences in 1634 which continued for 25 years. For 12 years there was no written rule or constitution, and no official approval was sought for the new Order. At a time when it was unheard of for nuns not to be enclosed, the services of these Sisters were urgently needed in the slums and hospitals. St Vincent wanted the fear of God to be their enclosure, holy modesty their veil, the parish church their chapel, a hired room their cell, and charitable works their Office. As their habit the Sisters adopted the blue-gray dress and white linen cornette of the peasant women in the Isle de France.

Louise de Marillac died on 15 March 1660, followed 6 months later by St Vincent. By then there were more than 40 houses in France. Today there are over 4,000 houses and some 40,000 Sisters in all parts of the world. The community is a lay one with only private vows, and the original rule and constitution have never been changed until recently.

Beatified on 9 May 1920, Louise de Marillac was canonized on 11 March 1934, by Pope Pius XI and, on 10 February 1960, named Patroness of all Christian Social Workers.

Reflection: “Be diligent in serving the poor.... Love the poor, honour them, my children, as you would honour Christ himself” (St Louise De Marillac).

Daily Readings

March 14, 2025

Friday of the First Week of Lent

Reading I

Ezekiel 18:21–28

Thus says the Lord God: “If a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 130:1–6ab, 6c–8 

Response: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice!

O let your ears be attentive

to the sound of my pleadings.

Response: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

Lord, who could stand?

But with you is found forgiveness,

that you may be revered.

Response: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

I long for you, O Lord,

my soul longs for his word.

My soul hopes in the Lord

more than watchmen for daybreak.

Response: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

More than watchmen for daybreak.

Let Israel hope for the Lord.

For with the Lord there is mercy,

in him is plentiful redemption.

It is he who will redeem Israel

from all its iniquities.

Response: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

Verse before the Gospel

Ezekiel 18:31

Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, says the Lord, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Gospel

Matthew 5:20–26

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Reflection

The Scribes and the Pharisees used to speak about the 613 commandments of the Old Testament. Among them, 365 commandments were positive commandments while 248 were negative commandments. Jesus summed up all the commandments into just two – Love of God and love of neighbour. Seemingly, the demands of Jesus are simpler. But this is not the truth. Jesus came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets. While the Old Testament considered murder as sinful, Jesus considered anger as equally sinful. While the Old Testament considered adultery to be sinful, Jesus considers looking at a woman lustfully as equally sinful. According to Jesus being reconciled with others is the sine-qua-non (an essential condition) for offering gifts at the altar. Jesus advocates a clean heart and pure intentions.

St Matilda, Queen (895 - 968)

Daughter of Count Dietrich of Westphalia and Reinhild of Denmark, St Matilda was brought up in the Benedictine convent at Herford (central Germany), where her grandmother was Abbess. Here she became known for her rare talents and virtues. At 14 she married Henry the Fowler of Saxony who later was chosen to succeed Conrad as King of Germany. As Queen she proved herself a model of piety and prudence, and was ever intent on succouring the oppressed and the poor.

Left a widow in 936, Matilda redoubled her prayers, mortifications and almsgiving, and founded numerous hospitals, churches and Benedictine abbeys. But this liberality so exasperated two of her sons, Otto and Henry, that they banished her from court and deprived her of all her property until misfortune overtook them in turn and they became reconciled with her and begged for forgiveness.

Of her children, the eldest son became Otto the Great, Emperor of Germany; another son was St Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne; a daughter Gerberga married Louis IV of France, and Hedwig became the mother of Hugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian dynasty.

She died on 14 March 968 at the monastery of Quedlinburg and was buried there with Henry.

Reflection: “The best reward which the servant of God can receive for that which he does for his neighbour, is contempt or shame, the only payment the world made for the labours of its Divine Master. If God gives you much to suffer, it is a sign that he would make a great saint of you” (St Ignatius).

Daily Readings

March 13, 2025

Thursday of the First Week in Lent

Reading 1

Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25

Esther the queen seized with deathly anxiety, fled to the Lord; And she prayed to the Lord God of Israel and said: “O my Lord, you only are our King; help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, for my danger is in my hand. Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that you, O Lord, took Israel out of all the nations and our fathers from among all their ancestors for an everlasting inheritance and that you did for them all that you promised. Remember, O Lord; make yourself known in this time of our affliction and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of all dominion! Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him. But save us by your hand and help me, who am alone and have no helper but you, O Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 138:1–2a, 2bcd–3, 7d–8

Response: On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart;

you have heard the words of my mouth.

In the presence of the angels I praise you.

I bow down toward your holy temple.

Response: On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I give thanks to your name

for your merciful love and

your faithfulness.

You have exalted your name over all.

On the day I called, you answered me;

you increased the strength of my soul.

Response: On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

With your right hand you save me;

the Lord will accomplish this for me.

O Lord, your merciful love is eternal;

discard not the work of your hands.

Response: On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

Verse Before the Gospel

Psalm 51:12a, 14a

Create a pure heart for me, O God; restore in me the joy of your salvation.

Gospel

Matthew 7:7–12

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Reflection

In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages us to ask the Lord when we are in need. He promises to give us every good thing we ask for. It is good to read these verses together with similar verses in the Bible. In Matthew 18:19 the Lord says, “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven”. Saint James tells us that we should ask without doubting (Jas 1:5-8). In Matthew 21:22, Jesus himself says, “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith”. In 1 John 5:14, we read, “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”

St Euphrasia of Constantinople, Virgin (380 - 420)

St Euphrasia was the daughter of Antigonus, a senator of Constantinople (Turkey), who was related to the Emperor Theodosius I. Antigonus having died shortly after the birth of his daughter, Theodosius took the widow and the child under his protection and, as was the custom, arranged a betrothal for Euphrasia at the age of five, to the son of a wealthy senator. But the widow herself began to be sought in marriage, whereupon she withdrew from the court and, with Euphrasia, went to Egypt where they settled down near a convent of nuns.

At seven, Euphrasia was greatly drawn to the convent life and begged her mother to allow her to stay there. Reluctantly, her mother agreed and the abbess told her that the grace of God was working in Euphrasia.

Meanwhile she declined her betrothed who by then desired the marriage. Now 12 and an heiress, she wrote to Emperor Arcadius, seeking to be allowed to follow her vocation and requesting him to use her parents’ property for the good of the poor and to enfranchise all her slaves. Arcadius complied with her requests. Euphrasia, for her part, took up hard and humbling tasks to divert her attention from the world, to which she was sometimes tempted to return. She complied cheerfully with whatever was expected of her.

Years later, as she lay on her death-bed, Julia who shared her cell, besought her to obtain for her the grace of being with her in heaven. The Saint died and three days after, Julia followed suit.

Russian usage has St Euphrasia named in the preparation of the Byzantine Mass.

Reflection: “Christ does not force our will. He takes only what we give him. But he does not give himself entirely until he sees that we yield ourselves entirely to him” (St Teresa of Avila).

Daily Readings

March 12, 2025

Wednesday of the First Week in Lent

Reading 1

Jonah 3:1–10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3–4, 12–13, 18–19

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God you will not spurn.

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your merciful love;

according to your great compassion,

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me completely from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God you will not spurn.

Create a pure heart for me, O God;

renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence;

take not your holy spirit from me.

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God you will not spurn.

For in sacrifice you take no delight;

burnt offering from me would

not please you.

My sacrifice to God, a broken spirit:

a broken and humbled heart,

O God, you will not spurn.

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God you will not spurn.

Verse Before the Gospel

Joel 2:12-13

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, for I am gracious and merciful.

Gospel

Luke 11:29–32

At that time: When the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Reflection

Jesus himself is the greatest sign that humanity can ever have. A sign is something visible standing for something invisible. In Colossians 1:15, Saint Paul states, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”. Further, in Colossians 2:9 he says, “In him the fullness of deity dwells bodily”. Jesus being true God and true man, presents the invisible God most perfectly. Being truly man, he can present God in a human way to other human beings. Jesus is compared to Jonah who disobeyed God. He went away to Tarsus instead of going to Nineveh. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, Jesus was in the belly of the earth for three days.

St Theophanes, Abbot  (817)

St Theophanes grew up under the guardianship of Emperor Constantine V, his father having died early, leaving him heir to a large estate. He was induced to marry the daughter of a Byzantine Patrician. But, the marriage remaining unconsummated by mutual consent, he joined the monks of Polychronicon while his wife became a nun. He then founded monasteries and served as Abbot at Mt Sigriana on the shores of the Sea of Marmara, between Cyzicus and the Kirmasti River.

In 787 he was invited to take part in the Second Council of Nicaea (Turkey), which sanctioned the use and reverence of sacred images. But in 814, the Armenian Emperor Leo V reversed this policy and strove to suppress the cult of images. Theophanes ranged himself against Leo’s iconoclastic policy and paid no heed to his threat. Thus, after receiving 300 stripes he was thrown into a dungeon for two years. Deprived of the bare necessities of life, he fell severely ill and was exiled to the island of Samothrace in Greece where he died on 12 March 817. He is venerated as a Saint both by the Greek and the Latin Rite Churches.

He was the author of an important Chronicle composed between 810 and 814 at the suggestion of his friend George Syncellus. It covers the period between 284 and 813. His Chronicle, along with that of Nicephorus I, Patriarch of Constantinople, highlights the principal Byzantine historical source for the 7th and 8th centuries.

Reflection: “Not the goods of the world, but God, Not riches, but God.

                  Not distinction, but God. Not advancements, but God.

                God always, and in everything” (St Vincent Pallotti).

Daily Readings

March 11, 2025

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Reading 1

Isaiah 55:10–11

Thus says the Lord: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 34:4–5, 6–7, 16–17, 18–19

Response: The Lord rescues them in all their distress.

Glorify the Lord with me;

together let us praise his name.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

from all my terrors he set me free.

Response: The Lord rescues them in all their distress.

Look toward him and be radiant;

let your faces not be abashed.

This lowly one called; the Lord heard,

and rescued him from all his distress.

Response: The Lord rescues them in all their distress.

The Lord turns his eyes to the just,

and his ears are open to their cry.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked

to destroy their remembrance from the earth.

Response: The Lord rescues them in all their distress.

When the just cry out, the Lord hears,

and rescues them in all their distress.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;

those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

Response: The Lord rescues them in all their distress.

Verse Before the Gospel

Matthew 4:4b

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Gospel

Matthew 6:7–15

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Reflection

Jesus wants us to concentrate on the quality of our prayer rather than on its quantity. Saint James states, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (Jas 5:16). In today’s gospel passage, Jesus gives us the Lord’s Prayer as a model prayer. Prayer should not be self-centred, but God-centred. We need to glorify the name of the Lord and accept his will in our day-to-day lives. There should be a daily dependence on Divine Providence. That is why, Jesus wants us to pray for ‘our daily bread’. Very significantly, Jesus attaches a condition for divine forgiveness by adding the phrase “as we forgive those who trespass against us”. The prayer is to be lived, too.

St Eulogius of Cordoba, Martyr (c.818 - 859)

St Eulogius was the son of a noble senatorial family of Cordoba in southern Spain. An avid reader and student, he was much esteemed for his holy life, his great eloquence and for his profound humility.

The Saracen rulers had tolerated the Christian religion during the first 130 years of their Spanish occupation, provided the faithful kept their heavy tax payments. But in 850 there began a period of persecution during which many were martyred for the faith. St Eulogius did much, by spoken and written word, to encourage the persecuted and imprisoned Christians. His three important works, viz., “Exhortation to Maryrdom”, which encouraged two Christian  girls, Flora and Mary, threatened with slavery, “Memorial of the Saints” which relates the trials of the Martyrs, and “Apologia” which defended martyrs seeking death by proclaiming their faith, had a profound and widespread effect, keeping many from apostatizing.

When the Archbishop of Toledo died in 858, St Eulogius was chosen successor, but he was arrested just when he was due for his consecration, for daring to defend a Saracen maiden, St Leocritia, who had abandoned Islam for the Catholic faith. In his great zeal, the holy Priest even endeavoured to convert his Arab judge by pointing out to him the errors of Mohammed’s doctrine, thus literally inviting death—he was beheaded on 11 March 859.

Reflection: “Ah! If you could but conceive the reward which waits for those who persevere in the faith to the end, you would renounce your temporal dignity in exchange for it!” (St Eulogius of Cordoba).

Daily Readings

March 9, 2025

First Sunday of Lent

Reading I

Deuteronomy (26:4-10)

Moses said to the people, “The priest shall take the basket of first fruits from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. And you shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labour. Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15

Response: Be with me, O Lord, when I am in my distress.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,

and abides in the shade of the Almighty, says

to the LORD, “My refuge, my stronghold, my

God in whom I trust!”

Response: Be with me, O Lord, when I am in my distress.

Upon you no evil shall fall, no plague approach

your tent. For you has he commanded his

angels to keep you in all your ways.

Response: Be with me, O Lord, when I am in my distress.

They shall bear you upon their hands, lest you

strike your foot against a stone. On the lion and

the viper you will tread, and trample the young

lion and the serpent.

Response: Be with me, O Lord, when I am in my distress.

Since he clings to me in love, I will free him, protect

him, for he knows my name. When he calls on me,

I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I

will deliver him, and give him glory.

Response: Be with me, O Lord, when I am in my distress.

Reading II

Romans (10:8-13)

Brethren, what does Scripture say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL

Matthew 4:4b

Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel

Luke (4:1-13)

At that time Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were over, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you’, and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Reflection

The First Reading of today refers to a pilgrimage that the Israelite households undertake year after year. As part of the ritual, the people present a basketfull of their produce to the priests at the sanctuary. By this they acknowledge the fact that all the products of the land belong to God. Taking the basket along, the worshipper proceeds to the prescribed place. The priest accepts the basket and places it before the altar. In all three Synoptic Gospels the temptation proceeds immediately after Jesus’ baptism. Often the wilderness is a region of demonic activity, and yet it is here that Jesus goes to commune with God. In trying to understand the temptation scene we have to keep in mind that the battle with Satan lies at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. We are told that Jesus ate nothing for forty days – a period that would bring one to the point of death. Whether this information is literal or not is a matter of debate, but the understanding is that Jesus ate and drank very little for a very long time.

In the first temptation Jesus is challenged to use his power as Son in his own interest to seek food for himself apart from his Father’s design. The devil does not aim to cause Jesus to doubt his divine sonship; he knows who Jesus is, and there is no need to pretend otherwise. Rather, he tempts Jesus through suggestion on how to live on earth as the Son of God. The devil knows that Jesus is hungry and so suggests that he change the stone to bread to satiate his hunger. If the devil succeeds, then he could humiliate God in the eyes of the people. This is what the devil aims at. But Jesus does not use his divinity to avoid human pain and suffering. To tempt him further, the devil shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and falsely claims that they are all his and promises to give them to Jesus. Here the claims of the devil are exaggerated. In offering Jesus all the kingdoms’ authority and glory, Satan was attempting to suggest that all the power, wealth, glory, and fame that the world could offer were there for Jesus’ taking. But Jesus refuses.

In the third and final temptation, Jesus is challenged again to use his power to reveal himself with dazzling effect to his contemporaries and to conform to popular ideas of what a heaven-sent leader of the people would be. To listen to the devil by leaping from the parapet would be a complete rejection of God’s plan of salvation. The devil is trying to induce Jesus to jump to his own death before beginning his mission. Jesus, in his reply to the devil, not only rebuffs the temptation, but he also reminds the devil that he, the devil, is subject to God as well, “You shall not put the Lord your God, to the test.” The departure of the devil is not permanent. The devil is not about to admit defeat, and he will reappear in greater force as he faces his passion. Lesson for us: we have to guard against temptations at all times. Jesus won victory over the temptations through his trust in God and recourse to Scripture. We also should trust in God and God will ensure us too victory over temptations.

(Source: The Sunday Liturgy)

St Frances of Rome, Religious, Widow (1384 -1440)

Frances de Busso was already conspicuously devout as a child of six and was looking forward to the life of a religious when, at age 12, she bowed to the wishes of her parents, Paul Busso and Jacobeila dei Roffredeschi, a wealthy couple of noble lineage and married young Lorenzo de Ponziani, a pious and virtuous nobleman of Rome. Blessed with six children, their 40 years of marriage was a happy one, never once marred by a quarrel; and though she had the gift of absorbing prayer and detachment from earthly things, she always maintained that a devout married woman “must never forget that she is a housewife, and that at times she is obliged to leave her devotions at the altar in order to find God in her domestic duties.”

Frances’ example of personal sanctity and moderated penances, her zeal for souls and charity towards the poor, served to draw numerous Roman noblewomen away from a life of idle luxury, and in 1433 they formed the Benedictine Oblate Congregation of Tor de Specchi — whose constitution was formally approved by Pope Eugene IV in 1433—which exists to this day, working for the sick and the poor. There were no formal vows or strict enclosure, but definite rules for prayer, visits to the sick and the poor.

She entered her own Congregation on 21 March 1436, after her husband’s death, and died there four years later on 9 March 1440. She was canonized on 29 May 1608 by Pope Paul V. Her tomb is in Santa Maria Nova.

Reflection: “By giving yourself to God, you not only receive him in exchange, but eternal life as well” (St Francis de Sales).

Daily Readings

March 8, 2025

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Reading 1

Isaiah 58:9c–14

Thus says the Lord: “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honourable; if you honour it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 86:1–2, 3–4, 5–6

Response: Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth.

Turn your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

Preserve my soul, for I am faithful;

save the servant who trusts in you, my God.

Response: Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,

for I cry to you all the day long.

Gladden the soul of your servant,

for I lift up my soul to you, O Lord.

Response: Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth.

O Lord, you are good and forgiving,

full of mercy to all who call to you.

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer,

and attend to my voice

in supplication.

Response: Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth.

Verse Before the Gospel

Ezekiel 33:11

have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord, but that he turn from his way and live.

Gospel

Luke 5:27–32

At that time: Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Reflection

Jesus’ approach to sinners is presented in today’s Gospel passage. When the Pharisees and the Scribes looked at tax collectors as public sinners, as those to be treated with contempt and disdain, Jesus looked at them with compassion and considered them as “the sick who need a doctor”. Matthew was a tax collector. The compassionate approach of Jesus made him an Apostle and an Evangelist. We can save many sinners through a compassionate approach. As the saying goes, “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. It is often our self-righteous attitude that scorns others. Such a self-righteous attitude is self-destructive. A true Christian can never be self-righteous in his approach towards others.

St John of God, Religious, Confessor (1495-1550)

St John, though born in central Portugal, grew to manhood in the service of the chief shepherd of a nobleman of Oropeza, Spain, and was noted for his faithfulness and piety. After spending some time as a soldier in France and at the siege of Vienna, he worked for a while as a shepherd at Seville and even offered himself for the ransom of Christian captives from the Moors.

For a while he peddled religious books and pictures in Gibraltar, but when he was about 45, the Infant Jesus appeared to him one day in a vision and said: “John of God, Granada will be your cross!” In that city, to which he now repaired, he was so stirred by a sermon of St John of Avila that he distributed his possessions and gave himself up to such public lamentations over his wasted youth that he was considered demented. John, however, counselled and absolved him, whereupon he devoted himself entirely to alleviating the lot of the sick and the poor.

Renting a small house in Granada, he would carry to it the infirm who could not reach it by themselves. Immediately on their arrival, he would wash their feet and offer them a Crucifix to kiss, after which he would put them to bed and urge them to have a priest hear their confession.

The Archbishop fully supported his work, and his sanctity was attested by numerous miracles. He died on 8 March 1550 while praying on his knees before the altar. He was canonized in 1690.

The Order which he founded, viz., the “Brothers Hospitallers” — in Italy they are called “Fatebene Fratelli” (Do-Good-Brethren) — now maintain over 100 hospitals of their own in all parts of the world. St John is the Patron of hospitals, of the sick, of nurses, printers and book-sellers.

Reflection: “Labour without intermission to do all the good work in your power, while time is allowed you.” “Lord, your thorns are my roses, and your sufferings my paradise” (St John of God).

Daily Readings

March 7, 2025

Friday after Ash Wednesday

Reading 1

Isaiah 58:1–9a

Thus says the Lord God: “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3–4, 5–6ab, 18–19

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your merciful love;

according to your great compassion,

blot out my transgressions.

Wash me completely from my iniquity,

and cleanse me from my sin.

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

My transgressions, truly I know them;

my sin is always before me.

Against you, you alone, have I sinned;

what is evil in your sight I have done.

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

For in sacrifice you take no delight;

burnt offering from me

would not please you.

My sacrifice to God, a broken spirit:

a broken and humbled heart,

O God, you will not spurn.

Response: A broken and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.

Verse Before the Gospel

Amos 5:14

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you.

Gospel

Matthew 9:14-15

At that time: The disciples of John came to Jesus, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Reflection

The existence of a community of the disciples of John the Baptist itself is questionable. John was the precursor of the Messiah. He pointed to Jesus and said to his disciples, “Here is the Lamb of God” and they followed him. Yet some of the disciples of John the Baptist remained as a community on their own, not perceiving Jesus as the Messiah. They did not recognize the Bridegroom in Jesus and continued to fast and wait. Our religious activities can sometimes lead us to ritualism. Fasting is not an end in itself, but it is a means to spiritual discovery and spiritual enlightenment. It should not deteriorate into a meaningless ritual.

Sts Perpetua & Felicity, Martyrs ( -203)

The record of the passion of St Perpetua, her slave St Felicity and their companions is among the most ancient, reliable hagiological histories that have come down to us.

During the persecutions of Septimius Severus, five catechumens were arrested. They were Vibia Perpetua, a noblewoman of 22 and her infant, Felicity, a pregnant slave, Revocatus, Satwininus, Secundulus and later Saturus their Catechist. While still under arrest they were baptized. Perpetua’s father besought her to apostatize, because she was his favourite child. She, however, had the vision of a golden ladder guarded by the dragon and strewn with hooks and weapons that made difficult the ascent. But, following the example of Saturus, she trod over the dragon and, climbing the ladder, reached a beautiful place where a tall man in the garment of a shepherd welcomed her and offered her curds and milk. This was the premonition that she was to suffer and die.

Perpetua, Felicity and their companions were all condemned and ordered to be thrown before the wild beasts, at the garrison games festival in honour of Ceasar Geta. On the day of their triumph, they were flogged and were beheaded by the gladiators.

Reflection: “Stand fast in the faith and love one another; and do not let our sufferings be a stumbling-block to you” (St Perpetua).

Daily Readings

March 6, 2025

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Reading 1

Deuteronomy 30:15–20

Moses spoke to the people, saying, See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 1:1–2, 3, 4 and 6 

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Blessed indeed is the man

who follows not the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the path with sinners,

nor abides in the company of scorners,

but whose delight is the law of the Lord,

and who ponders his law day and night.

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

He is like a tree that is planted

beside the flowing waters,

that yields its fruit in due season,

and whose leaves shall never fade;

and all that he does shall prosper.

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Not so are the wicked, not so!

For they, like winnowed chaff,

shall be driven away by the wind.

For the Lord knows the way of the just,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Response: Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.

Verse Before the Gospel

Matthew 4:17

Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gospel

Luke 9:22–25

At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Reflection

Jesus redeemed humanity through his sufferings and death on the cross, in keeping with which, his disciple is expected to do three things: deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow him. Jesus walks ahead on the way the disciples have to tread. By asking his disciples to take up their cross ‘daily’ Jesus wants them to know that the cross is not something that comes at death. It is a daily affair. Everyday life involves many sacrifices and the ultimate sacrifice is that of the total self which takes place at death. After challenging the disciples to walk his path, he poses a question to them to ponder – “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits his soul?”

St Colette, Virgin (1381-1447)

Colette’s mother was 60 years old when she gave birth to the Saint in Picardy, France, on 13 January 1381. Her father was a carpenter at the abbey of Corbie. When still in her 11th year, she showed signs of her religious leaning by secretly repairing to the Benedictine Abbey at night to assist at Matins. Orphaned at 17, she tried the quasi-cloistered life of a Beguine; then, in search of greater austerity, she worked as a servant for the Poor Clares and Benedictines. Finally, on her director’s advice, giving away all she had, she became a Franciscan Tertiary and walled herself up as a recluse alongside the church of Our Lady at Corbie.

Here began her celestial visions, her “voices” and visitations during which it was revealed to her that she should restore the primitive, austere spirit in the Franciscan Order, a task for which she felt herself entirely unfitted. God’s will seemed to become unmistakably clear, however, when a saintly priest and a noblewoman from far-off Savoy, complete strangers, sought her out in response to divine inspiration, and Pope Benedict XIII  made her Abbess over the Poor Clares with full authority to establish reforms in all the convents.

The nuns are discalced, strictly cloistered, maintain continuous fast and abstinence, and possess no property, not even in common. St Vincent Ferrer gave her his processional Crucifix as a sign of his esteem.

Like St Francis, she was an ardent lover of animals and birds, and was greatly renowned for her sanctity and a life of unceasing prayer for the whole world. Taking critically ill while visiting her convents in Ghent, Belgium, she breathed her last on 6 March 1447 and was canonized in 1807.

Reflection: “If there be a true way that leads to the everlasting Kingdom, it is most certainly that of suffering, patiently endured” (St Colette).

Daily Readings

March 5, 2025

Ash Wednesday

Reading 1

Joel (2:12-18)

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Sion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a by word among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ” Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17

Response: Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your merciful love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me completely from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Response: Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned.

My transgressions, truly I know them; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned; what is evil in your sight I have done.

Response: Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Create a pure heart for me, O God; renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence; take not your holy spirit from me.

Response: Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Restore in me the joy of your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit. O LORD, open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Response: Have mercy, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Reading 2

2 Corinthians (5:20–6:2)

Brethren, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favourable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 

Verse Before the Gospel

(See Psalm 95:7d, 8a)

Glory and praise to you, O Christ. O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel

Matthew (6:1-6,16-18)

At that time Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of practising your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Reflection

“Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2). With these words, the Apostle Paul helps us enter into the spirit of the Lenten season. Lent is indeed the “favourable time” to return to what is essential, to divest ourselves of all that weighs us down, to be reconciled with God, and to rekindle the fire of the Holy Spirit hidden beneath the ashes of our frail humanity. It is the season of grace when we put into practice what the Lord asks of us at the beginning of today’s First Reading: “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). The rite of the imposition of ashes serves as the beginning of this return journey. It exhorts us to do two things: to return to the truth about ourselves and to return to God and to our brothers and sisters. First, to return to the truth about ourselves. The ashes remind us who we are and whence we come. They bring us back to the essential truth of our lives: the Lord alone is God and we are the work of his hands. That is the truth of who we are. We have life, whereas God is life. He is the Creator, while we are the fragile clay fashioned by his hands. We come from the earth and we need heaven; we need him. With God, we will rise from our ashes, but without him, we are dust. As we humbly bow our heads to receive the ashes, we are reminded of this truth: we are the Lord’s; we belong to him. For God “formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7); we exist because he breathed into us the breath of life. As a tender and merciful Father, God too experiences Lent, since he is concerned for us; he waits for us; he awaits our return. Yet there is a second step: the ashes invite us also to return to God and to our brothers and sisters. Once we return to the truth about ourselves and remind ourselves that we are not self-sufficient, we realize that we exist only through relationships: our primordial relationship with the Lord and our vital relationships with others. The ashes we receive today tell us that every presumption of self-sufficiency is false, and that self-idolatry is destructive, imprisoning us in isolation and loneliness: we look in the mirror and believe that we are perfect, the centre of the world. Life is instead a relationship: we receive it from God and from our parents, and we can always revive and renew it thanks to the Lord and to those he puts at our side. Lent, then, is a season of grace when we can rebuild our relationship with God and with others, opening our hearts in the silence of prayer and emerging from the fortress of our self-sufficiency. Lent is the favourable time when we can break the chains of our individualism and isolation, and rediscover, through encounter and listening, our companions along the journey of each day. And to learn once more to love them as brothers and sisters.

— A Homily by Pope Benedict XVI for Ash Wednesday.

Source: The Sunday Liturgy

St John Joseph of the Cross, Confessor (1654-1734)

Christened Carlo Gaetano at his birth on 15 August 1654, St John Joseph was a native of Ischia, an island near Naples, Italy. Even as a child, he possessed a remarkable religious zeal and love for the poor. At 16 he became the first Italian member of the extremely strict Alcantarine branch of the Franciscans, founded in Spain in 1524 by St Peter of Alcantara. That was when he took the name John Joseph.

Severely ascetic by nature, John Joseph fasted continuously, never partaking of anything but bread and fruit, and limited his sleep to three hours a night.  Having accepted priestly ordination strictly under obedience in 1677, he was made novice master at 24, and later guardian of his monastery. In 1702 he became Provincial of the Alcantarine Reform in Italy.

St John Joseph was noted for his healing touch, for reading hearts, levitation during his ecstasies, bilocation and for multiplying food during a famine.

He died on 5 March 1734 at the Friary of Santa Lucia del Monte. Beatified by Pope Pius VI in 1789, he was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839.

Reflection: “The most divine of all divine things is to cooperate with God in the salvation of souls” (St Denis).

Daily Readings

March 4, 2025

Tuesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1

Sirach 35:1–12

He who keeps the law makes many offerings; he who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering. He who returns a kindness offers fine flour, and he who gives alms sacrifices a thank offering. To keep from wickedness is pleasing to the Lord, and to forsake unrighteousness is atonement. Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed, for all these things are to be done because of the commandment. The offering of a righteous man anoints the altar, and its pleasing odour rises before the Most High. The sacrifice of a righteous man is acceptable, and the memory of it will not be forgotten. Glorify the Lord generously and do not stint the first fruits of your hands. With every gift show a cheerful face and dedicate your tithe with gladness. Give to the Most High as he has given and as generously as you are able.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 50:5–6, 7–8, 14 and 23