It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice - Daily Mass Readings March 26, 2022

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 242
Reading I
Hos 6:1-6

“Come, let us return to the LORD,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”

What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Responsorial Psalm
51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab

R.        (see Hosea 6:6)  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
            in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
            and of my sin cleanse me.
R.        It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
            should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
            a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R.        It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Be bountiful, O LORD, to Zion in your kindness
            by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem;
Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices,
            burnt offerings and holocausts.
R.        It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

Verse Before the Gospel
Ps 95:8

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

Gospel
Lk 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will - Daily Mass Readings March 25, 2022

 

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Lectionary: 545
Reading I
Is 7:10-14; 8:10

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us!”    

Responsorial Psalm
40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11

R.        (8a and 9a)  Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
            but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
            then said I, “Behold I come.”
R.        Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
“In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
            and your law is within my heart!”
R.        Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
            I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.
R.        Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
            your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
            in the vast assembly.
R.        Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Reading II
Heb 10:4-10

Brothers and sisters:
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:

            “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
                        but a body you prepared for me;
            in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
            Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
            behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Verse before the Gospel
Jn 1:14ab

The Word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us;
and we saw his glory.

Gospel
Lk 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“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, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts - Daily Mass Readings Daily Mass Readings March 24, 2022

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 240
Reading I
Jer 7:23-28

Thus says the LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.

Responsorial Psalm
95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R.        (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
            let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
            let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R.        If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
            let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
            and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R.        If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
            “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah
            as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
            they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R.        If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Verse before the Gospel
Jl 2:12-13

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
for I am gracious and merciful.

Gospel
Lk 11:14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem - Daily Mass Readings March 23, 2022

 

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Memorial of Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo, bishop

Lectionary: 239
Reading I
Dt 4:1, 5-9

Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?

“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

Responsorial Psalm
147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20

R.        (12a)  Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
            praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
            he has blessed your children within you.
R.        Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
            swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
            frost he strews like ashes.
R.        Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
            his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
            his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R.        Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Verse before the Gospel
See Jn 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.

Gospel
Mt 5:17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”