Mass Readings

First Reading – Is 42:1-7

Here is My servant whom I uphold, My chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put My Spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spreads out the earth with its crops, Who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, To open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 27:1, 2, 3, 13-14 (R. 1a)

R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid? R.

When evildoers come at me
to devour my flesh,
My foes and my enemies
themselves stumble and fall. R.

Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust. R.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD. R.

Gospel – Jn 12:1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for Him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with Him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of His disciples, and the one who would betray Him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”  The large crowd of the Jews found out that He was there and came, not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

Featured Saints

St. Nicetas, Confessor (†824). Abbot of Medikion monastery at Bithynia, in present-day Turkey. He suffered persecution and imprisonment for defending the veneration of icons under Emperor Leo, an iconoclast.

St. Sixtus I, Pope (†128). Roman by birth, he was the sixth successor of St. Peter. He ruled the Church at the time of Emperor Hadrian.

St. John, Bishop (†432). Bishop of Naples, Italy; he died on the Easter Vigil, as he celebrated the sacred mysteries, and was buried on the Solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord.

St. Richard of Chichester, bishop (†1235). Exiled by King Henry III and later restored to his See, he generously strove to assist the poor.

St. Luigi Scrosoppi, priest (†1884). Priest from the Congregation of the Oratory, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Divine Providence in Udine, Italy, for the Christian education of poor girls.

St. Joseph the Hymnographer, monk (+886). Born in Sicily, he took refuge in Greece during the Muslim invasions. He opposed the iconoclasts and founded a monastery in Constantinople. For his gift for the composition of sacred hymns, he became known was the Hymnographer.

Blessed John of Penna, priest (†1275). Sent by St. Francis of Assisi to Gaul of Narbonne, France, he promulgated the new form of evangelical life there.

Blessed Gandolfo of Binasco, priest (†1260). Entered the Order of the Friars Minor during the lifetime of its founder, St. Francis. He led an austere life of solitude in Polizzi, Sicily, and preached the Word of God in the environs.

Blessed Peter Edward Dánkowski, priest and martyr (†1942). Polish priest imprisoned and killed in Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland for the Faith.