5th Sunday of Lent
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Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 43:16-21
Thus says the LORD, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters, who leads out chariots and horsemen, a powerful army, till they lie prostrate together, never to rise, snuffed out and quenched like a wick. Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers. Wild beasts honor me, jackals and ostriches, for I put water in the desert and rivers in the wasteland for my chosen people to drink, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might announce my praise.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6. (R.3)
R. The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.
When the LORD brought back the captives of Zion,
we were like men dreaming.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing. R.
Then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad indeed. R.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that sow in tears
shall reap rejoicing. R.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves. R.
Second Reading – Phil 3:8-14
Brothers and sisters: I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. It is not that I have already taken hold of it
Gospel – Jn 8:1-11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
Featured Saints
Blessed Michael Rua, priest (†1910). Disciple and first successor of St. John Bosco; he gave great impetus to the Salesian Order.
St. Peter of Verona, priest and martyr (†1252). Born to Manichean parents, he embraced the Catholic Faith and entered the Dominican Order; he energetically combated heresies until he was killed by enemies of the Church in Milan.
St. Irenaeus of Sirmium, bishop and martyr (†fourth century). He was imprisoned, tortured, and beheaded in Sirmium of Pannonia, present day Sremska Mitrovica (Serbia), during the time of Emperor Maximianus.
St. Eutychius, bishop (†582). Patriarch of Constantinople, he fought tirelessly for doctrinal orthodoxy in a time of widespread heresy.
St. Paul Le Bao Tihn, priest and martyr (†1857). Contemplative monk who was imprisoned and exiled during religious persecution in Vietnam. Granted amnesty seven years later, he was ordained priest and wrote a compendium of Catholic doctrine. He was beheaded during the recommencement of the persecution.
Blessed Notker the Stammerer, monk (†912). He lived almost his entire life in the Abbey of St. Gall, in Swabia, modern Switzerland, where he composed numerous liturgical poems. Of weak constitution, he was nevertheless strong of mind; despite his speech impediment he had ample intelligence, and was assiduous in prayer, reading, and meditation.
St. Philaret, monk (†1076). Although born in a Muslim environment, he followed the true Faith and dedicated himself to prayer. He died in the Monastery of St. Elias in Calabria.
Blessed Zephyrinus Agostini, priest (†1896). He was a dedicated preacher and catechist. He founded the Congregation of the Ursuline Daughters of Mary Immaculate in Verona, Italy.
Blessed Catherine of Pallanza, virgin (+1478). At a young age, she lost her family to the plague, in Novara, Italy. At the age of fifteen, deeply touched by a sermon on Christ’s Passion, she consecrated herself to God and entered into a convent under the Augustinian Rule.
Blessed Pierina Morosini, virgin and martyr (†1957). Twenty-six-year-old laywoman who died defending her virginity, in Fiobbio di Albino (Italy).
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