Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Mass Readings
First Reading – 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 – Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20 (R.12a)
R. 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.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes. R.
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.
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.”
Featured Saints
St. Sophronius, bishop (†639). Monk from Palestine, he was elected Patriarch of Jerusalem. He fought the Monothelite heresy and composed hymns and canticles that until today are included in the eastern Liturgy. (See featured photo)
St. Eulogius, priest and martyr (†859). He was beheaded in Cordoba, Spain, for gloriously confessing the name of Christ.
St. Dominic Cam, priest and martyr (†1859). Dominican religious born in present-day Vietnam. After clandestinely exercising his ministry for many years, helping many Christians to remain steadfast in the Faith, he was imprisoned and beheaded in Hung Yên at the command of Emperor Tu Ðuc.
Sts. Mark Chong Ui-bae and Alex U Se-yong, martyrs (†1866). Beheaded in Sai-NamThe, Korea for practicing and propagating the Catholic Faith.
St. Constantine, king and martyr (†sixth century). A Briton ruler who, after committing murders and sacrilege, converted to Christianity, abandoned the throne of Cornwall and withdrew to an Irish monastery. After being ordained priest, he left on mission to Scotland, where he received the palm of martyrdom.
Blessed Thomas Atkinson, priest and martyr (†1616). Tireless apostle, he served Catholic families in England during the reign of James I, showing special dedication to the poor. After being betrayed and arrested, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Blessed John Kearney, priest and martyr (†1653). Irish Franciscan executed in London, during the rule of Oliver Cromwell, for exercising his priestly ministry.
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