Thursday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Mass Readings
First Reading – 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 – Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 (R. 8)
R. 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.
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.
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 He though they had seen Hy works.” R.
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.”
St. Innocent I, Pope (†417). He condemned Pelagianism, defended St. John Chrysostom, consoled St. Jerome, and approved St. Augustine.
St. Luigi Orione, priest (†1940). A student and spiritual disciple of St. John Bosco who went on to found the Little Work of Divine Providence and the Congregation of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity in Italy, for the education of youth and care of the destitute. He died in San Remo, Italy.
Blessed Fina of San Gimignano, virgin (†1253). Afflicted by a serious disease at ten years of age, she died five year later, having endured her sufferings with admirable patience.
Blessed Peter the Deacon of Rome, deacon (†605). Designated by Pope St. Gregory the Great to administer the patrimony of the Church of Rome, he did so with prudence and wisdom.
Blessed Angela Salawa, virgin (†1922). Franciscan tertiary, she attained sanctity while employed as a domestic servant in Krakow, Poland, where she died in poverty at forty years of age.
St. Theophanes, monk (†817). Defender of the veneration of sacred images, he died of privation on the Isle of Samothracia, Turkey, where he had been exiled by the Iconoclast Emperor, Leo the Armenian.
St. Joseph Zhang Dapeng, martyr (†1815). After being baptized in Guiyang, China, he welcomed missionaries and catechists into his home. He was imprisoned, condemned and led to his death on a cross; he shed tears for having been considered worthy to die for Christ.
Blessed Justine Bézzoli Francúcci, virgin (+1369). Benedictine religious who was outstanding in the practice of austere penances. Her body was found to be incorrupt in the monastery of the Holy Spirit in Arezzo, Italy.
St. Paul Aurelian, Bishop (†sixth century). First Bishop of Saint-Polde-Léon, in present-day France.
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