Friday of the 5th Week of Lent
First Reading – Jer 20:10-13
I hear the whisperings of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!” All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. “Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him.” But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O LORD of hosts, You who test the just, who probe mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance You take on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause. Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, For He has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 18:2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7 (R. see 7)
R. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and He heard my voice.
I love You, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. R.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies. R.
The breakers of death surged round about me,
the destroying floods overwhelmed me;
The cords of the nether world enmeshed me,
the snares of death overtook me. R.
In my distress I called upon the LORD
and cried out to my God;
From His temple He heard my voice,
and my cry to Him reached His ears. R.
Gospel – Jn 10:31-42
The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from My Father. For which of these are you trying to stone Me?” The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe Me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried again to arrest Him; but He escaped from their power. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there He remained. Many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in Him.
Featured Saints
Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen, bishop (†1946). As Bishop of Münster, Germany, he was a reflection of the Gospel figure of the Good Shepherd to the people. He openly fought against the errors of national-socialism and the violation of human and Church rights. His courage earned him the name “the Lion of Münster.”
St. Benvenuto Scotivoli, Bishop (†1282). Franciscan, contemporary of St. Bonaventure, he was appointed Bishop of Osimo, Italy by Pope Urban IV. He fostered peace in the city and chose to die on the bare ground, in keeping with the spirit of the Friars Minor.
St. Basil of Ancyra, priest and martyr (†362). He vigorously fought against Arianism. He was tortured to death in present-day Ankara,
Turkey, during the reign of Julian the Apostate, for exhorting Christians to persevere in the Faith.
St. Nicholas Owen, martyr (†1606). A Jesuit lay brother and skilled carpenter, he spent a good part of his life building hiding places for priests during the persecutions in England under Elizabeth I and James I. He was imprisoned and died under torture, without providing any information on the locations of his numerous “priest holes”.
St. Lea, widow (†circa 383). Roman lady whose virtues were eulogized by St. Jerome.
Blessed Francis Chartier, priest and martyr (†1794). He was beheaded in Angers, during the French Revolution.
St. Epaphroditus, “fellow worker and fellow soldier” of St. Paul the Apostle, who referred to him as such in the Epistle to the Philippians.
Blesseds Marianus Górecki and Bronislaw Komorowski, priests and martyrs (†1940). During the occupation of Poland by Nazi troops, they were killed on Good Friday by firing squad in a field outside of the Stutthof Concentration Camp.
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