Sunday of the 3rd Week of Lent
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Mass Readings
First Reading – Ex 20:1-17 Or Ex 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17
[In those days, God delivered all these commandments: “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides Me.] You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them. For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness on the children of those who hate Me, down to the third and fourth generation; but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments. [“You shall not take the name of the LORD, your God, in vain. For the LORD will not leave unpunished the one who takes his name in vain. “Remember to keep holy the sabbath day]. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God. No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, or your male or female slave, or your beast, or by the alien who lives with you. In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. [“Honor your father and your mother, that you may have a long life in the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, nor anything else that belongs to him.”]
Responsorial Psalm – Ps19:8, 9, 10, 11 (R. John 6:68c)
R. Lord, You have the words of everlasting life.
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple. R.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye. R.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just. R.
They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb. R.
Second Reading – 1 Cor 1:22-25
Brothers and sisters: Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Gospel – Jn 2:13-25
Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves He said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. While He was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in His name when they saw the signs He was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because He knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.
Featured Saints
St. Cunegundes, empress († 1040). Wife of Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, she founded monasteries, built churches and patronized evangelization. After her husband’s death, she entered one of the monasteries she had founded where she died a holy death.
St. Anselm of Nonantola, abbot (†803). He renounced the Duchy of Friuli to enter a monastery. He founded a hospital for pilgrims and a monastery in Nonantola, Italy, of which he later became abbot.
St. Marinus and St. Asterius, martyrs (†c. 260). Roman citizens killed at Caesarea in Palestine during the persecution of Emperor Gallienus for professing the Christian Faith.
St. Teresa Eustochio Verzeri, virgin (†1852). Foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bergamo, Italy.
St. Katharine Drexel, virgin (†1955). Foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Philadelphia. She was an educator of black and native Americans, generously employing her inheritance for this objective.
Blessed Peter di Jeremia, priest (†1452). Dominican religious, formed as a preacher by St. Vincent Ferrer; he dedicated himself entirely to the salvation of souls. He died in Palermo, Italy.
Blesseds Liberatus Weiss, Samuel Marzorati and Michael Pius Fasoli of Zerbo, priests and martyrs (†1716). Franciscan religious missionaries stoned to death in Gondar, Ethiopia.
Blessed Peter René Rogue, priest and martyr (†1796). Lazarist priest, martyred during the French Revolution for rejecting the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Blessed Frederick of Friesland, abbot (†1175). He was a parish priest in Hallum, Holland, and later abbot of the Premonstratensian monastery of Mariengaarde.
Blessed Jacopino de’Canepacci, religious (†1508). Carmelite lay brother from the monastery of Vercelli, Italy.
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