Mass Readings

First Reading – Is 58:1-9a

Thus says the Lord GOD: Cry out full-throated and unsparingly, lift up your voice like a trumpet blast; Tell my people their wickedness, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day, and desire to know my ways, Like a nation that has done what is just and not abandoned the law of their God; They ask me to declare what is due them, pleased to gain access to God. “”Why do we fast, and you do not see it? afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?”” Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19 (R. 19b)

R. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me. R.

For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.” R.

For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. R.

Gospel – Mt 9:14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Featured Saints

St. Teresa Margaret Redi, virgin (†1770). Discalced Carmelite from the Convent of Florence, Italy. She followed an arduous path to perfection in her short life of 23 years, notable for her abnegated service to the sick and elderly in her community and for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (See featured photo.)

St. Paul of Prusa, bishop (†850). He was expelled from his homeland and died in exile in Prusa, present-day Bursa, Turkey, for defending the cult of sacred images.

St. Siméon-François Berneux, bishop and martyr (†1866). French missionary, appointed Apostolic Vicar in Korea. He was beheaded after undergoing cruel torture.

St. Paul the Simple, hermit (†fourth century). Disciple of St. Anthony of the desert, from Thebaid, Egypt. His master put his his obedience and patience to various tests, and was greatly impressed with his exemplary virtue.

St. John Baptist Nam Chong Sam, martyr (†1866). Korean noble and royal chamberlain who converted to Christianity and fell out of favour with the court. He was arrested, tortured and beheaded.

Blessed Leonid Fëdorov, bishop and martyr (†1935). Exarch of Russian Catholics of the Byzantine Rite, he was imprisoned in Kirov, where he died as a faithful disciple of Christ.

Blessed José Olallo Valdés, religious (†1889). From the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God, he served the sick for fifty-four years in a hospital in Havana, Cuba.

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Saints of March 7

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