Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Optional Memorial of St. John of God, religious (†1550). After having been a shepherd, a soldier and a merchant, he was converted by the preaching of St. John of Avila, and went on to found the Order of Brother Hospitallers.
Mass Readings
First Reading – Is 58:9b-14
Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice – Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (R. 11ab)
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God. R.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. R.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading. R.
Gospel – Lk 5:27-32
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
Featured Saints
St. Veremund, abbot (†c. 1095). Born in Estella, Navarre, he entered the Benedictine monastery of Our Lady of Irache, of which he was elected abbot.
St. Provinus, bishop (†420). Disciple of St. Ambrose of Milan, he was appointed as bishop of Como, Italy. This ministry he exercised with outstanding wisdom and holiness.
St. Felix of Dunwich, bishop (†circa 646). Of Burgundian birth, he preached the Gospel in East Anglia, where he founded churches, monasteries and schools.
St. Humphrey, Bishop (†871). He worked to unite and comfort his people after the destruction of Therouanne, France, by Norman invaders.
Blessed Vincent Kadlubek, bishop and monk (†1223). Polish nobleman who entered ecclesiastical life. He was elected Bishop of Krakow and reformed the chapter and monasteries. After renouncing his ministry, he professed monastic life in Jedrzejow Abbey.
St. Faustino Míguez, priest (†1925). Piarist religious who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain.
St. Pontius of Carthage, deacon (†third century). Companion of St. Cyprian in exile, he left a precious account of the saint’s life and martyrdom.
St. Stephen of Obazine, abade (†1159). First abbot of the monastery of Obazine, in France. He united the three monasteries of his founding to the Cistercian Order.
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