Saturday - March 20, 2021
TODAY'S READINGS
March 20, 2021
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 249
Reading 1 Jer 11:18-20
I knew their plot because the LORD informed me;
at that time you, O LORD, showed me their doings.
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
“Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more.”
But, you, O LORD of hosts, O just Judge,
searcher of mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause!
Responsorial Psalm 7:2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12
R. (2a) O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
O LORD, my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,
Lest I become like the lion’s prey,
to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue me.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Do me justice, O LORD, because I am just,
and because of the innocence that is mine.
Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but sustain the just,
O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
R. O Lord, my God, in you I take refuge.
Verse before the Gospel Lk 8:15
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
Gospel Jn 7:40-53
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees,
who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?”
The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man.”
So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.”
Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them,
“Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?”
They answered and said to him,
“You are not from Galilee also, are you?
Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Then each went to his own house.
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How to Respond to Those Who Reject You and Your Beliefs
"The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church." Tertullian (c. 160-c.220 AD).
Today, many Christians wish we could live in an earlier time. Maybe the early 1900’s when Christianity stood at a height. It was not only acceptable to be Christian but desired by many. You may look around the world today and think how horrible it is to be a Catholic and wish longingly for "better days."
This is a time of great evils. But, in great evil comes great mercy and grace. "Where sin abounds, grace abounds more." Romans 5:20
The early Church saints would look longingly at these days. Today it is easier to become a saint than at most any time in history. Why? What leads me to make this claim?
Look around yourself. With every move leftwards of the Marxist liberals, the rulers become so wrong that many people are feeling ill at ease. There are so many people around us who are empty within. They run on the hamster wheel of life, always striving for greater riches, bigger toys, better jobs and titles. They run in an endless circle never finding happiness in their endless quest. The motto, "he who has the most toys, wins", begins to echo hollow within.
Don’t play by the rules of society. Buck the system with your joy. This is one of your best weapons against the current culture.
Living the faith with joy is a powerful witness that can draw and can open the hearts of those "spinning the wheel" or going through difficult situations. Be a good Catholic, live Christianity as taught by Jesus. Joyfully!
"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?" (Matthew 25:37-39).
When we stand before God and He says that we brought many to His Kingdom, He will answer that we evangelized with our joy.
Today's Prayer
My Lord, teach me to be humble enough to recognize Your work in me and to discover Your image in every brother and sister who waits and trusts in You. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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