Daily Mass Reflection & Daily Mass Readings
Daily Mass Reflection & Daily Mass Readings are vital for nurturing spiritual growth and maintaining a strong connection to one’s faith. These practices offer a dedicated time to meditate on the scriptures and the teachings of the homily, helping individuals internalize the lessons and apply them to their daily lives. Regular engagement with the readings fosters a deeper understanding of religious texts, while the reflection period allows for personal introspection and spiritual renewal. Together, they provide a foundation for a more meaningful and conscious practice of faith, promoting a sense of peace, guidance, and communal belonging.
27th March – Thursday, Third Week of Lent
In today’s gospel reading people interpret the life-giving work of Jesus in the most perverse way imaginable. Although it is clearly the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God – that is at work through Jesus, some people claimed that it was the evil spirit – the spirit of Satan – that was at work through Jesus. They were unmoved by Jesus’ healing ministry, failing to see that, as Jesus said, it was through the finger of God that he was releasing people from all that was oppressing them. I have often been struck by that image of ‘the finger of God’. It puts me in mind of that wonderful painting by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel in Rome of the creation of Adam. God stretches out his finger towards the finger of Adam in a powerful creative gesture. God who created us was powerfully at work recreating us through the ministry of Jesus, and, even more powerfully, through his death and resurrection. Whereas Satan’s power is always destructive, Jesus’ power, God’s power, is always creative. God, through his Son, now risen Lord, is always at work in a creative way in our lives and in our world. Our calling is to align ourselves in some way with the risen Lord’s creative and life-giving work. As Jesus says at the end of our gospel reading, we are to be with him, to gather with him. Together, in the strength of the risen Lord, we are to work against the destructive and life-taking forces that are always at work in our world. The creative, life-giving, finger of God that was at work through Jesus is to find expression in our own creative and life-giving fingers and hands, eyes, ears and mouth, heart, mind and imagination.
26th March – Wednesday, Third Week of Lent
In the time of Jesus, many people who tried to live according to God’s Law as found in the Scriptures were accusing Jesus of abolishing the Law of God. His way of interpreting that Law seemed too radical to them. Yet, in today’s gospel reading Jesus declares that he has come to fulfil the Law, to highlight its true meaning. He had a unique relationship with God, as the Son of God, and, so, was in the best possible position to give the true interpretation of God’s Law. He once referred to the weightier matters of the Law as justice, mercy and faith. He wanted to highlight these weightier matters in God’s Law. He also said that the greatest commandment of the Law was the one combining the love of God with all one’s being and the love of neighbour as oneself. In his interpretation of the Jewish Law Jesus always gave priority to love, compassion, generosity and trust in our dealings with our fellow human beings. Even when Jesus’ interpretation of the Law of God was stricter than normal, it is always in the service of those values of love and compassion. In the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy, the Jewish Law is highly praised, ‘What great nation is there that has laws and customs to match this whole Law that I put before you today?’ Today’s gospel reading suggests that it is Jesus’ interpretation of the Jewish Law and the Prophets that is to be highly praised. He can reveal God’s will for our lives like no other person. It is above all to him that we listen because his words are the life-giving words of God. As Peter declares to Jesus in John’s gospel, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life’.
27th March >> Mass Readings
Thursday, Third Week of Lent – Proper Readings
(see also The Samaritan Woman)
(Liturgical Colour: Violet. Year: C(I))
First Reading Jeremiah 7:23-28 Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God.
These were my orders: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper. But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me. From the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets. But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have grown stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors. You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer. So tell them this, “Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.”
The Word of the Lord
R/ Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9
R/ O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock who saves us. Let us come before him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord.
R/ O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Come in; let us bow and bend low; let us kneel before the God who made us: for he is our God and we the people who belong to his pasture, the flock that is led by his hand.
R/ O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the desert when your fathers put me to the test; when they tried me, though they saw my work.’
R/ O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’
Gospel Acclamation Ezekiel 18:31
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! Shake off all your sins – it is the Lord who speaks – and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Or: Joel2:12-13
Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory! Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks – come back to me with all your heart, for I am all tenderness and compassion. Praise to you, O Christ, king of eternal glory!
Gospel Luke 11:14-23 Know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you.
Jesus was casting out a devil and it was dumb; but when the devil had gone out the dumb man spoke, and the people were amazed. But some of them said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil. ‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.’
The Gospel of the Lord
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
26th March >> Mass Readings
Wednesday, Third Week of Lent – Proper Readings
(see also The Samaritan Woman)
(Liturgical Colour: Violet. Year: C(I))
First Reading Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9 Keep these laws and observe them.
Moses said to the people: ‘Now, Israel, take notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe them, that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that the Lord the God of your fathers is giving you. ‘See, as the Lord my God has commanded me, I teach you the laws and customs that you are to observe in the land you are to enter and make your own. Keep them, observe them, and they will demonstrate to the peoples your wisdom and understanding. When they come to know of all these laws they will exclaim, “No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation.” And indeed, what great nation is there that has its gods so near as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation is there that has laws and customs to match this whole Law that I put before you today? ‘But take care what you do and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather, tell them to your children and to your children’s children.’
The Word of the Lord
R/ Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 147:12-13,15-16,19-20
R/ O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God! He has strengthened the bars of your gates he has blessed the children within you.
R/ O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He sends out his word to the earth and swiftly runs his command. He showers down snow white as wool, he scatters hoar-frost like ashes.
R/ O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
He makes his word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees. He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has not taught them his decrees.
R/ O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Gospel Acclamation John 8:12
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! I am the light of the world, says the Lord; anyone who follows me will have the light of life. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Or: cf. John 6:63,68
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Gospel Matthew 5:17-19 I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them.
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’
The Gospel of the Lord
R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.