Churches of the Day

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Penance and prayer prepares us us for God's implanting the seed that leads to Eternal life in God.

Saint of the Day: Mar 3 : St Katherine Drexel,    Religious Founder
C/f A short life of be this saint can found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the prophet Isaiah        1:10, 16-20
Learn to do good, search for justice.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the command of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
‘Wash, make yourselves clean. Take your wrong-doing out of my sight.
Cease to do evil. Learn to do good, search for justice, help the oppressed, be just to the orphan, plead for the widow.

'Come now, let us talk this over, says the Lord.
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
'If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth. But if you persist in rebellion, the sword shall eat you instead.'
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The Word of the Lord                      Thanks be to God


Responsorial Psalm                   Ps 49:8-9. 16-17. 21. 23. R/v 23
Response                                         I will show God's salvation to the upright.

1. 'I find no fault with your sacrifices, your offerings are always before me.
I do not ask more bullocks from your farms, nor goats from among your herds.               Response

2. 'But how can you recite my commandments and take my covenant on your lips,
you who despise my law and throw my words to the winds.                                                   Response

3. 'You do this, and should I keep silence? Do you think that I am like you?
A sacrifice of thanksgiving honours me and I will show God's salvation to the upright.' Response

Gospel  Acclamation               Mt 4:17
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !

or                                                    Ez 18:31
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
Shake off all your sins - it is the Lord who speaks-
and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !

GOSPEL


The Lord be with you.                          And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew   23:1-12         Glory to you, O Lord
They do not practise what they preach.

Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said,
'The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they!

Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them' Rabbi.'

'You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called 'Rabbi,' since you have only one master, and you are all brothers.
You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.'

The Gospel of the Lord              Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection     Tuesday ,  Second Week of Lent     Matthew 23:1-12

Jesus is very critical in this gospel reading of those religious leaders who impose unnecessary burdens on an already burdened people through their strict interpretation of the Jewish Law. Jesus had earlier called on those who were overburdened to come to him, promising them rest, declaring that his teaching, his interpretation of God’s will for our lives, was not burdensome. Most people carry burdens of one kind or another, very often brought on by others. Jesus is clear in this reading that our relationship with God is not intended to be another burden on a burdened people. Jesus allowed himself to be burdened by the constraints of the human condition. Among the burdens he carried was the burden imposed by those who were hostile to all he stood for. Jesus was at his most burdened as he hung from the cross on Calvary. He carried our burdens so that he could help us to carry our own burdens. Through his life, death and resurrection, he released into the world the power of God’s love, the power of the Holy Spirit, which is not an oppressive power but a life-giving, enabling, power.

Saint Paul was very burdened as he wrote to the church in Philippi from his prison cell. Yet, he could say to that church, ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me’ (Phil 4:13). The Lord strengthens us to carry our burdens so that we can help to carry the burdens of others. As Paul writes to the churches of Galatia, ‘Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ’ (Gal 6:2). The law of Christ, which is the law of love, the fruit of the Spirit, is not about burden imposing but burden lifting.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saint of the Day: Mar 3 : St Katherine Drexel,    Religious Founder 
Katharine Drexel, was an American of Austrian origin (canonised by John Paul II in 2000), inherited a fortune, but chose to spend it on the education and spiritual needs of Afro- and native Americans,  founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to work for the indigenous and black population and lived a long life of devotion.
Patrick Duffy tells her story.

Of a banking family - loving and Catholic
Born in Philadelphia of a banking family of Austrian origin, Katharine was the second of three daughters. Her own mother died shortly after she was born, and two years later her father re-married. Her step-mother Emma Bouvier was particularly loving and the family was devoutly Catholic and well-educated. Her step-mother spent large amounts of money each year on the care of the poor in Philadelphia city.

Fr James O'Connor visiting in their home
A frequent visitor to the home was an Irish-born priest, Fr James O'Connor, who was teaching in the seminary at Philadelphia. He was concerned with the physical and educational poverty of the native Americans (so-called Indians) and worked hard to improve their condition.

Travels in Europe and the north-western states
Katharine travelled to Europe three times. Seeing the house of Catherine of Siena awakened in her an interest in religious life. She spoke of her interest to Fr O'Connor, who advised a prudent delay. Later when he was appointed vicar apostolic of Nebraska, Katharine visited him in the north-west herself and saw the plight of the native peoples at first hand.

Audience with the Pope
At this time the Canadian authorities had already honoured their agreements with native peoples, but the American authorities did not.  Some time later at an audience with Pope Leo XIII in Rome, Katharine asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming to help the now Bishop James O'Connor. The Pope replied, "Why don't you become a missionary yourself?" When she got home that was what she did. But first she and her sisters, Elizabeth and Louise, founded a Drexel Chair of Moral Theology at Washington University (DC).

Education for native and African Americans
Katharine entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh and went through the formation process, nursing the sick in the Mercy hospital. In 1891 twelve postulants joined her religious congregation to work for the education and spiritual needs of native and African Americans. Even though she lived under a vow of poverty, she was a one-person administrator of $400,000 a year, which was the interest from a trust fund set up for her by her father before he died.

A school for native Americans in New Mexico


Katharine opened her first mission school for native Americans at Sante Fe in New Mexico in 1894. This was followed by additional schools for native Americans west of the Mississippi and schools for blacks in the South. In the large cities like New York, Chicago and Boston there was a demand for her nuns. She became known as "Mother Drexel" and in 1915 she established Xavier University in New Orleans - the first black university in America. She forbade any mention of her name when it was dedicated.

Later years
When Katharine was seventy-six, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and had to retire from active administration. When she died in Philadelphia in 1955 aged ninety-seven, her pall bearers represented several races. For the last twenty years she lived a life of prayer in a wheelchair. Her congregation - originally called the Sisters of  the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Coloured People, now called simply Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament - is still engaged on the work she began.
Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1988 and canonised her in 2000.

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Memorable Saying for Today

A great soul serves everyone. A great soul never dies.
It brings us together, again and again

~ Maya Angelou ~

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Third Sunday of Lent, Year A

Through the Spirit of God the gift of love is poured into our hearts, a gift bought by the blood of Christ.
This is true for all Christians, new and old. But it needs to be constantly prayed for.

First Scrutiny of Catechumens is celebrated today 

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Exodus          17:3-7
Give us water to drink.

  Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses. 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt?' they said. 'Was it so that I should die of thirst, my children too, and my cattle?' Moses appealed to the Lord. 'How am I to deal with this people? he said. 'A little more and they will stone me!'
The Lord said to Moses,
'Take with you some of the elders of Israel and move on to the forefront of the people; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the river, and go. I shall be standing before you there on the rock, at Horeb. You must strike the rock, and water will flow from it for the people to drink.'
This is what Moses did, in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah because of the grumbling of the sons of Israel and because they put the Lord to the test by saying, 'Is the Lord with us, or not?'

The Word of the Lord              Thanks be to God.

Responsorual Psalm         Ps 94:1-2, 6-9, R/v8
Response                              O that today you would listen to his voice,
harden not your hearts.


1. 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.                       Response

2. 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.                                                                                             Response

3. 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.'                                                                Response

SECOND READING

 A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the  Romans          5:1-2. 5-8 
The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God's glory and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man - though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die - but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

The Word of the Lord                        Thanks be to God.

Gospel  Acclamation                  Jn 4: 42.15
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
Lord, you are really the saviour of the world;
give me the living water, so that I may never get thirsty.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !

GOSPEL     

The Lord be with you.                    And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John         4:5-42            Glory to you, O Lord
A spring inside him, welling up to eternal life'

Jesus came to the Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well is there and Jesus, tired by the journey, sat straight down by the well. It was about the sixth hour When a Samaritan woman came to draw water,
Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink'.
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him,
'What? You are a Jew and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?' - Jews, in fact, do not associate with Samaritans.
Jesus replied: If you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you: Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water'.

'You have no bucket, sir,' she answered 'and the well is deep: how could you get this living water? Are you a greater man than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his sons and his cattle?'
Jesus replied 'Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again;
but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life'.

'Sir,' said the woman 'give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty and never have to come here again to draw water.'
'Go and call your husband' said Jesus to her 'and come back here.'
The woman answered, 'I have no husband'.
He said to her, You are right to say, "I have no husband"; for although you have had five, the one you have now is not your husband. You spoke the truth there.'
'I see you are a prophet, sir' said the woman.
'Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.'
Jesus said: 'Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know: for salvation comes from the Jews.
But the hour will come - in fact it is here already – when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshipper the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.'

The woman said to him, 'I know that Messiah - that is, Christ - is coming; and when he comes he will tell us everything'.
'I who am speaking to you,' said Jesus 'I am he.'

At this point his disciples returned, and were surprised to find him speaking to a woman, though none of them asked, 'What do you want from her?' or, 'Why are you talking to her?'
The woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town to tell the people.
'Come and see a man who has told me everything I ever did; I wonder if he is the Christ?' This brought people out of the town and they started walking towards him.

Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, 'Rabbi, do have something to eat; but he said,
'I have food to eat that you do not know about'.
So the disciples asked one another, 'Has someone been bringing him food?'
But Jesus said: 'My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to complete his work.
Have you not got a saying: 'Four months and then the harvest?'
Well, I tell you: Look around you, look at the fields; already they are white, ready for harvest!
Already the reaper is being paid his wages, already he is bringing in the grain for eternal life,
and thus sower and reaper rejoice together.
For here the proverb holds good: one sows, another reaps; I sent you to reap a harvest you had not worked for. Others worked for it; and you have come into the rewards of their trouble.'

Many Samaritans of that town had believed in him on the strength of the woman's testimony when she said, 'He told me all I have ever done', so, when the Samaritans came up to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed for two days, and when he spoke to them many more came to believe; and they said to the woman, 'Now we no longer believe because of what you told us; we have heard him ourselves and we know that he really is the saviour of the world'.

The Gospel of the Lord              Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



The scripture readings are taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published in 1966 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with permission of the publishers.