Get Ready for Sunday

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Reading 1 Jeremiah 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 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 See Luke 8:15

Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance.

Gospel John 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.

Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Vincent Ferrer, Priest

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Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Saturday, March 1, 2025

Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord.

Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days

Sunday, March 2 // Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Monday, March 3 // Optional Memorial of Saint Katharine Drexel, Virgin [In the Dioceses of the United States]

Tuesday, March 4 // Optional Memorial of Saint Casimir

Wednesday, March 5 // Ash Wednesday (Fasting and Abstinence Day!)

Friday, March 7 // Optional Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

Letter from the Editor //

Dear Sister,

On this Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time the opening words of the First Reading show us our need for healing: “When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear; so do one’s faults when one speaks” (Sirach 27:4). How often do we respond to trials with complaints and excuses, revealing the depths of our ingratitude? Jesus echoes this theme in the Gospel, proclaiming that “from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). The words that we speak and the things we do reveal our true character. As we begin the season of Lent this Wednesday with the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we will likely see more of our failings uncovered. But this is no reason to lose hope, for Saint Paul reminds us that, “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

We can dive into this season with renewed purpose. In our prayer we can “give thanks to the LORD” and “sing praise to [His] name, Most High” (Psalm 92:2), forming new habits in our speech. In our fasting we can ask the Lord to help us to “remove the wooden beams from [our] eye first” (Luke 6:42). And as we give alms, we can detach ourselves from worldly things and be “planted in the house of the Lord,” so that we will be the good tree of the Gospel which bears good fruit. And as we fast, may we proclaim God’s “kindness at dawn and [His] faithfulness throughout the night” (Psalm 92:3).

In Christ’s Love,

Susanna

Read the readings for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

First Reading // Sirach 27:4-7

Psalm //Psalm 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16

Second Reading // 1 Corinthians 15:54-58

Gospel // Luke 6:39-45

Prayer Practice // Spend time seeking Jesus’ Heart in prayer today. How is He inviting you to pray, fast, and give alms this coming Lent?

About Susanna Spencer

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Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Content and Theological Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew; narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God; a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up; and Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.