Thursday of the Fifth week of Lent

Book of Genesis

When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
"My covenant with you is this: you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram; your name shall be Abraham, for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now staying, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God."
God also said to Abraham: "On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.

Psalms

Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations.
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

Jesus said to the Jews: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death."
(So) the Jews said to him, "Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?"
Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.'
You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.
So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM."
So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.

St. Magdalena of Canossa(Virgin and Foundress (1774-1835))

Saint Magdalena of Canossa Virgin, foundress of the Canossian Family of Daughters and Sons of Charity(1774-1835) Magdalena of Canossa brought the Holy Spirit to those most in need. She served the less fortunate with a Mother's heart and an Apostle's zeal. Magdalena was born in Verona on 1st March 1774. She was the third of six children in a noble and wealthy family. Events such as her father's death, her mother's second marriage, personal illness, and misunderstandings, helped her discover Christ and her deepest calling.A CALL Called by the love of God, she planned to consecrate her life at 17 years old. She tried a vocation at a Carmel twice. However, the Holy Spirit urged her toward a new path: "Allow herself to be loved by Jesus Crucified, to belong to Him alone, in order to dedicate herself exclusively to those in greatest need." Magdalena witnessed the sad events and tragic political circumstances at the end of the 18th century. The events impacted her growing up. The turmoil may have led to her managing the family's estate from Canossa Palace.A GIFT Magdalena fulfilled her responsibilities, widened her circle of friends and remained open to the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete led her to Jesus' passion, death and resurrection, and to Mary, the Sorrowful Virgin Mother. Moved by Jesus' love and docile to the Holy Spirit, Magdalena served the poor; providing education and both corporal and spiritual sustenance. She ministered in the suburbs of Verona, where the echoes of the French Revolution, the occupation by various foreign powers and the Verona uprising had left signs of devastation and human suffering.A PROJECT In 1808, Magdalene overcame her family's opposition and left Canossa Palace once and for all to begin in the poorest district of Verona what she knew in her heart to be the Will of God: to serve the neediest persons with the heart of Christ.A PROPHECY Charity led Magdalena to serve the poor in other cities: Venice, Milan, Bergamo, Trent... In only a few decades, the number of her houses increased and her religious family grew. Magdalena's sisters witnessed the love of Christ in five specific areas:Charity schools for all-round formation; Catechesis for the most uninformed; Support for women patients in hospital; Seminars for teachers in rural areas; and valuable helpers for parish priests in their pastoral activities. There also offered Yearly Courses of Spiritual Exercises for Ladies of the nobility, with the aim of deepening their spiritual life and involving them in various charitable works.Later on, this last activity was offered to all. Magdalena's contemporaries in apostolic work included: Leopoldina Naudet, Antonio Rosmini, Antonio Provolo, Carlo Steeb, Gaspare Bertoni, Teodora Campostrini, T. Eustochio Verzeri, Elisabetta Renzi, Cavanis brothers, Pietro Leonardi, all of whom founded Religious Institutes. A FAMILY The Institute of the Daughters of Charity received ecclesiastical approval between 1819 and 1820. Pope Leo XII approved the Rule of the Institute with the papal brief "Si Nobis" on 23 December 1828. Magdalena established the Oratory of the Sons of Charity for the Christian formation of boys and men on 23 May 1831 in Venice. She entrusted it to the Venetian priest Don Francesco Luzzo and laypersons Giuseppe Carsana and Benedetto Belloni from Bergamo. Magdalene's active and fruitful life ended when she was sixty-one years of age. She passed away in Verona surrounded by her Daughters on 10 April 1835. It was the Friday of Passion Week.A MISSION Above all make Jesus Christ known! This heartfelt concern of Magdalene's was the great inheritance that the Daughters and Sons of Charity are called to live, a life of complete availability to God and service towards others, willing to go to the most distant countries for the sake of this holy work. (MAGDALENE, Ep. II/I, p. 266). The Daughters of Charity traveled to the Far East in 1860. Today, there are about 4000 sisters throughout the world grouped into 24 provinces.The Sons of Charity number about 200. They work in various cities in Italy, Latin America and the Philippines. Canossian Religious, called to a missionary vocation, "ad gentes," make themselves receptive to those basic Christian values, "the seeds of the Word," present in every culture, while giving witness to and proclaiming they "have seen, heard, and contemplated...": the Love of the Father who, in Christ, reaches out to every person so that they may have life. Through this giving and receiving, the charism is enriched and bears fruit for God's Kingdom. The charism which the Holy Spirit brought to life in Magdalena did not exhaust itself in the vitality of the two Institutes. Consequently, various groups of lay people have found in Magdalena and in her ideals their special way of living the faith, of witnessing charity, in all walks of Christian life. She was beatified by Pius XII on December 7, 1941, and canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 2, 1988, at Rome.A SONG OF THANKSGIVING The Church draws our attention, especially that of her Sons and Daughters, to Magdalene, a Witness of the constant and freely given love of God.We give thanks to Him for the gift of this Mother and Sister of ours. Through her intercession, we ask that we may love God, as she did, above all other things, and make Him known to our fellow men by living our specific vocation.

St. Fulbert()

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