Saturday of the Fifth week of Lent

Book of Ezekiel

Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have come, and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.
I will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one prince for them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.
No longer shall they defile themselves with their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that they may be my people and I may be their God.
My servant David shall be prince over them, and there shall be one shepherd for them all; they shall live by my statutes and carefully observe my decrees.
They shall live on the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where their fathers lived; they shall live on it forever, they, and their children, and their children's children, with my servant David their prince forever.
I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will multiply them, and put my sanctuary among them forever.
My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Thus the nations shall know that it is I, the LORD, who make Israel holy, when my sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.

Book of Jeremiah

Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,
Proclaim it on distant isles, and say:
He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
He guards them as a shepherd his flock.
The LORD shall ransom Jacob,
he shall redeem him from the hand of his conqueror.
Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion,
they shall come streaming to the LORD’s blessings:
Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him.
But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation."
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing,
nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish."
He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.
So from that day on they planned to kill him.
So Jesus no longer walked about in public among the Jews, but he left for the region near the desert, to a town called Ephraim, and there he remained with his disciples.
Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves.
They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, "What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?"

Bl. Lindalva Justo de Oliveira((1953-1993))

Blessed Lindalva Justo de Oliveira Martyr, Religious Sister of the Society of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul (1953-1993) Lindalva Justo de Oliveira was born on 20 October 1953 at Sitio Malhada da Areia, in a very poor area of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Lindalva's father, Joáo Justo da Fé, a farmer, was a widower. His second marriage was to Maria Lúcia de Oliveira. Little Lindalva was the sixth of 13 children born to the couple. She was baptized on 7 January 1954. Her family was not well-off, but were rich in the faith. Joáo moved his family to Açu so his children could attend school, and after many sacrifices, he was able to buy a house where the family still resides today. Besides following her mother's good example, Lindalva demonstrated a natural inclination toward the poorer children and spent much time with them. At age 12, Lindalva received First Holy Communion, and during her school years she was always happy to help the less fortunate. Later, while living with her brother, Djalma, and his family in Natal, she received an administrative assistant's diploma in 1979. From 1978 to 1988, she held various jobs in retail sales and as a cashier at a petrol station, sending some of her salary to help her mother. Lindalva found time to visit the local home for the elderly every day after work. In 1982, as she lovingly assisted her father in the last months of his terminal illness, she reflected seriously on her life and decided to serve the poor. She then enrolled in a nursing course, but also enjoyed those things typical of young people: building friendships, guitar lessons and cultural studies. In 1986, she participated in the vocational initiatives of the Daughters of Charity. After she received the Sacrament of Confirmation in 1987, Lindalva applied for admission to the Daughters. On the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, 11 February 1988, she entered the postulancy and edified her companions with her joy and genuine concern for the poor. Her character was marked by a sweet disposition but also by truthfulness. In a letter to her alcoholic brother, Antonio, she wrote: "Think about it and reward yourself. I pray for you very much and I will continue to pray; and if necessary, I will do penance so that you are able to fulfill yourself as a person. Follow Jesus, who fought until death for the life of sinners and gave his own life, not as God but as man, for the forgiveness of sins. We must seek refuge in him; only in him is life worth living." A year later, her brother quit drinking. On 29 January 1991, Sr. Lindalva was assigned 40 elderly male patients in the municipal nursing home in Salvador da Bahia. She undertook the more humble tasks and sought out those who suffered the most and cared for their spiritual and material well-being by encouraging their reception of the sacraments. Sr. Lindalva would sing and pray with them, and she even took her driving test so she could take them out for rides. During January of 1993, a certain Augusto da Silva Peixoto, a 46-year-old man with an irascible character, managed to be admitted to the facility through the recommendation of another, even though he had no right to be there. Sr. Lindalva treated him with the same courtesy and respect as the other patients, yet he became enamoured of her. She prudently distanced herself from him and was cautious in his regard. Nonetheless, he explicitly declared his lustful intentions towards her. A simple solution would have been for Sr. Lindalva to leave, but her love for the elderly caused her to declare, "I prefer to shed my blood than to leave this place." By 30 March, Augusto's advances became so insistent and frightening that she sought the help of a health-care official to restrain this unruly patient. Although he promised to improve his attitude and behaviour, he harboured hatred and vengeance that developed into a murderous plan. On 9 April 1993, Good Friday, Sr. Lindalva took part in the parish Way of the Cross at 4:30 in the morning. By 7 a.m., she was back at work to prepare and serve breakfast as she did every day. As she served coffee from behind a table, Augusto approached and thrust a fishmonger's knife above her collar-bone. Sinking to the ground, she cried "God protect me" several times. Patients ran for cover. Enveloped in an insane rapture while holding up her body, Augusto stabbed her 44 times shouting, "I should have done this sooner!"He then suddenly became calm, sat down on a bench, wiped the knife on his trousers, threw it on the table and exclaimed: "She did not want me;" and turning to the doctor, said, "You can call the police, I will not run away; I did what had to be done." The next day, Holy Saturday, Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves, O.P., Primate of Brazil, celebrated the 39-year-old Sister's funeral and commented: "A few years were enough for Sr. Lindalva to crown her Religious life with martyrdom".

St. Waldetrudis (+ c. 688)()

Saint Waldetrudis(+ c. 688) Also known as Waltrude or Waudru, Waltrudis was the daughter of Saints Walbert and Bertilia and sister of St. Aldegunus of Maubeuge. Marrying St. Vincent Madelgarius, she became the mother of Saints Landericus, Madalberta, Adeltrudis, and Dentelin. When her husband chose to become a monk about 643 in the monastery of Hautrnont, France which he had founded, she established a convent at Chateaulieu around which grew up the town of Mons, Belgium.

St. Gaucherius()

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