Catholic Missal of the day: Thursday, March 10 2016
Thursday of the Fourth week of Lent
Thursday of the Fourth week of Lent
1. ReadingBook of Exodus
32,7-14.]The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved.
]They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, 'This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!'
]“I see how stiff-necked this people is," continued the LORD to Moses.
]Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them. Then I will make of you a great nation."
]But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying, "Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand?
]Why should the Egyptians say, 'With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth'? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people.
]Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.'"
]So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.
Psalms
106(105),19-20.21-22.23.]Our fathers made a calf in Horeb
and adored a molten image;
]They exchanged their glory
for the image of a grass-eating bullock.
]They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,
]Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,
terrible things at the Red Sea.
]Then he spoke of exterminating them,
but Moses, his chosen one,
withstood him in the breach
to turn back his destructive wrath.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John
5,31-47.]Jesus said to the Jews: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.
]But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.
]You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.
]I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved.
]He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.
]But I have testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me."
]Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,
]and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.
]You search the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.
]But you do not want to come to me to have life.
]I do not accept human praise;
]moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.
]I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.
]How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?
]Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.
]For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me.
]But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
St. Marie Eugenie of Jesus(Foundress (1817-1898))
Saint Marie Eugenie of JesusFoundress of the Religious of the Assumption (1817 - 1898) Anne Marie Eugenie was born in 1817, in Metz, after Napoleon's defeat and the monarchy's restoration. Her family was non-believing and financially comfortable. It seemed unlikely that Anne Marie would trace a new spiritual path in France. Anne Marie's father adhered to Voltaire, was a liberal, and made his fortune in banking and politics. Her mother provided an education, which developed Anne Marie's character and gave her a strong sense of duty. Family life developed Anne Marie's intellectual curiosity, romantic spirit, interest in social questions and a broad world view. Like her contemporary, George Sand, Anne Marie went to Mass on feast days and received the sacraments of initiation, but did so according to custom and without knowledge or conviction. However, her First Communion was a mystical experience that foretold the secret of her future. She did not grasp its prophetic meaning until much later when she recognized it as her path toward totally belonging to Jesus Christ and the Church. Anne Marie's youth was happy, but not without suffering. When she was a child, her elder brother and a baby sister passed away. She was also frail; and a fall from a horse left her with permanent injuries. Anne Marie was mature for her age and learned how to hide her feelings and face up to events. After a prosperous period for her father, she experienced the failure of his banks, the misunderstanding and eventual separation of her parents and the loss of all security. She had to leave her family home and go to Paris with her mother; while Louis, closest to her in age and a faithful companion, went to live with their father. Anne Marie went to Paris only to see her mother die from cholera. At the age of 15, she was now alone in a society that was worldly and superficial. She thus searched in anguish for truth and meaning. When she was 19, Anne Marie attended the Lenten Conferences at Notre Dame in Paris, preached by the young Abbe Lacordaire, who was already well-known for his talent as an orator. Lacordaire was a former disciple of Lamennais: the latter envisioned a renewed Church with a special place in the world. Lacordaire understood young people, their questions and their desires, their idealism and their ignorance of both Christ and the Church. His words touched Anne Marie's heart, answered her many questions and aroused her generosity. "I was truly converted," she wrote, "and I was seized by a longing to devote all my strength or rather all my weakness to the Church which, from that moment, I saw as alone holding the key to the knowledge and achievement of all that is good." At this time, Anne Marie met Fr. Combalot, another of Lamennais' disciples. In the confessional, he recognized her as the soul who would found the congregation he envisaged. He persuaded her to undertake the work by showing education evangelized minds, made families truly Christian and thus transformed society. Anne Marie accepted the project as God's will for her and allowed the Fr. Combalot to guide her. At 22 years old, Anne Marie founded the Religious of the Assumption, whose members consecrate their lives to extend the Kingdom of Christ in themselves and in the world. In 1839, Anne Marie, with two other young women, began a life of prayer and study in a flat at rue Ferou near the church of St. Sulpice in Paris. In 1841, under Madame de Chateaubriand, Lacordaire, Montalembert and their patrons, the Sisters opened their first school. In a relatively short time, there were sixteen Sisters of four nationalities in the community. Anne Marie and her community wanted to link the ancient and the new: uniting the past treasures of the Church's spirituality and wisdom with a type of religious life and education able to satisfy the demands of modern minds. It was a matter of respecting the values of the period and making the Gospel penetrate the culture. The spirituality of the Congregation, centered on Christ and the Incarnation, was both deeply contemplative and dedicated to apostolic action. Anne Marie's long life covered almost the whole of the 19th century. She loved her times passionately and took an active part. Progressively, she channeled her energy and gifts into the Congregation, which became her life's work. God gave her many Sisters and friends. One of her first Sisters was an Irish mystic who she called, "half of myself." Kate O'Neill (called Mother Therese Emmanuel in religion) is considered as a co-foundress. Father Emmanuel d'Alzon became Anne Marie's spiritual director soon after the foundation. He was a father, brother or friend according to the seasons. In 1845, he founded the Augustinians of the Assumption and the two founders helped each other in a multitude of ways over a period of forty years. Both had a gift for friendship and they inspired many lay-persons to work with them and the Church. Together, as they followed Christ and labored with him, the religious and laity traced the path of the Assumption and took their place in the great cloud of witnesses. In the last years of her life, Mother Anne Marie Eugenie experienced a progressive physical weakening, which she lived in silence and humility. She received the Eucharist for the last time on March 9, 1898. On the 10th, she gently passed over to the Lord. She was beatified by Pope Paul VI on February 9, 1975, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on June 3, 2007.
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste((† c. 320))
THE FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE ( c. 320) These martyrs were soldiers quartered in Sebaste (modern Turkey) circa 320. When their legion was ordered to offer pagan sacrifice, they declined. As punishment, they were scourged, torn with iron hooks, chained together and left to a lingering death. In the dead of winter, the men were condemned to freeze on the icy surface of a pond. With Christ so near during their trial, they removed their garments and went toward the pond singing hymns. The secular authorities placed hot baths nearby to tempt them, yet not one renounced his faith. They remained steadfast and passed away one by one. Among the forty, there was a young soldier who held out the longest. When the officers came to cart away the bodies, they asked him to change his mind, but the soldier's mother encouraged him to triumph. He made a sign of recognition before being carried away - loyal and true to the very end. Forever in heaven, the martyrs praise God and intercede for us. We may call upon them for courage to obey the Holy Spirit.
St. Macarius()
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2016 / Catholic Missal of march 2016
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:09Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:09Z