Friday of the Third week of Lent

Book of Hosea

Thus says the LORD: Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words, and return to the LORD; Say to him, "Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; We shall say no more, 'Our god,' to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion."
I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; They shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper him. "I am like a verdant cypress tree"-- Because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.

Psalms

An unfamiliar speech I hear:
“I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you.”
“Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?”
“There shall be no strange god among you
nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt."
"If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
While Israel I would feed with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.'
And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

St. Patrick(Bishop (c. 385-461))

SAINT PATRICKBishop, Apostle of Ireland(c. 385-461) If the virtue of children reflects an honor on their parents, the name of St. Patrick is illumined by the countless lights of sanctity from the Church of Ireland, and by the Saints she sent to many foreign countries. St. Patrick was born toward the close of the fourth century, in a village called Bonaven Taberniæ, which seems to be the town of Kilpatrick, on the mouth of the river Clyde, in Scotland, between Dumbarton and Glasgow. He calls himself both a Briton and a Roman, or of a mixed extraction, and says his father was from a good family named Calphurnius, and a denizen of a neighboring city of the Romans, who not long after abandoned Britain in 409. Some writers call his mother Conchessa, and say she was a niece of St. Martin of Tours. When he was sixteen, Patrick was kidnapped, taken to Ireland and forced to tend cattle in the mountains and forests. Starving and naked, God pitied Patrick, and quickened him by the impulse of a strong interior grace. Through prayer and fasting, Patrick depended on God, and "walked by faith, not by sight." After six years under one master, God told Patrick in a dream to return to Scotland. Knowing a ship was about to leave, Patrick went to the coast and found the vessel. However, he could not pay the fare and was denied passage. When Patrick started to return, praying as he went, the sailors called him back and took him on board. After three days’ sail, they made land, but wandered twenty-seven days through deserts. Finding nothing to eat, they began starving. Patrick had often preached about the infinite power of God, so the crew asked him why there was no relief. Animated by a strong faith, Patrick assured the crew that if they would address themselves with their whole hearts to Jesus Christ, He would hear and succor them. They did so, and on the same day encountered a herd of swine. A couple of years after returning to Scotland, Patrick was kidnapped again. This time, he escaped after two months. In Scotland with his parents, God revealed the convertion of Ireland through visions. In response, Patrick travelled to Gaul and Italy, met St. Martin and St. Germanus, and received his apostolical benediction from Pope Celestine. He spent many years preparing for the sacred calling. He encountered opposition from his relatives and the clergy. Some were against his episcopal consecration, his mission to evangelize, or both. Fr. Patrick left his family and all personal interest to serve strangers. In the the character and disposition of Christ, Fr. Patrick went to Ireland and preached the Gospel where idolatry and paganism were commonplace. The fruit of his prayer, preaching and work was the baptism of multitudes. Everywhere, Fr. Patrick ordained clergymen, induced married and unmarried people to live chaste, guilt-free lives, nurtured religious vocations and founded monasteries. Bp. Patrick did not accept payment or money from any of the people he baptized. The workers of the Catholic Church historically founded many centers of higher learning, and this took place organically in St. Patrick's Ireland. He gave from his own means to both pagan and Christian families, distributed alms to the poor, gave presents to kings for the progress of the Gospel, and sponsored and educated many children. The happy success of Bp. Patrick's labors also drew many persecutions. A prince named Corotick plundered the country where Bp. Patrick had confirmed many neophytes. When Corotick attacked, many were wearing their white baptismal garments. Corotick massacred some and enslaved others, selling them to the Picts or Scots. Bp. Patrick sent Corotick a letter to restore the captives and some of the loot so they would not starve, but the request was rebuffed. Bp. Patrick wrote again, said he too was a sinner, and declared that Corotick and the other parricides and accomplices were separated from Jesus Christ and the Church until they freed the captives. Bp. Patrick expressed love for his flock, grief for those who had been slain, and consolation for the martyrs. Jocelin writes that Corotick was eventually overtaken by divine justice. Bp. Patrick held several councils to settle the discipline of the Church he planted. St. Bernard and the tradition of the country testify that Bp. Patrick fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He established some other bishops, as appears by his Council, and other monuments. He not only converted the whole country through prayer, work and preaching, but also cultivated the vineyard with a benediction and increase from heaven: rendering Ireland a flourishing garden in the Church of God and a country of saints. Many particulars are related about the labors of St. Patrick, which we pass over. In the first year of his mission, he attempted to preach Christ in the general assembly of the kings and states of all Ireland, held yearly at Tara. It was the residence of the chief king or monarch of the whole island, and the principal seat of the Druids. The son of Neill, the chief monarch, declared himself against Fr. Patrick. Therefore, the latter converted several others and pronounced St. Benignus' father as an immediate successor. Fr. Patrick afterward converted and baptized the Icings of Dublin and Munster, and the seven sons of the king of Connaught, along with their subjects. He founded a monastery at Armagh; another called Domnach-Padraig, or Patrick's Church; also a third, named Sabhal-Padraig; and filled the country with churches and schools of piety and learning. Many of the universities drew foreigners to Ireland for the next three centuries. Bp. Patrick passed away and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body was found in a church of his name in 1185, and translated to another part of the same church. Glastonbury, Lindisfarne, Ripon and Malmesbury received the Catholic Faith thanks to Irish priests and bishops. Iona is now one of Scotland's main pilgrimage sites. Columban, Fiacre, Gall, and many others evangelized the rough places of France and Switzerland. America and Australia, in modern times, owe their faith to the sons and daughters of St. Patrick.

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2023 / Catholic Missal of march 2023