Fifth Sunday of Lent

Book of Jeremiah

31,31-34.

The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

Psalms

51(50),3-4.12-13.14-15.

Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.

Letter to the Hebrews

5,7-9.

In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John

12,20-33.

Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."
Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me."
I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again."
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

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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 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, at 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 16, 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. With prayer and fasting, Patrick replied on God's will and walked by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). 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 27 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 conversion of Ireland through visions. In response, Patrick travelled to Gaul and Italy, met St. Martin and St. Germanus, and received his apostolic 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 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. Workers of the Catholic Church historically have 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 just confirmed neophytes. When Corotick attacked, many were still 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 his request was rebuffed. Bp. Patrick wrote again saying 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. St. Bernard and the tradition of the country testify that Bp. Patrick fixed his metropolitan see at Armagh. He held several councils to settle the discipline of the Church, established some other bishops and founded monuments. He not only converted the whole country through prayer, work and preaching, but also cultivated the vineyard: rendering Ireland a flourishing garden in the Universal Church and a country of saints. Many particulars are related about the labors of St. Patrick. In the first year of his mission, he preached 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 Patrick. Therefore, Patrick converted several others and pronounced St. Benignus' father as an immediate successor. Patrick afterward converted and baptized the Icings of Dublin, 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, 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 was buried in Down, Ulster. His relics were found in a church of his name in 1185 and translated to another part of the same church. Glastonbury, Lindisfarne, Ripon and Malmesbury in England received the Catholic Faith thanks to Ireland's apostles. Iona is today one of Scotland's major pilgrimage sites. Irish saints like Columban, Fiacre, Gall and others evangelized the rough places of France and Switzerland. In recent times, America and Australia received faith thanks to the sons and daughters of St. Patrick.

misalcatolico.com

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Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2024 / Catholic Missal of march 2024