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. Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello (1791-1858)()

SAINT BENEDETTA CAMBIAGIO FRASSINELLO (1791 - 1858) Saint Benedetta Cambiagio Frasinello was born on 2 October 1791 in Langasco (Genoa) Italy. She let the Holy Spirit guide her through married life to the work of education and religious consecration. She founded a school for the formation of young women and also a religious congregation, and did both with the generous collaboration of her husband. This is unique in the annals of Christian sanctity. Benedetta was a pioneer in her determination to give a high quality education to young women, for the formation of families for a "new Christian society" and for promoting the right of women to a complete education.Call to marriage, then to religious life From her parents, Benedetta received a Christian formation and a living faith. They raised her in Pavia when she was little. When Benedetta was twenty, she had a mystical experience that gave her a profound desire for a life of prayer and penance, and of consecration to God. However, in obedience to the wishes of her parents, in 1816, she married Giovanni Frassinello in obedience to her parents. They married in 1816, but agreed to live chastely as brother and sister. They took care of Benedetta's younger sister, Maria, who was dying from intestinal cancer. They began living a supernatural parenthood quite unique in the history of the Church.Congregation founded by wife, who is supported by her husband When Maria passed in 1825, Giovanni entered the Somaschi Fathers founded by St. Jerome Emiliani, and Benedetta in the Ursuline Congregation of Capriolo. A year later she was forced to leave because ofill health, and returned to Pavia where she was miraculously cured by St. Jerome Emiliani. With the Bishop's approval, Benedetta dedicated herself to educating younggirls. She needed help in handling such a responsibility, but her father refused to help. Bishop Tosi of Pavia asked Giovanni to leave the Somaschi novitiate and help Benedetta in her apostolic work. Together, they made a vow of perfect chastity in the hands of the bishop, and then began their common work to promote the human and Christian formation of poor and abandoned girls of the city. Benedetta became the first woman involved in this kind of work. The Austrian government recognized her as a "Promoter of Public Education". Sr. Benedetta was helped by young women volunteers to whom she gave a rule of life that later received ecclesiastical approval. Along with instruction, she joined formation in catechesis and in useful skills like cooking and sewing, aiming to transform her students into "models of Christian life" and so assure the formation of families.Benedictine Sisters of Providence Benedetta's work was considered pioneering for those days and was opposed by a few persons in power and by the misunderstanding of clerics. In 1838, she turned over the institution to the Bishop of Pavia. Together with Giovanni and five companions, she moved to Ronco Scrivia in the Genoa region. There they opened a school for girls that was a refinement on what they had done in Pavia. Eventually, Benedetta founded the Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of Providence. In her rule, she stressed the education of young girls. She instilled the spirit of unlimited confidence and abandonment to Providence and of love of God through poverty and charity. The Congregation grew quickly since it performed a needed service. Benedetta was able to guide the development of the Congregation until her death. On March 21, 1858, she passed away in Ronco Scrivia. Today the Benedictine Nuns of Providence are present in Italy, Spain, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Peru and Brazil. They are at the service of young people, the poor, the sick and the elderly. The foundress also opened a house of the order in Voghera. Forty years after the death of Benedetta, the bishop separated this house from the rest of the Order. The name was changed to the Benedictines of Divine Providence who honour the memory of the Foundress. Bemedetta was canonized by John Paul II on May 19, 2002.

St. Euda()

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