Thursday of the Fourth week of Lent

Book of Exodus

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

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

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. Turibius of Mongrovejo(Bishop (1538-1606))

SAINT TURIBIUS of MONGROVEJO Archbishop of Lima (1538-1606) Turibius Alphonsus Mongrovejo was born on November 6, 1538, at Mayorga, Kingdom of Leon, Spain. Raised by pious and virtuous parents, Turibius lived a blessed childhood. His leisure included spiritual exercises and reading. He was cheerful while doing works of charity. He also gave his body a little less than it asked for. Apart from denying self-gratification, Turibius made long pilgrimages on foot. Turibius' reputation as a master of canon and civil law reached the ears of King Philip II, who made him a judge at Granada. About that time, the see of Lima, Peru, fell vacant, and among those proposed, Philip II found no one who seemed better endowed than Turibius. The Roman Pontiff confirmed King Philip's appointment, and directed Turibius to receive Holy Orders and be consecrated. Yielding at last by direction of his confessor, Turibius was ordained a priest and consecrated. Bp. Turibius arrived at Lima in 1587. With humility and consistent effort, he edified the Christians and brought order to his episcopal city. He received confessions daily and prepared for Mass by long meditation. Bp. Turibius then began visiting his vast diocese, which he traversed three times. His first visitation lasted seven years, and his second four. He held provincial councils and framed decrees and regulations adopted in neighboring countries. Always acting for the common good, Bp. Turibius channeled nearly his entire revenue toward safety nets and uplifting the needy. While performing his duties during a third visitation, Bp. Turibius was seized with a fatal illness. He passed away on March 23, 1606, at Santa, exclaiming as he received the sacred Viaticum: "I rejoiced in the things that were said to me: 'We shall go into the house of the Lord.'"The proofs of his holy life and of the favors granted through his intercession led Pope Innocent XI to beatify him. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726.

Sts Victorian and others(Martyrs (+ 484))

STS. VICTORIAN AND OTHERS Martyrs (+ 484) Huneric, the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa, succeeded his father Genseric in 477. He moderated his behavior toward Catholics, but began persecuting the clergy and holy virgins in 480. The killings escalated into a general persecution in 484. Victorian, one of the principal lords of the kingdom, had been made governor of Carthage, with the Roman title of Proconsul. He was the wealthiest subject of the king and endowed with trust. The king's confidence came from Victorian's unwavering fidelity. The king, after publishing his edicts against Christianity, sent a message to the proconsul, promising wealth and honor if the latter conformed to the state religion. Victorian replied, "Tell the king that I trust in Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to any torments, but I shall never consent to renounce the Catholic Church, in which I have been baptized. Even if there were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful and perfidious to God, Who has granted me the happiness of knowing Him..." The tyrant, in retaliation, ordered Victorian tortured to the brink of death. Victorian suffered the torture courageously and with heroic charity. The Roman Martyrology joins Victorian with four others who were martyred on this day. Two brothers, who were arrested for the faith, had promised each other, if possible, to die together. The executioners hung them in the air using weights on their feet. Alban Butler writes, "One brother, under the excess of pain, begged to be taken down for a brief pause. The other brother, fearing that relief might cause him to deny his faith, cried out, 'God forbid... Is that what we promised Jesus?' The brother was so encouraged that he cried out, "No... Increase my tortures..." They were then burned with red-hot plates of iron, and tormented so long that others received faith in God. Two merchants of Carthage, both named Frumentius, suffered martyrdom around the sane time. Another confessor, Liberatus, an eminent physician, was sent into banishment with his wife. The Roman Martyrologies also mention twelve young children who dragged away and violently separated from each other. They were cruelly beaten and scourged every day; yet all of them persevered in the faith to the end of the persecution.

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