Catholic Missal of the day: Saturday, March 3 2018
Saturday of the Second week of Lent
Saturday of the Second week of Lent
1. ReadingBook of Micah
7,14-15.18-20.]Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, That dwells apart in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old;
]As in the days when you came from the land of Egypt, show us wonderful signs.
]Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency,
]And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;
]You will show faithfulness to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, As you have sworn to our fathers from days of old.
Psalms
103(102),1-2.3-4.9-10.11-12.]Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
]Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
]He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
]He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
]He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
]Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
]For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
]As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
15,1-3.11-32.]Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
]but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
]So to them he addressed this parable.
]Then he said, "A man had two sons,
]and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them.
]After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation.
]When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need.
]So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
]And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.
]Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.
]I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
]I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."'
]So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.
]His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.'
]But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
]Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast,
]because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began.
]Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing.
]He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean.
]The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
]He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him.
]He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends.
]But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.'
]He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.
]But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"
St. Katharine Drexel(Religious (1858-1955))
St. Katharine DrexelReligious (1858-1955) Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, on November 26, 1858, Katharine Drexel was the second daughter of Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Langstroth. Her father was a well-known banker and philanthropist. Both parents instilled their daughters with knowledge that wealth is simply loaned and should be shared. When the family took a trip to the Western part of the United States, Katharine saw the natives' plight and sought to alleviate their suffering. Her experience was the beginning of a lifelong personal and financial support of numerous missions and missionaries in the United States. The first school she established was St. Catherine Native American School in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1887). When visiting Pope Leo XIII in Rome, she requested for missionaries to staff some of the native missions that she was financing. She was surprised when the pope invited her to become a missionary. After consulting her spiritual director, Bishop James O'Connor, Katharine decided to give herself totally to God, along with her inheritance, through service to natives and blacks. Katharine's wealth was now her poverty of spirit amidst the bare necessities. On February 12, 1891, she professed vows as a religious. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to share the message of the Gospel and the life of the Eucharist among natives and blacks. Always a woman of intense prayer, Sr. Katharine experienced the Eucharist as the summit of Christian life. It was her source of courage and love for the oppressed. Knowing that many blacks lived as sharecroppers and underpaid laborers, and were denied educational and constitutional rights, Sr. Katharine felt the urgency to change racial attitudes in the United States. Founding and staffing schools for natives and blacks became Sr. Katherine's priority. During her lifetime, she opened, staffed and directly supported nearly sixty schools and missions, especially in the Western and Southwestern United States. Her crowning educational focus was the establishment of Xavier University of Louisiana in 1925, the only predominantly black Catholic university in the United States. Her ministry also included visiting homes, hospitals and prisons. In her quiet way, Sr. Katharine combined total dependence on Divine Providence with determined activism. Her joyous incisiveness, attuned to the Holy Spirit, penetrated obstacles and facilitated her advances for social justice. Through her initiatives, the Church in the United States became aware of the need for apostolate among natives and blacks. Sr. Katharine left a four-fold, dynamic legacy to her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament:– Love for the Eucharist, a spirit of prayer and a Eucharistic perspective on the unity of all peoples;– Courageous initiative in addressing social iniquities (one hundred years before the civil rights movement);– Belief in the importance of quality education for all;– Total giving of self to victims of injustice. For the last eighteen years of her life, Sr. Katharine was rendered almost completely immobile because of a serious illness. During these years, she gave herself to a life of adoration and contemplation, which she had desired since childhood. Sr. Katharine passed away on March 3, 1955. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1980.
St. Cunegundes(Empress († 1040))
SAINT CUNEGUNDESEmpress( 1040) St. Cunegundes was the daughter of Siegfried, the first Count of Luxembourg, and Hadeswige, a Nordgauian maiden. They married her to St. Henry, the duke of Bavaria. When Emperor Otho III passed away, Henry became emperor on June 6, 1002. St. Cunegundes was crowned in Paderborn on St. Laurence's day. St. Cunegundes consecrated her virginity prior to marrying Henry. Together, they received the imperial crown from Pope Benedict VIII on February 14, 1014. When St. Cunegundes was accused of infidelity, she walked unhurt over red-hot ploughshares and proved her innocence. She was vindicated as proved by her lasting queenship. During a retreat in Hesse, St. Cunegundes fell dangerously ill and vowed to found a monastery if she recovered. After recovering, she founded a monatery in Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Paderborn, and gave it to Benedictine nuns. Before it was finished, King Henry passed away on July 13, 1024. She sought to join the Benedictine nuns after founding bishoprics, monasteries and relieving the poor. St. Cunegundes embraced perfect poverty to serve God without obstacle. She was consecrated during her church's dedication in Kaffungen in 1025, on the anniversary of her husband's passing. She offered a piece of the True Cross on the altar, put off her imperial robes and clothed herself with a poor habit. She received a ring and a veil from the bishop as symbols of betrothal to Christ. After the consecration, she forgot her imperial dignity and behaved as the last in the house. She prayed and read, worked with her hands and comforted the sick. She served for fifteen years until her mortifications exacerbated a final illness. When she perceived her community was preparing a shroud fringed with gold, St. Cunegundes insisted on being buried as a poor religious. She passed away on March 3, 1040, and was buried near her husband in Bamberg. She was canonized by Pope Innocent III in 1200. She is the patron saint of Luxembourg and Bamberg.
Category: Mass by Year / Catholic Missal 2018 / Catholic Missal of march 2018
Published: 2026-07-14T18:16:27Z | Modified: 2026-07-14T18:16:27Z