March 23
Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Parishioners of Holy Cross
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Readings
First Reading
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Gospel Acclamation
See John 6:63c, 68c
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
Gospel
Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
“Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.”
Reflection
Fulfilling one’s promises is important. Jesus tells his disciples, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill." Fulfilling the law and the prophets is exactly what Jesus did during the time of his public ministry. What does that mean for us?
The fact that Jesus did what God the Father intended signifies that Christ keeps his promises, and that we, as the children of God can trust in what Christ has told us. This is significant because the greatest promise that Christ has made to us is that there is eternal life. We know that God invites us to eternal life and claims us for his own at the time of our Baptism. It is our actions between Baptism and the time of our death, which determine if we have chosen eternal life with God or eternal punishment.
Lent is the ideal time to look back on our life and determine which path we have chosen thus far. This Lent, let us firmly decide to place our life on the path that God calls us to and repent of whatever stands in the way of being worthy of the eternal reward Christ has promised!
Peace,
Fr. John
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