Daily Reading for Sunday, March 3rd, 2024

Sunday, March 3, 2024
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT (B)
Office: Psalter Week 3
Mass prop. Creed. Preface of Lent
Vestment: Violet
Today’s Rosary: The Glorious Mystery

Vespers II of the Third Sunday of Lent

Other celebrations are not allowed, not even funeral Masses.

Click HERE for the Previous Catholic Daily Reading

Theme of the Sunday: THE PURIFICATION OF THE TEMPLE AND OF RELIGION.
The gospel recounts the story of the purification of the temple, or rather, the replacement of the old temple with a new one. We are the new temple but, like the old, we also often need purification from all that hinders our offering to God acceptable sacrifices. In the second reading, Paul tells us that we must stop reasoning like the “Jews” and the “Greeks.” The first reading tells us what sacrifices are acceptable to God coupled with an invitation to purify our religion of cults that have nothing to do with love of God or of our neighbours.

FIRST READING
The law is given through Moses.
A reading form the Book of Exodus (Exodus 20:1-17)

In those days: God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “you shall have no other gods before me, you shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”

The word of the Lord.

Or shorter Exodus 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (R.cf John 6:68c)
R/. Lord, you have the words of eternal life.

The law of the LORD is perfect;
It revives the soul.
The decrees of the LORD are steadfast;
They give wisdom to the simple. R/.

The precepts of the LORD are right;
They gladden the heart.
The command of the LORD is clear;
It gives light to the eyes. R/.

R/. Lord, you have the words of eternal life.

The fear of the LORD is pure,
Abiding forever.
The judgements of the Lord are true;
They are, all of them, just. R/.

They are more to be desired than gold,
Than quantities of gold.
And sweater are they than honey,
Than honey flowing from the comb. R/.

SECOND READING
“we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to men, but to those who are called, the wisdom of God.”
A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)

Brethren: Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The word of the Lord.

Also Read: Daily Reading for Saturday, March 2nd, 2024

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION John 3:16
Glory and praise to you, O Christ, God so loved the world that he gave his only son; that whoever believes in him should have eternal life. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

GOSPEL
“destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 2:13-25)

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business, and making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “what sign have you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “it has taken forty-six years to builds this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” but he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did; but Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man.

The Gospel of the Lord.

FOR RCIA the readings from Year A may be used

FIRST READING
“Give us water to drink”..(Ex 17.2).
A reading from the Book of Exodus (Exodus 17:3-7)

In those days: The people thirsted for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the fault-finding of the children of Israel, and because they put the Lord to the test by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 95: 1-2.6-7abc.7d—9 (R. cf. 7d, 8a)
R/. O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

Come, let us ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come into his presence, giving thanks;
let us hail him with a song of praise. R/.

O come; let us bow and bend low.
Let us kneel before the God who made us,
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand. R/.

O that today you would listen to his voice!
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your forebears put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.” R/.

SECOND READING
“God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ”
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (Romans 5 :1 -2 . 5-8)

Brethren: Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man — though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

The word of the Lord.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION John 4:5-42.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ. Lord, you are truly the Saviour of the world; give me living water, that I may not thirst. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

GOSPEL
“A spring of water welling up to eternal life. ”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 4:5-42)

* At that time: Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” *
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.” The woman said to him, * “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” * Just then his disciples came. They marvelled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, “What do you wish?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the city and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples begged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has any one brought him food?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour; others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.”
* Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word, They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord. *
Shorter form: John 4:5- 15.19b-26.39a. 40-42 Read between

PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

Celebrant:
In his life on earth, Christ Jesus was consumed with zeal for the sanctity of the house of God. Let us present our petitions to our loving father, asking him to sanctify our lives and our world.

FOR THE CHURCH: that, through her ministry, Christians may rediscover their true identity as members of Christ’s body and participate with greater enthusiasm in the proclamation of the Gospel. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR OUR CIVIL LEADERS: that they may hear the cry of the poor and work towards the protection of their dignity. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR ALL GOD’S CHILDREN: that they may give due reverence not only to the house of God but also to their bodies, which are temples of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR OURSELVES: that through our Lenten observances of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, God may strengthen our will to be able to reject sin and embrace a new life that is pleasing to him. Let us pray to the Lord.

FOR OTHER INTENTIONS: (the sick, Church projects or other activities).

FOR THE DEAD, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF OUR PARISH COMMUNITY AND FAMILY MEMBERS: that they may find eternal rest with the Lord. Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray in silence for our private intentions.

Celebrant:
O God our Father, you have the words of eternal life. As we implore you to hear our prayers, we ask that you may help us to always obey your commandments, so that our lives may be a living sacrifice acceptable to you. Through Christ our Lord.

R/. Amen.

TODAY’S REFLECTION
Today we are reminded of the commandments of God, which can be summarized in love of God and neighbor. God has the message of eternal life and He desires that we live by this message so that we can attain the joys of being reunited with Him. The actions of the money changers in the temple were tantamount to disobedience of the first commandment. Definitely no one can serve both God and wealth. Christ’s displeasures is visible when He sees people putting their business and trade before God, even in the very house of God. This wrong attitude may not be too different from what occurs in some churches today. We are therefore encouraged today to retrace our steps and be obedient to God’s commandments

TODAY’S SAINT AND QUOTE: St Katherine Drexel – March 3rd
-Ours is the Spirit of the Eucharist, the total Gift of Self.

PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL FOR LENT
Food and drink is good for the body when taken in proportion to what the body needs to function to maximum capacity. However, when you let food and drink control you or you take it more than you need it or less than you need it, you will definitely have a problem. The watch-word is to do it with moderation. Before you eat or drink, first ask yourself, do you need it and how much of it do you need? Then, remember that when you share what you have as food and drink with others who do not have to eat and drink, you make the world a better place.

Today, When you place that food before you to eat and that drink too, remember that you only need a little of it to function well and be healthy and when you try to share it with those who do not have you will be doing what Jesus did in the Scripture

Let Us Pray,
Lord give me your food that lasts forever, and give the grace also, to share the food I have freely with those that don’t have in the community

Daily Reading for Sunday March 3, 2024

Reading 1, Exodus 20:1-17
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Gospel, John 2:13-25
Reading 2, First Corinthians 1:22-25

Gospel, John 2:13-25

¹³ When the time of the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

¹⁴ and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there.

¹⁵ Making a whip out of cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, sheep and cattle as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over

¹⁶ and said to the dove sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop using my Father’s house as a market.’

¹⁷ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: I am eaten up with zeal for your house.

¹⁸ The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us that you should act like this?’

¹⁹ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’

²⁰ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple: are you going to raise it up again in three days?’

²¹ But he was speaking of the Temple that was his body,

²² and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what he had said.

²³ During his stay in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he did,

²⁴ but Jesus knew all people and did not trust himself to them;

²⁵ he never needed evidence about anyone; he could tell what someone had within.

Reading 2, First Corinthians 1:22-25

²² While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom,

²³ we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness,

²⁴ but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God.

²⁵ God’s folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.