Saturday, April 9, 2011

SATURDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

Saturday in the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Prayer.

MAY our devotion be made fruitful by Thy grace, we beseech Thee, O Lord, for the fasts we have undertaken will be come profitable to us only if they are pleasing to Thy mercy.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.

EPISTLE. Isaias xlix. 8-15.

Thus saith the Lord : In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee : and I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed : that thou mightest say to them that are bound : Come forth : and to them that are in darkness : Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain. They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them : for He that is merciful to them, shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of waters He shall give them drink. And I will make all My mountains a way, and My paths shall be exalted. Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country. Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth ; ye mountains, give praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy on His poor ones. And Sion said : The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee, saith the Lord Almighty.

GOSPEL. John viii. 12-20.

At that time : Jesus spoke to the multitudes of the Jews, saying : I am the light of the world : he that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees therefore said to Him : Thou givest testimony of Thy self : Thy testimony is not true. Jesus answered, and said to them : Although I give testimony of Myself, My testimony is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go: but you know not whence I come, or whither I go. You judge according to the flesh : I judge not any man. And if I do judge, My judgment is true ; because I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent Me. And in your law it is written, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that give testimony of Myself : and the Father that sent Me, giveth testimony of Me. They said therefore to Him: Where is Thy Father? Jesus answered: Neither Me do you know, nor My Father : if you did know Me, perhaps you would know My Father also. These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, teaching in the temple : and no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come.
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Next: Passion Sunday