TUESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT

Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent

Prayer.

WE beseech Thee, O Lord, that the fasts of this holy observance may procure us an increase of piety in our lives, and the continual help of Thy mercy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, etc.

EPISTLE. Exodus xxxii. 7-14.

In those days the Lord spoke to Moses, saying : Go, get thee down : thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst show them : and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said : These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And again the Lord said to Moses :I see that this people is stiff-necked : let Me alone, that My wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying: Why, O Lord, is Thy indignation enkindled against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt,with great power, and with a mighty hand?  Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech Thee : He craftily brought them out, that He might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth : let Thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of Thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou sworest by Thy own self, saying : I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven : and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and you shall possess it forever. And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which He had spoken against His people.

GOSPEL. John vii. 14-31.

At that time : About the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews wondered, saying: How doth this man know letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them and said : My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will do the will of Him : he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of My self. He that speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory : but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, he is true, and there is no injustice in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why seek you to kill Me? The multitude answered, and said: Thou hast a devil; who seeketh to kill Thee? Jesus answered and said to them: One work I have done ; and you all wonder : therefore Moses gave you circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers) ; and on the Sabbath-day you circumcise a man. If a man receive circumcision on the Sabbath-day, that the law of Moses may not be broken ; are you angry at Me because I have healed the whole man on the Sabbath-day? Judge not accord ing to the appearance, but judge just judgment. Some therefore of Jerusalem said : Is not this He Whom they seek to kill?  And behold He speaketh openly, and they say nothing to Him. Have the rulers known for a truth that this is the Christ? But we know this man whence He is : but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is. Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying : You both know Me, and you know whence I am : and I am not come of Myself ; but He that sent Me is true, Whom you know not. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He hath sent Me. They sought therefore to apprehend Him : and no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet come. But of the people many believed in Him.
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Next: Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Lent