Daily Mass Readings For Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Reading 1 :
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Verse Before the Gospel :
Psalm 51:12a, 14a
Gospel :
John 5:1-16
Liturgical vestments: Purple
Tuesday, April 1, 2025: Readings & Responsorial Psalm & Gospel
Each day, the Mass readings invite us into a deeper encounter with God. Through Scripture, we hear His voice speaking to our hearts, guiding us, comforting us, and calling us to a life of holiness. The Word of God is not just a story from the past; it is alive, relevant, and transformative.
Every reading is an opportunity for grace. Some days, the words challenge us to grow; other days, they console us in our struggles. But always, they nourish our souls, strengthening our faith and drawing us closer to Christ.
Let us open our hearts to the Word of God daily. May we not just hear it but live it, allowing it to shape our actions and deepen our love for Him. Lord, speak to us today, and help us to follow You more faithfully. Amen.
Reading 1
Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
The angel brought me, Ezekiel,
back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,
and I saw water flowing out
from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,
for the façade of the temple was toward the east;
the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,
south of the altar.
He led me outside by the north gate,
and around to the outer gate facing the east,
where I saw water trickling from the right side.
Then when he had walked off to the east
with a measuring cord in his hand,
he measured off a thousand cubits
and had me wade through the water,
which was ankle-deep.
He measured off another thousand
and once more had me wade through the water,
which was now knee-deep.
Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;
the water was up to my waist.
Once more he measured off a thousand,
but there was now a river through which I could not wade;
for the water had risen so high it had become a river
that could not be crossed except by swimming.
He asked me, "Have you seen this, son of man?"
Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.
Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.
He said to me,
"This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
Verse Before the Gospel
Psalm 51:12a, 14a
A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate
a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.
In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.
One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
"Do you want to be well?"
The sick man answered him,
"Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me."
Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who was cured,
"It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat."
He answered them, "The man who made me well told me,
'Take up your mat and walk.'"
They asked him,
"Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you."
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.
Reflection
“Let us be displeased with ourselves when we sin, because sins displeases God. And because we are not in fact without sin, let us at least be like God in this respect, that what displeases him displeases us.” (Saint Augustine)
“The Church's doors are always open. The Church is Jesus’ house and Jesus welcomes. And if the people are wounded, what does Jesus do? Does He rebuke them for being wounded? No, He comes and carries them on his shoulders. This is called mercy.” (Francis)
“Jesus performed acts, such as pardoning sins, that manifested him to be the Savior God himself. Certain Jews, who did not recognize God made man, saw in him only a man who made himself God (Jn 10:33), and judged him as a blasphemer.” (Catechism of The Catholic Church, Nº 594)
Jesus says to him: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk” (v. 8). “Immediately the man became well” (v. 9). That man’s attitude makes us think. Was he sick? Yes, perhaps he had some form of paralysis, but it seems he could walk a little. But his heart was sick, his soul was sick, he was sick with pessimism, he was sick with sadness, he was sick with apathy. This is the disease the man had: “Yes, I want to live, but…”, he was there. And his answer is not, “Yes, I want to be healed!” No, it was to complain: “The others arrive first, always the others”. His answer to Jesus’ offer to heal him is a complaint about others. And in this way, he spent thirty-eight years complaining about others. And he did nothing to heal himself. (…) And let us think also of ourselves, if any of us are in danger of slipping into that apathy, into that “neutral” sin: the neutral sin is this, neither white nor black, one does not know what it is. And this is a sin the devil uses to annihilate our spiritual life and also our life as people. May the Lord help us understand how bad and how evil this sin is. (Santa Marta, 24 March 2020)
Saint of the Day
He wanted to be a monk, but for 50 years he governed the diocese of Grenoble. He was selected by Pope Gregory VII to restore the customs of the clergy and teach the people. He was also confirmed by the seven successive Popes, the last of whom, Innocent II, canonized him in 1134.
Bishop of the city of Salona, in present-day Croatia, St. Venantius, who lived between the 3rd and 4th centuries, is venerated together with Saints Anastasius, Maurus, Paulinianus, Telius, Aterius, Septimius, Antiochianus and Gaianus, his companions in martyrdom, like him from Dalmatia and Istria.
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