Daily Mass Readings For Thursday, March 13, 2025
Thursday of the First Week in Lent
Reading 1 :
Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Verse Before the Gospel :
Psalm 51:12a, 14a
Gospel :
Matthew 7:7-12
Liturgical vestments: Purple
Thursday, March 13, 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
Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.
"And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness."
Verse Before the Gospel
Psalm 51:12a, 14a
A clean heart create for me, O God;
give me back the joy of your salvation.
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets."
Reflection
“The Observance of Lent: to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times. This we can do by devoting ourselves to prayer, to compunction of heart, to offer something to God of our own will with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” (Saint Benedict)
“Without heaven, earthly power is always ambiguous and fragile. Only when power submits to the measure and the judgment of heaven—of God, in other words—can it become power for good.” (Benedict XVI)
“Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to "seek" and to "knock," since he himself is the door and the way.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 2609)
We pray with courage, because when we pray we normally have a need. God is a friend, a rich friend, who has bread, who has what we need. It is as if Jesus were saying: ‘In prayer, be persistent, do not grow weary’. Don't get tired of what? Of asking. Ask and it will be given to you. Because it is a job, a job that asks us for will, asks us for constancy, asks us to be determined, without shame. Why? Because I am knocking on my friend's door. God is a friend, and with a friend I can do this. Constant, intrusive prayer. (...) And a friend always gives good, he gives more: I ask him to solve this problem, and he solves it and also gives you the Holy Spirit. He gives more. Let's think a little: how do I pray? Like a parrot? Do I pray with need in my heart? Do I wrestle with God in prayer to give me what I need, if it is right? Let us learn from this Gospel passage how to pray. (Santa Marta, 11 October 2018)