Daily Mass Readings For Saturday, March 29, 2025
Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Reading I:
Hosea 6:1-6
Verse before the Gospel:
Psalm 95:8
Gospel:
Luke 18:9-14
Liturgical vestments: Purple
Saturday, March 29, 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.
“Come, let us return to the LORD,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Verse before the Gospel
Psalm 95:8
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Reflection
“The heart has to be crushed. Why be afraid it will be destroyed if you crush it? There you have the answer: Create a clean heart in me, O God (Ps 51:10). For a clean heart to be created, let the unclean heart be crushed.” (Saint Augustine)
“We are always ready to play innocent. Like this, we don’t go forward in the Christian life… Before and after confession, in your life, in your prayer, are you able to blame yourself? Or is it easier to blame others?.” (Francis)
“Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful.” (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, Nº 1458)
The parable lies between two movements, expressed by two verbs: to ascend and to descend. The first movement is to ascend. Indeed, the text begins by saying: “Two people went up into the temple to pray” (v. 10). This aspect recalls many episodes in the Bible, where in order to encounter the Lord, one goes up to the mountain of his presence (…). But in order to live the encounter with him and be transformed by prayer, to rise up to God, a second movement is necessary: to descend. Why? What does this mean? In order to ascend towards him, we must descend within ourselves: to cultivate the sincerity and humility of the heart that give us an honest outlook on our frailties and our inner poverty. (…) It will be he who raises us up, not us. The more we descend with humility, the more God raises us up. (…) The Pharisee and the publican concern us closely. When we think of them, let us look at ourselves: let us confirm whether, in us, as in the Pharisee, there is the intimate presumption of being righteous (cf. v. 9) that leads us to despise others. It happens, for instance, when we seek compliments and always make a list of our own merits and good works, when we concern ourselves with how we appear rather than how we are, when we let ourselves be trapped by narcissism and exhibitionism. Let us beware of narcissism and exhibitionism, based on vainglory, that lead even us Christians, priests and bishops, always to have one word on our lips. Which word? “I”. (Angelus, 23 October 2022)
Saint of the Day
St. Eustasius was Bishop of Naples during the anti-Christian persecutions of the third century. He was included in the first official edition of the Roman Martyrology, approved by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584.
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