Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 5th March, 2024
– Tuesday, Third Week in Lent –
Azariah prayed that God forgive the blunders of His chosen people because of his generosity and love and because of their humble requests. Jesus reminds us of the need to forgive each other, always.
Memorial may be made of St Kieran, bishop
FIRST READING
A reading from the prophet Daniel 3:25.34-43
May the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to you.
Azariah stood in the heart of the fire, and he began to pray:
Oh! Do not abandon us for ever, for the sake of your name; do not repudiate your covenant, do not withdraw your favour from us, for the sake of Abraham, your friend, of Isaac your servant,
and of Israel your holy one, to whom you promised descendants as countless as the stars of heaven
and as the grains of sand on the seashore.
Lord, now we are the least of all the nations, now we are despised throughout the world, because of our sins.
We have at this time no leader, no prophet, no prince,
no holocaust, no sacrifice, no oblation, no incense,
no place where we can offer you the first-fruits and win your favour.
But may the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to you
as holocausts of rams and bullocks, as thousands of fattened lambs:
such let our sacrifice be to you today,
and may it be your will that we follow you wholeheartedly,
since those who put their trust in you will not be disappointed.
And now we put our whole heart into following you, into fearing you and seeking your face once more.
Do not disappoint us; treat us gently, as you yourself are gentle and very merciful.
Grant us deliverance worthy of your wonderful deeds, let your name win glory, Lord.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 24
Response Remember your mercy, Lord.
1. Lord, make me know your ways. Lord, teach me your paths.
Make me walk in your truth, and teach me: for you are God my saviour. Response
2. Remember your mercy, Lord, and the love you have shown from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth because of your goodness, Lord. Response
3. The Lord is good and upright. He shows the path to those who stray.
He guides the humble in the right path; he teaches his way to the poor. Response
Gospel Acclamation Lk 8:15
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
Blessed are those who, with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
Or Joel 2: 12-13
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
came back to me with all your heart, for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 18:21-35 Glory to you, O Lord
Father will not forgive you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.
Peter went up to Jesus and said,
‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’
Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.’
‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt.
‘Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him.
Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.
‘And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Tues, Third Week of Lent Matthew 18:21-35
When the servant who owed the king a staggering amount of money discovered that he and all his family and possessions were to be sold into slavery to pay the debt, he asked the king for time to pay the debt, ‘Give me time and I will pay the whole sum’. The king agreed to his servant’s request. When the servant subsequently met a fellow servant who owed him a very small amount of money, his fellow servant made the same request of him that he had made of the king, ‘Give me time and I will pay you’. However the servant was not prepared to grant his fellow servant the precious gift of time, the time he needed to pay off the debt. For him, time was money. Time can symbolize money but it can symbolize so much else as well. It can also symbolize forgiveness. Giving time to someone can be saying, ‘I withhold judgement for now’. One of the greatest gifts we can give to another is the gift of time.
One of the messages of today’s parable may be that the Lord is much more generous with the gift of time that we are. The Lord gives us time to put things right, to return to him with all our heart, to give him the place in our lives that he deserves. As one of the letters of the New Testament puts it, ‘with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years’ (2 Peter 3:8). The parable calls on us to give this gift of time to others with the same generosity that the Lord gives this gift to us.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
