Liturgical Readings for : Sunday, 17th March, 2024
17th March: ST PATRICK, BISHOP, Principal Patron of Ireland
Day of Prayer for Emigrants
Readings for YEAR B (2024)
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FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Jeremiah 31:31-34
‘Look, the days are coming, the Lord declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah), but not like the covenant I made with their ancestors the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, even though I was their Master, the Lord declares. No, this is the covenant I shall make with the House of Israel when those days have come, the Lord declares.
Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. Then I shall be their God and they will be my people. There will be no further need for everyone to teach neighbour or brother, saying, “Learn to know the Lord!” No, they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, the Lord declares, since I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind.’
Responsorial Psalm, Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 14-15
For I am well aware of my offences,
my sin is constantly in mind.
Against you, you alone, I have sinned,
I have done what you see to be wrong,
that you may show your saving
justice when you pass sentence,
and your victory may appear when you give judgement,
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
sustain in me a generous spirit.
I shall teach the wicked your paths,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, God, God of my salvation,
and my tongue will acclaim your saving justice.
Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will speak out your praise.
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 12:20-3o Glory to you, O Lord
Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.
These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him,
“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.
Jesus replied to them:
“Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.
If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.
Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
A voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said,
“It was an angel speaking to him.”
Jesus answered,
“It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours. Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all to myself.”
By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
(Some of today’s Readings today may vary from place to place, but the Gospel does not. The following are alternative Readings)
FIRST READING
A reading from the prophet Jeremiah 1 :4-9
You shall go to all to whom I send you.
The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations’.
I said, ‘Ah, Lord God: look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’
But The Lord replied, ‘Do not say, “I am a child”.
Go now to those to whom I send you and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you – it is the Lord who speaks!’
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:
‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.’
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 116. R/. Mark 16:15
Response Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.
1. O praise the Lord all you nations
acclaim him all you peoples. Response
2. Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful forever. Response
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 115:12-19. R/. v. 12
Response: How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
1 .How can I repay the Lord for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation 1 will raise; I will call on the Lord’s name. Response
2. My vows to the Lord I will fulfil before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful. Response
3. Your servant, Lord, your servant am I; you have loosened my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make; I will call on the Lord’s name. Response
4. My vows to the Lord I will fulfil before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 10: 9-18
If you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved.
If your lips confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved, By believing from the heart you are made righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: ‘those who believe in him will have no cause for shame’, it makes no distinction between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
But they will not ask his help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but is as scripture says: ‘The footsteps of those who bring good news is a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As Isaiah says: ‘Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed?’ So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ.
Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear? Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Gospel Acclamation James 1:21.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Accept and submit to the word which has been planted in you
and can save your souls.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
or Gospel Acclamation Matt 28:19-20
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Go, make disciples of all nations, says the Lord;
I am with you always, yes, to the end of time.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
GOSPEL I
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 16:15-20 Glory to you, O Lord
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation.
And Jesus said to his disciples
‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved;
he who does not believe will be condemned.
These are the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their hands on the sick, who will recover.’
And so the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven: there at the right hand of God he took his place, while they, going out, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that accompanied it.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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or GOSPEL 2
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 12:20-3o Glory to you, O Lord
Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.
These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.
Jesus replied to them:
“Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.
If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.
Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
A voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said,
“It was an angel speaking to him.”
Jesus answered, “It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours. Now sentence is being passed on this world;
now the prince of this world is to be overthrown. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all to myself.”
By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.
The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection 17th March Feast of Saint Patrick Mark 16:15-20
Saint Patrick lived at a time and place very different to our own. He was born at the end of the fourth century on the embattled edge of the crumbling Roman Empire, probably somewhere in Britain. This was a time when the Roman legions had been withdrawn from the edges of the Empire, and there was a general breakdown in Roman law and order. The way Patrick speaks of his family in his Confessions suggests that they were from the rural gentry. His father was a deacon of the church and his grandfather a priest. Yet, their reasonably comfortable background did not prevent them from suffering the effects of the general breakdown of order in Roman society. The protection of Rome was not there to prevent Patrick being captured at the tender age of sixteen. He spent six years as a slave in Ireland, escaping only at the age of twenty-two. Ireland, at the time, was a very different society to anywhere in the Roman Empire, even the edges of the Empire where Patrick was from. He often refers to himself as living among strangers. Coming to Ireland at that tender age must have been a huge culture shock, apart altogether from the hardships of slavery.
Yet, he subsequently came to see these six years as a time of great grace. He refers to ‘the many great blessings and grace which the Lord chooses to give me in the land of my captivity’. When he was taken captive, he said, ‘I did not yet know what I ought to desire and what to avoid’. Although born into a Christian family, he had never taken his faith seriously. He uses a striking image to describe his life at the time he was taken captive, ‘I was like a stone lying in the deepest mire’. Yet, in exile as a slave in Ireland, he underwent what can only be called a profound spiritual transformation. He writes, ‘I must not hide the gift of God which he gave us bountifully in the land of my captivity, because it was then that I fiercely sought him and there found him’. He writes at one point in his confessions, ‘When I had arrived in Ireland and was looking after flocks the whole time, I prayed frequently each day. And more and more, the love of God and the fear of him grew in me, and my faith was increased’. This spiritual renewal would form the basis of his extraordinary missionary work in Ireland many years later. This was a time of great loss in Patrick’s life, but also a time of deep spiritual and personal growth. It is often the way in our own lives that the most painful experiences can also be the most life-giving, for ourselves and for others. Patrick discovered that when so much was taken from him, the Lord worked powerfully in his life. The Lord is always at work in a life-giving way in all our struggles and losses. At any stage of our lives, we can find ourselves in a kind of exile experience. Our personal landscape changes and we feel estranged, lonely, frightened. We are not alone at such times. The Lord is at our side. He is always close to the broken hearted, those whose spirit is crushed, working to bringing something new out of what is dying.
After six years of captivity, Patrick made his escape and managed to board a boat. After a long and perilous journey, he finally made his way back to his home. He writes, ‘I was again with my parents in Britain who welcomed me home as a son. They begged me in good faith after all my adversities to go nowhere else, or ever leave them again’. It is likely that Patrick believed he would never leave them again. However, God works in mysterious ways. Patrick writes in his Confessions that after many long years ‘God chose to give me a great grace towards that people (who had held me captive), but this was something I had never thought of, nor hoped for, in my youth’. He had a vision in which he heard the voice of the Irish call out to him, ‘O holy boy, we beg you to come again and walk among us’.
After studying for the priesthood, he was eventually sent on mission to Ireland as a bishop. In the course of that difficult mission, he says that he often felt the urge to go back to his homeland, but he resisted it because, as he writes, ‘I fear the loss of the work I have begun here, since it is not I but Christ the Lord who ordered me to come here and be with these people for the rest of my life’. If his first visit to Ireland was as a young slave, this second visit was in response to the Lord’s call; he came as a slave of the gospel. As he says right at the end of his Confessions, ‘the one and only purpose I had in coming back to that people from whom I had earlier escaped was the gospel and the promises of God’. This second visit of Patrick to Ireland with all its momentous consequences brings home to us the unexpected nature of God’s call to all of us. God’s call can surprise us. God can be prompting us to take a path we might never have considered if left to ourselves. God’s purpose for our lives can be so much greater than our own plans. Patrick teaches us to hold ourselves in readiness for the Lord’s surprising call in our lives.
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