Thursday, March 2 : Book of Esther C,12.14-16.23-25.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
CALENDARIUM ROMANUM FORMA ORDINARIA
Wednesday, March 1 : Saint Cyril of Jerusalem
Show us that one dead for three days can possibly arise, and that a man should be buried, and rise after three days. If we seek for Scripture testimony in proof of such facts, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself supplies it in the Gospels, saying, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40) And when we examine the story of Jonas, the force of the resemblance is significant. Jesus was sent to preach repentance; Jonas also was sent: but whereas the one fled, not knowing what should come to pass; the other came willingly, to give repentance unto salvation. Jonas was asleep in the ship, and snoring amidst the stormy sea; while Jesus also slept, the sea, according to God’s providence , began to rise, to show in the sequel the might of Him who slept…The one was cast into a whale’s belly: but the other of His own accord went down there, where the invisible whale of death is. And He went down of His own accord, that death might cast up those whom he had devoured, according to that which is written, I will ransom them from the power of the grave; and from the hand of death I will redeem them (Hosea 13:14 ). I believe that Jonas was preserved, for all things are possible with God (Matthew 19:26); I believe that Christ also was raised from the dead; for I have many testimonies of this, both from the Divine Scriptures, and from the operative power even at this day of Him who arose — who descended into hell alone, but ascended thence with a great company; for He went down to death, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose (Matthew 27:52) through Him.
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Wednesday, March 1 : Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11,29-32.
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
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Wednesday, March 1 : Psalms 51(50),3-4.12-13.18-19.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Wednesday, March 1 : Book of Jonah 3,1-10.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”
So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’S bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it.
Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”
when the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
Then he had this proclaimed throughout Nineveh, by decree of the king and his nobles: “Neither man nor beast, neither cattle nor sheep, shall taste anything; they shall not eat, nor shall they drink water.
Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth and call loudly to God; every man shall turn from his evil way and from the violence he has in hand.
Who knows, God may relent and forgive, and withhold his blazing wrath, so that we shall not perish.”
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way, he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them; he did not carry it out.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, February 28 : Saint John Cassian
“Our Father”. When then we confess with our own mouths that the God and Lord of the universe is our Father, we profess immediately that we have been called from our condition as slaves to the adoption of sons, “Which art in heaven”, that, by shunning with the utmost horror all lingering in this present life, which we pass upon this earth as a pilgrimage, and what separates us by a great distance from our Father, we may the rather hasten with all eagerness to that country where we confess that our Father dwells, To which state and condition of sonship when we have advanced, we shall immediately be inflamed with the piety which belongs to good sons, so that we shall bend all our energies to the advance not of our own profit, but of our Father’s glory, “Hallowed be Your name”, testifying that our desire and our joy is His glory, becoming imitators of Him who said: He who speaks of himself, seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, the same is true and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (John 7:18)
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, February 28 : Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 6,7-15.
Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.
If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
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Tuesday, February 28 : Psalms 34(33),4-5.6-7.16-17.18-19.
Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. The LORD has eyes for the just, And ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers, to destroy remembrance of them from the earth. When the just cry out, the LORD hears them, and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Tuesday, February 28 : Book of Isaiah 55,10-11.
Thus says the LORD: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team
Monday, February 27 : Saint Ambrose
You are a jailor of your wealth, not its owner, you who bury your gold in the ground (cf Mt 25,25); you are its slave and not its master. Christ said: “Where your treasure is there also your heart will be” so it is your heart you have buried. Rather, sell your gold and buy salvation; sell what is metal and acquire God’s Kingdom; sell the field and purchase for yourself eternal life. In saying this I am speaking the truth because I am relying on the words of him who is Truth: “If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven” (Mt 19,21). Don’t be cast down by these words lest the same thing be said to you as to the rich young man: “It will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (v.23). Still more, when you read this sentence, consider that death can snatch these possessions away from you, that the aggression of someone powerful can carry them away. At the end of the day you will have seen no further than insignificant goods in place of great wealth; these are no more than a treasure of coins rather than treasures of grace. By their very nature they perish rather than remaining for ever.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team