Readings: Saturday of the 3th Week of Lent

First Reading

First Reading: Hosea 6:1-6

What I want is love, not sacrifice.


“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.
 

Responsorial Psalm

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab

R./  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

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.
R./  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

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.
R./  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

Be bountiful, O Lord, to Zion in your kindness
          by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem;
Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices,
          burnt offerings and holocausts.
R./  It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.

Holy Gospel

Gospel Reading: Luke   18:9-14

The tax collector went home justified, not the Pharisee

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.”