28 March 2025 – Friday of Week 3 of Lent (1) Hosea 14:2-10 How God supports those who trust in Him Take words with you and return to the Lord; say to him, “Take away all guilt; accept that which is good, and we will offer the fruit of our lips. Assyria shall not save…
27 March 2025 – Thursday of Week 3 of Lent (1) Jeremiah 7:23-28 Life’s highest goal is obedient response to God But this command I gave them, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it…
26 March 2025 – Wednesday of Week 3 of Lent (1) Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 God’s people have clear duties and a high destiny So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the…
Presider’s Page for 30 March (Lent 4 – Laetare) We have reached the midway point of the season of Lent. The joy of Easter is within our reach and the parent of the prodigal son encourages us to rely on divine mercy. (Sunday morning Masses: On this Mother’s Day, we honour the mothers of the…
March 25 – The Annunciation of the Lord 1st Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 King Ahaz refuses to ask a sign of the Lord; Isaiah promises a child to be called Immanuel Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”…
24 March 2025 – Monday of Week 3 of Lent Optional Memorial: St Macartan, first Bishop of Clogher, known as Patrick’s ‘Strong Man’ for his dedication and faithfulness. (1) 2 Kings 5:1-15 Naaman the Syrian takes the prophet’s advice and is cured of leprosy Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was…
23 March 2025 – 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year C (1) Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 God pities his people in Egypt and will free them, through Moses Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There…
22 March 2025 – Saturday of Week 2 of Lent (1) Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 Israel’s God is a God of mercy Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock that belongs to you, which lives alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in…
21 March 2025 – Friday of Week 2 of Lent Optional Memorial: St Enda, associated with Cill Aine, Co Louth, studied in Scotland and back to the Boyne Valley before moving to Árainn, Cuan na Gaillimhe, an ascetic who died circa 520. (1) Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13 17-28 Jacob’s sons envy their brother Joseph, and sell…
20 March 2025 – Thursday of Week 2 of Lent (1) Jeremiah 17:5-10 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord rather than in mere mortal power Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be…
March 19 – Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin 1st Reading: 2 Samuel 7:4-6, 12-14, 16 From king David’s offspring will come the universal spiritual King But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build…
Presider’s Page for 23 March (Third Sunday of Lent) Today, as we gather to listen to the Lenten call to repentance, we worship our God of kindness who, like a patient gardener, always gives people a second chance. Penitential Rite We recall the areas of life where we most need to experience God’s compassion: (pause)…
18 Mar 2025 – Tuesday of Week 2 of Lent Optional Memorial: St Cyril of Jerusalem, 316-86, Bishop of Jerusalem, catechist, administrator, forced into exile because of Arianism (1) Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 A call to personal conversion, to remove our sins from God’s sight Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen…
17 March: St Patrick, Patron of Ireland 1st Reading: Amos 7:12-15 Amos is called by God to be a prophet Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it…
Presider’s Page for Monday 17 March (Lá Fhéile Pádraig) As the second week of Lent unfolds in other countries, we pause from our lenten penances to honour Patrick, the apostle of the Irish. In our celebration of this solemn feast, we worship God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier, who brought our ancestors into the Christian fold…
16 March 2025 – 2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C (1) Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 The covenant with Abraham, basis of Israel’s religion of trust He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And…
15 March 2025 – Saturday of Week 1 of Lent (1) Deuteronomy 26:16-19 Walking in the way of the Lord This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances; so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have obtained the Lord’s…
14 March 2025 – Friday of Week 1 of Lent (1) Ezekiel 18:21-28 Personal responsibility to replace the idea of shared guilt But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not…
13 March 2025 – Thursday of Week 1 of Lent Anniversary of election of Pope Francis in 2013. (1) Esther 4:29-42 Queen Esther’s prayer wins God’s help in a time of crisis Queen Esther, seized with deadly anxiety, fled to the Lord. She prayed to the Lord God of Israel, and said: “O my Lord,…
12 March 2025 – Wednesday of Week 1 of Lent (1) Jonah 3:1-10 When Jonah’s preaching bears fruit, God has mercy on Nineveh The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah…
