LITURGY IN HONOR OF SAINT LOUISE DE MARILLAC
Feast Day- March 15
First Reading:Isaiah 58:1a, 5-11
Thus says the Lord:
Shout for all you are worth, raise your voice like a trumpet.
Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me
—it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks—
to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke,
to share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor,
to clothe the man you see to be naked
and not turn from your own kin?
Then will your light shine like the dawn
and your wound be quickly healed over
your integrity will go before you and the glory of Yahweh behind you.
Cry, and Yahweh will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here’.
If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked work,
if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
Yahweh will always guide you, giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden.
like a spring of water whose waters never run dry.
Responsorial Psalm:Ps 33: 2-3, 17-18, 19 and 23
Response:A cry goes up from the poor one, and Yahweh hears.
I will bless Yahweh at all times,
his praise shall be on my lips continually;
my soul glories in Yahweh,
let the humble hear and rejoice.
Response:A cry goes up from the poor one, and Yahweh hears.
The face of Yahweh frowns on evil men,
to wipe their memory from the earth;
the eyes of Yahweh are turned towards the virtuous,
his ears to their cry.
Response:A cry goes up from the poor one, and Yahweh hears.
Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted,
he helps those whose spirit is crushed.
Yahweh himself ransoms the souls of his servants,
and those who take shelter in him have nothing to pay.
Response:A cry goes up from the poor one, and Yahweh hears.
Second Reading:Acts 9:36-42
At Jaffa there was a woman disciple called Tabitha, or Dorcas in Greek, who never tired of doing good or giving in charity. But the time came when she got ill and died, and they washed her and laid her out in a room upstairs. Lydda is not far from Jaffa, so when the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men with an urgent message for him, “Come and visit us as soon as possible.”
Peter went back with them straightaway, and on his arrival they took him to the upstairs room, where all the widows stood round him in tears, showing him tunics and other clothes Dorcas had made when she was with them. Peter sent them all out of the room and knelt down and prayed. Then he turned to the dead woman and said, “Tabitha, stand up.” She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter helped her to her feet, then he called in the saints and widows and showed them she was alive. The whole of Jaffa heard about it and many believed in the Lord.
Alleluia:
Come, you whom my Father has blessed,
take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world.
Gospel:(Matthew 25: 31-40)
Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in glory, escorted by all the angels of heaven, he will sit upon his royal throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats at his left. The King will say to the people on his right, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father: Come and receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.” The righteous will then answer him, “When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?” The King will answer them, “I tell you, indeed, whenever you did this for one of the least brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me!”
Next he will say to those on his left hand, “Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food; I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink; I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, naked and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me.” Then it will be their turn to ask, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or naked, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?” Then he will answer, “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me.” And they will go away to eternal punishment and the virtuous to eternal life.
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