21 March 2026 (Saturday) / Lenten Weekday / Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

21 March 2026 (Saturday)

Lenten Weekday.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Jeremiah 11: 18-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 7:2‐3,9‐12
Verse Before the Gospel: Luke 8: 15
Gospel: John 7: 40-53
Liturgical year 2026 (Cycle A/II)
Liturgical color: violet (or purple)

First Reading : Jeremiah 11:18‐20

The Lord revealed it to me; I was warned. O Lord, that was when you opened my eyes to their scheming. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter‐house, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’ But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence, who probe the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 7:2‐3,9‐12

Lord God, I take refuge in you.
Lord God, I take refuge in you.
  From my pursuer save me and rescue me,
lest he tear me to pieces like a lion
  and drag me off with no one to rescue me.
Lord God, I take refuge in you.
Give judgement for me, Lord; I am just
  and innocent of heart.
Put an end to the evil of the wicked!
Make the just stand firm,
  you who test mind and heart,
  O just God!
Lord God, I take refuge in you.
God is the shield that protects me,
  who saves the upright of heart.
God is a just judge
  slow to anger;
  but he threatens the wicked every day.
Lord God, I take refuge in you.

Verse Before the Gospel: Luke 8: 15
15 Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.
(4. With a large crowd gathering and people from every town finding their way to him, he told this parable:
5. 'A sower went out to sow his seed. Now as he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up.
6. Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture.
7. Some seed fell in the middle of thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
8. And some seed fell into good soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.' Saying this he cried, 'Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!'
9. His disciples asked him what this parable might mean,
10. and he said, 'To you is granted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God; for the rest it remains in parables, so that they may look but not perceive, listen but not understand.
11. 'This, then, is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God.
12. Those on the edge of the path are people who have heard it, and then the devil comes and carries away the word from their hearts in case they should believe and be saved.
13. Those on the rock are people who, when they first hear it, welcome the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of trial they give up.
14. As for the part that fell into thorns, this is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life and never produce any crops.
15. As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.)

Gospel : John 7:40‐52

Several people who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.
  The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’

For our reflection today:

“Then each went to his own house” (Jn 7:53). After debating everyone returned to their own convictions. There is a division within the people: the people who follow Jesus and who listen to Him - they are not aware of the time spent listening to Him, for the Word of Jesus enters the heart - and the group of the Doctors of the Law who reject Jesus a priori because, in their opinion, He was not observing the Law. The people were divided in two camps: The people who loved Jesus and followed Him, and the group of the intellectuals of the Law, the leaders of Israel, the leaders of the people. This is clear when the guards went to the chief priests who asked them: “Why haven’t you brought him?” And the guards answered: “There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.” But the Pharisees answered them: “So, you have been led astray as well? And this small group of the elite, the Doctors of the Law, despise Jesus. And they also despise the people, “that crowd” which is ignorant and does not know anything. The holy, faithful People of God. (Francis, Santa Marta, 28 March 2020)

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God."

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)