26 March 2026 (Thursday) / Lenten Weekday / Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

26 March 2026 (Thursday)

Lenten Weekday.
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent.

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Genesis 17: 3-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 105: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Verse Before the Gospel: Psalms 95: 8
Gospel: John 8: 51-59

First Reading: Genesis 17: 3-9

3 Abram fell flat on his face.
4 And God said to him: I AM, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5 Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations.
6 And I will make thee increase, exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.
9 Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 105: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
4 Seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works which he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant; ye sons of Jacob his chosen.
7 He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever: the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which he made to Abraham; and his oath to Isaac:
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.

Verse Before the Gospel: Psalms 95: 8
8 If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
(1. Come, let us cry out with joy to Yahweh, acclaim the rock of our salvation.
2. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving, acclaim him with music.
3. For Yahweh is a great God, a king greater than all the gods.
4. In his power are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are his;
5. the sea belongs to him, for he made it, and the dry land, moulded by his hands.
6. Come, let us bow low and do reverence; kneel before Yahweh who made us!
7. For he is our God, and we the people of his sheepfold, the flock of his hand. If only you would listen to him today!
8. Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as at the time of Massah in the desert,
9. when your ancestors challenged me, put me to the test, and saw what I could do!
10. For forty years that generation sickened me, and I said, 'Always fickle hearts; they cannot grasp my ways.'
11. Then in my anger I swore they would never enter my place of rest.)

Gospel: John 8: 51-59

51 Amen, amen I say to you: If any man keep my word, he shall not see death for ever.
52 The Jews therefore said: Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest: If any man keep my word, he shall not taste death for ever.
53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead. Whom dost thou make thyself?
54 Jesus answered: If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father that glorifieth me, of whom you say that he is your God.
55 And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I shall say that I know him not, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know him, and do keep his word.
56 Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see my day: he saw it, and was glad.
57 The Jews therefore said to him: Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
58 Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham was made, I am.
59 They took up stones therefore to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

For our reflection today:

The Gospel proposes for our meditation the last part of chapter eight of John, which contains as we heard a long discussion on the identity of Jesus. A little earlier he had presented himself as "the light of the world" (v. 12), using at least three times (vv. 24, 28, 58) the expression "I AM", that forcefully recalls God's name as it was revealed to Moses (cf. Ex 3: 14). And he added: "If any one keeps my word, he will never see death" (Jn 8: 51), thus declaring that he had been sent by God, who is his Father, to bring men and women the radical freedom from sin and death that is indispensable for entering eternal life. However, his words wounded the pride of those with whom he was conversing and even the reference to the great Patriarch Abraham became a source of conflict. "Truly, truly, I say to you", the Lord said, "before Abraham was, I Am" (Jn 8: 58). Without mincing his words, he declared his pre-existence, hence his superiority as regards Abraham, provoking understandably a shocked reaction in the Jews. But Jesus cannot be silent about his identity; he knows that in the end the Father himself will account for him, glorifying him through his death and Resurrection because, precisely when he is raised on the Cross, he will be revealed as the Only-Begotten Son of God (cf. Jn 8: 28; Mk 15: 39). (Benedict XVI - Homily in the Holy Mass on the fourth anniversary of the death of John Paul II,  2 April 2009) 

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)