Catholic Church Mass Readings for March 18, 2021: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Catholic Church Mass Readings for March 18, 2021: Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 247

Reading I

Ex 32:7-14

The LORD said to Moses,

“Go down at once to your people

whom you brought out of the land of Egypt,

for they have become depraved.

They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them,

making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it,

sacrificing to it and crying out,

‘This is your God, O Israel,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’

The LORD said to Moses,

“I see how stiff-necked this people is.

Let me alone, then,

that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.

Then I will make of you a great nation.”

But Moses implored the LORD, his God, saying,

“Why, O LORD, should your wrath blaze up against your own people,

whom you brought out of the land of Egypt

with such great power and with so strong a hand?

Why should the Egyptians say,

‘With evil intent he brought them out,

that he might kill them in the mountains

and exterminate them from the face of the earth’?

Let your blazing wrath die down;

relent in punishing your people. 

Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel,

and how you swore to them by your own self, saying,

‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky;

and all this land that I promised,

I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.’“

So the LORD relented in the punishment

he had threatened to inflict on his people.

 

Responsorial Psalm

106:19-20, 21-22, 23

R.    (4a)  Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Our fathers made a calf in Horeb

    and adored a molten image;

They exchanged their glory

    for the image of a grass-eating bullock.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

They forgot the God who had saved them,

    who had done great deeds in Egypt,

Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham,

    terrible things at the Red Sea.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Then he spoke of exterminating them,

    but Moses, his chosen one,

Withstood him in the breach

    to turn back his destructive wrath.

R.    Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

Verse before the Gospel

Jn 3:16

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Gospel

Jn 5:31-47

Jesus said to the Jews: 

“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true.

But there is another who testifies on my behalf,

and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true.

You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.

I do not accept human testimony,

but I say this so that you may be saved.

He was a burning and shining lamp,

and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.

But I have testimony greater than John’s.

The works that the Father gave me to accomplish,

these works that I perform testify on my behalf

that the Father has sent me.

Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf.

But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,

and you do not have his word remaining in you,

because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.

You search the Scriptures,

because you think you have eternal life through them;

even they testify on my behalf.

But you do not want to come to me to have life.

“I do not accept human praise;

moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 

I came in the name of my Father,

but you do not accept me;

yet if another comes in his own name,

you will accept him.

How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another

and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?

Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father:

the one who will accuse you is Moses,

in whom you have placed your hope.

For if you had believed Moses,

you would have believed me,

because he wrote about me. 

But if you do not believe his writings,

how will you believe my words?”

Catholic Church Readings for Mass Wednesday, March 17, 2021: Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Catholic Church Readings for Wednesday, March 17, 2021: Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 246

Reading I

Is 49:8-15

    Thus says the LORD:

In a time of favor I answer you,

    on the day of salvation I help you;

    and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people,

To restore the land

    and allot the desolate heritages,

Saying to the prisoners: Come out!

To those in darkness: Show yourselves!

Along the ways they shall find pasture,

    on every bare height shall their pastures be.

They shall not hunger or thirst,

    nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them;

For he who pities them leads them

    and guides them beside springs of water.

I will cut a road through all my mountains,

    and make my highways level.

See, some shall come from afar,

    others from the north and the west,

    and some from the land of Syene.

Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,

    break forth into song, you mountains.

For the LORD comforts his people

    and shows mercy to his afflicted.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

    my Lord has forgotten me.”

Can a mother forget her infant,

    be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget,

    I will never forget you.

Responsorial Psalm

145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18

R.    (8a)  The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

    slow to anger and of great kindness.

The LORD is good to all

    and compassionate toward all his works.

R.    The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The LORD is faithful in all his words

    and holy in all his works.

The LORD lifts up all who are falling

    and raises up all who are bowed down.

R.    The Lord is gracious and merciful.

The LORD is just in all his ways

    and holy in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

    to all who call upon him in truth.

R.    The Lord is gracious and merciful.

Verse before the Gospel

Jn 11:25a, 26

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;

whoever believes in me will never die.

Gospel

Jn 5:17-30

Jesus answered the Jews: 

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him,

because he not only broke the sabbath

but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Jesus answered and said to them,

“Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own,

but only what he sees the Father doing;

for what he does, the Son will do also.

For the Father loves the Son

and shows him everything that he himself does,

and he will show him greater works than these,

so that you may be amazed.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life,

so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.

Nor does the Father judge anyone,

but he has given all judgment to the Son,

so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son

does not honor the Father who sent him.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word

and believes in the one who sent me

has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,

but has passed from death to life.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,

and those who hear will live.

For just as the Father has life in himself,

so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself.

And he gave him power to exercise judgment,

because he is the Son of Man.

Do not be amazed at this,

because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs

will hear his voice and will come out,

those who have done good deeds

to the resurrection of life,

but those who have done wicked deeds

to the resurrection of condemnation.

“I cannot do anything on my own;

I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just,

because I do not seek my own will

but the will of the one who sent me.”

Catholic Church Readings for Tuesday, March 16, 2021: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Catholic Church Readings for Tuesday, March 16, 2021: Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 245

Reading I

Ez 47:1-9, 12

The angel brought me, Ezekiel,

back to the entrance of the temple of the LORD,

and I saw water flowing out

from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east,

for the façade of the temple was toward the east;

the water flowed down from the right side of the temple,

south of the altar.

He led me outside by the north gate,

and around to the outer gate facing the east,

where I saw water trickling from the right side.

Then when he had walked off to the east

with a measuring cord in his hand,

he measured off a thousand cubits

and had me wade through the water, 

which was ankle-deep.

He measured off another thousand

and once more had me wade through the water,

which was now knee-deep.

Again he measured off a thousand and had me wade;

the water was up to my waist.

Once more he measured off a thousand,

but there was now a river through which I could not wade;

for the water had risen so high it had become a river

that could not be crossed except by swimming.

He asked me, “Have you seen this, son of man?”

Then he brought me to the bank of the river, where he had me sit.

Along the bank of the river I saw very many trees on both sides.

He said to me,

“This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,

and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh. 

Wherever the river flows,

every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,

and there shall be abundant fish,

for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.

Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;

their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.

Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,

for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.

Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

Responsorial Psalm

46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9

R.    (8)  The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. 

God is our refuge and our strength,

    an ever-present help in distress.

Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken

    and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.

R.    The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. 

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,

    the holy dwelling of the Most High.

God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;

    God will help it at the break of dawn.

R.    The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. 

The LORD of hosts is with us;

    our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

Come! behold the deeds of the LORD,

    the astounding things he has wrought on earth.

R.    The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob. 

Verse before the Gospel

Ps 51:12a, 14a

A clean heart create for me, O God;

give me back the joy of your salvation.

Gospel

Jn 5:1-16

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate

a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.

In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled.

One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus saw him lying there

and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,

“Do you want to be well?”

The sick man answered him,

“Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool

when the water is stirred up;

while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”

Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.

Now that day was a sabbath.

So the Jews said to the man who was cured,

“It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 

He answered them, “The man who made me well told me,

‘Take up your mat and walk.’“

They asked him,

“Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”

The man who was healed did not know who it was,

for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.

After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,

“Look, you are well; do not sin any more,

so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

The man went and told the Jews

that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus

because he did this on a sabbath.

This Just In 2000 Years Ago: Catholic Church cannot bless gay unions

In a stunning move unforeseen by everyone, the Vatican just issued a decree 2000 years ago stating that the Church cannot bless gay unions.

In the shocking move, Pope Francis reiterated what has been a constant teaching since the founding of the Catholic Church at Pentecost around 33AD.

Labeled as "Breaking News" by many outlets such as Associated Press and others, the Catholic Church will surprisingly not start doing something it has never done since its founding.

Many progressives were left wondering: what next? Will the Church declare there are only 7 sacraments or that Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity?

What prompted this to become "breaking" "headline news" now? Has anyone doubted this to be the case? It seems a little absurd to say the least, but apparently this question of blessing gay unions had to be addressed since there were apparently even churches doing such a thing. Despite being churches and/or priests, they were unaware of a point of doctrine that has always been the case and has never changed.

Some may draw a distinction between blessing a union and declaring it the equivalent of marriage, or something like that. However, nothing evil can be blessed. To the shock and dismay of many, the Church also cannot bless polygamous unions! Will this be the newest headline in the near future?

The Church makes clear that people with homosexual attraction are not in themselves evil, however homosexual activities are immoral and contrary to natural law, therefore the Church declares they are sinful, and always have been.

Catholic Church Readings for Monday, March 15, 2021: Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Sorry this is late once again!

Catholic Church Readings for Monday, March 15, 2021: Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 244

Reading I

Is 65:17-21

Thus says the LORD:

Lo, I am about to create new heavens

    and a new earth;

The things of the past shall not be remembered

    or come to mind.

Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness

    in what I create;

For I create Jerusalem to be a joy

    and its people to be a delight;

I will rejoice in Jerusalem

    and exult in my people.

No longer shall the sound of weeping be heard there,

    or the sound of crying;

No longer shall there be in it

    an infant who lives but a few days,

    or an old man who does not round out his full lifetime;

He dies a mere youth who reaches but a hundred years,

    and he who fails of a hundred shall be thought accursed.

They shall live in the houses they build,

    and eat the fruit of the vineyards they plant.

Responsorial Psalm

30:2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b

R.    (2a)  I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear

    and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.

O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world;

    you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.

R.    I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones,

    and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger lasts but a moment;

    a lifetime, his good will.

At nightfall, weeping enters in,

    but with the dawn, rejoicing.

R.    I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

“Hear, O LORD, and have pity on me;

    O LORD, be my helper.”

You changed my mourning into dancing;

    O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

R.    I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.

Verse before the Gospel

Am 5:14

Seek good and not evil so that you may live,

and the LORD will be with you.

Gospel

Jn 4:43-54

At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.

For Jesus himself testified

that a prophet has no honor in his native place.

When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,

since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;

for they themselves had gone to the feast.

Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,

where he had made the water wine.

Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.

When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,

he went to him and asked him to come down

and heal his son, who was near death.

Jesus said to him,

“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”

The royal official said to him,

“Sir, come down before my child dies.”

Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”

The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

While the man was on his way back,

his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.

He asked them when he began to recover.

They told him,

“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”

The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,

“Your son will live,”

and he and his whole household came to believe.

Now this was the second sign Jesus did

when he came to Galilee from Judea.

Catholic Church Readings for Sunday, March 14, 2021: Fourth Sunday of Lent

Catholic Church Readings for Sunday, March 14, 2021: Fourth Sunday of Lent

Year B

Lectionary: 32

Reading I

2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23

In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people 

added infidelity to infidelity, 

practicing all the abominations of the nations 

and polluting the LORD’s temple 

which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, 

send his messengers to them, 

for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling place.

But they mocked the messengers of God, 

despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets, 

until the anger of the LORD against his people was so inflamed 

that there was no remedy.

Their enemies burnt the house of God,

tore down the walls of Jerusalem, 

set all its palaces afire, 

and destroyed all its precious objects.

Those who escaped the sword were carried captive to Babylon, 

where they became servants of the king of the Chaldeans and his sons

until the kingdom of the Persians came to power.

All this was to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah: 

“Until the land has retrieved its lost sabbaths, 

during all the time it lies waste it shall have rest 

while seventy years are fulfilled.”

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, 

in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, 

the LORD inspired King Cyrus of Persia 

to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, 

both by word of mouth and in writing: 

“Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: 

All the kingdoms of the earth

the LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me, 

and he has also charged me to build him a house 

in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, 

let him go up, and may his God be with him!”

Responsorial Psalm

137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

R. (6ab)  Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

By the streams of Babylon

    we sat and wept

    when we remembered Zion.

On the aspens of that land

    we hung up our harps.

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

For there our captors asked of us

    the lyrics of our songs,

And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:

    “Sing for us the songs of Zion!”

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

How could we sing a song of the LORD

    in a foreign land?

If I forget you, Jerusalem,

    may my right hand be forgotten!

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

May my tongue cleave to my palate

    if I remember you not,

If I place not Jerusalem

    ahead of my joy.

R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!

Reading II

Eph 2:4-10

Brothers and sisters:

God, who is rich in mercy, 

because of the great love he had for us, 

even when we were dead in our transgressions, 

brought us to life with Christ — by grace you have been saved —, 

raised us up with him, 

and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 

that in the ages to come 

He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace 

in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, 

and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; 

it is not from works, so no one may boast.

For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works 

that God has prepared in advance,

that we should live in them

Verse Before the Gospel

Jn 3:16

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

so everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.

Gospel

Jn 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus:

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, 

so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, 

so that everyone who believes in him might not perish 

but might have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 

but that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, 

but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, 

because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the verdict,

that the light came into the world, 

but people preferred darkness to light,

because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light

and does not come toward the light, 

so that his works might not be exposed.

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, 

so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

Catholic Church Readings for Saturday, March 13, 2021: Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Catholic Church Readings for Saturday, March 13, 2021: Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 242

Reading I

Hos 6:1-6

“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

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

R.    (see Hosea 6:6)  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.

Verse before the Gospel

Ps 95:8

If today you hear his voice,

harden not your hearts.

Gospel

Lk 18:9-14

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.”

The New Amsterdam's Lack of Catholic Understanding in Croaklahoma [S01:E15]

In something that seems all too common, TV shows seem unable to find a single expert on Catholicism. That is no different when it comes to a new Netflix program called "New Amsterdam". The show is pretty good as far as shows go, but there is of course many moral problems with it.

[Spoiler Alert!]

In one episode titled "Croaklahoma" (Season 1, Episode 15), there is a married couple whose child received a transplanted organ and is now having adverse side effects. The situation is that the medical insurance of the parents covered the necessary transplant but not the subsequent anti-rejection medication. The parents cannot afford the excessive cost of the drugs and therefore decided to give their child half the number of dosages so they would last longer. This caused the negative side effects.

Not sure what to do, the main character Dr. Max Goodwin brings up a controversial suggestion. Medicaid can be used to pay for drugs if a person's income is low enough. The bold suggestion of Max is for the couple to divorce, thus bringing at least one of them below the threshold for free medication.

This present the couple with a quandary. They declare they cannot divorce because they are Catholic and for them it would be a sin. After tearfully considering all their alternatives, the couple decides they would rather commit a sin to save their son's life than to avoid sin but put him at risk. A monkey wrench is thrown into the situation when the son runs off in the hospital and can't be found. He leaves a note saying "No Divorce".

Eventually the son is found and he tells his parents that he doesn't want them to go to Hell, which is what will happen if they divorce, as he doesn't want to go to Heaven without them. They look at each other as if they agree with him and think well that's okay we are willing to do whatever it takes to save his life.

This is a ridiculous premise to being with, but it gets worse. Stay tuned for that. But for now, I will explain what is wrong with this line of thinking. The Catholic Church does not say its members are not allowed to divorce. Rather, it says if a couple of validly married, then divorce is not an option, it's simply impossible. Christ established marriage as a permanent bond between two people which cannot be broken save by the death of one of the spouses.

The key is that the Church regards legal marriage by the state as a separate affair altogether. In other words, the Sacrament of Marriage is altogether distinct from the civil procedure known as marriage. When a couple of married in a Church wedding witnessed by a priest, the priest must also have the couple sign a state form separately. The priest is granted permission by the state to perform a wedding just like they permit other civil servants. I must stress that the Catholic Church sacrament called Marriage is completely separate from the state version of marriage, even though they occur concurrently.

What this means is that the Church actually allows couples to legally divorce in various contexts if it is for a greater good. For example, if a woman must be separated from her husband for her own safety and can only do so with a legal divorce, she would be permitted to do this. Of course, she would not be allowed to remarry as she would still be bonded to this man in marriage.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly states this:

The separation of the spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense. – CCC 2383

Clearly in the case above, this civil divorce would be permitted for the care of children. It's very straightforward. Yet somehow, NBC couldn't get anyone who knew this? Maybe some people say perhaps they were just creating a plot and this is simply artistic license. Well I find that implausible. In every other instance, it seems they use real laws, possible scenarios, etc. The producers of the show do their research when it comes to various groups and facts. Yet, it seems they are unable to verify even straightforward information on Catholics. It only took me a few seconds to find the Catechism quote above.

So, how does the situation get even worse in the show? Well, as chance would have it, the pope's right-hand-man happened to be in the hospital as the pope was in town at the time and they had to maintain a presence in the hospital "just in case". After being helped by Dr. Max Goodwin, the Cardinal asks if there is anything he can do for him. So Max thinks for a second and then says to the Cardinal, actually there is.

The next scene shows the couple and their son speaking to the cardinal. Max introduces him as the pope's right-hand-man. The cardinal then says he spoke to the Holy Father about their situation he says ...pause.... "it's cool!"

Seriously? That's the best they could come up with? First of all, it's clear the cardinal never did speak to the pope about this situation at all. So he's lying right off the bat to the family. Then he tells them the pope says "it's cool", like it just some little do-dad, no biggie, whatevs! It's all good!

The Catholic Church doesn't work like that. Moral laws aren't just applied willy-nilly. Things aren't done on a case-by-case basis. Our entire moral code is based on the teachings of Christ. Christ said once two people are joined they become one flesh and that divorce is unlawful. The Church is simply upholding that. For the cardinal to simply brush off the situation like it was nothing would be like him disregarding the laws laid down by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Another problem with this whole scenario is that it gives the impression the clergy, including cardinals and the pope, have some kind of absolute authority. As if they can just change any rule they want and that we as Catholics just do whatever they say because they said it. It's presented as though the Vatican and the clergy are some kind of absolute monarchs who make and change rules at their whim and we are just servants who dutifully do what they tell us.

In reality these laws do not change. The Church is our teacher which is why she is called Holy Mother Church. Not only we, but also the pope and cardinals must abide by and follow the teachings of the Church. Sometimes the magisterium (or teaching authority of the Church) will issue a clarification or address a particular issue. These represent developments in doctrines but never breaks from it. No moral law, doctrine or dogma can contradict another.

If there were an episode featuring basketball, they would probably have someone with knowledge of the game to inform the episode so that it made sense. Yet somehow, when it comes to Catholicism, no such care is taken. It's a pity and should be corrected.

Catholic Church Readings for Friday, March 12, 2021: Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Catholic Church Readings for Friday, March 12, 2021: Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 241

Reading I

Hos 14:2-10

    Thus says the LORD:

Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;

    you have collapsed through your guilt.

Take with you words,

    and return to the LORD;

Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,

    and receive what is good, that we may render

    as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.

Assyria will not save us,

    nor shall we have horses to mount;

We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’

    to the work of our hands;

    for in you the orphan finds compassion.”

I will heal their defection, says the LORD,

    I will love them freely;

    for my wrath is turned away from them.

I will be like the dew for Israel:

    he shall blossom like the lily;

He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,

    and put forth his shoots.

His splendor shall be like the olive tree

    and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.

Again they shall dwell in his shade

    and raise grain;

They shall blossom like the vine,

    and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?

    I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.

“I am like a verdant cypress tree”– 

    Because of me you bear fruit!

Let him who is wise understand these things;

    let him who is prudent know them.

Straight are the paths of the LORD,

    in them the just walk,

    but sinners stumble in them.

Responsorial Psalm

81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17

R.    (see 11 and 9a)  I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

An unfamiliar speech I hear:

    “I relieved his shoulder of the burden;

    his hands were freed from the basket.

In distress you called, and I rescued you.”

R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

“Unseen, I answered you in thunder;

    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;

    O Israel, will you not hear me?”

R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

“There shall be no strange god among you

     nor shall you worship any alien god.

I, the LORD, am your God

    who led you forth from the land of Egypt.”

R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

“If only my people would hear me,

    and Israel walk in my ways,

I would feed them with the best of wheat,

    and with honey from the rock I would fill them.”

R.    I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

Verse before the Gospel

Mt 4:17

Repent, says the Lord;

the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Gospel

Mk 12:28-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,

“Which is the first of all the commandments?”

Jesus replied, “The first is this:

    Hear, O Israel!

    The Lord our God is Lord alone!

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

    with all your soul, 

    with all your mind, 

    and with all your strength.

The second is this:

    You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.”

The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.

You are right in saying,

    He is One and there is no other than he.

And to love him with all your heart,

    with all your understanding, 

    with all your strength,

    and to love your neighbor as yourself

is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,

he said to him,

“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”

And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Catholic Church Readings for Thursday, March 11, 2021: Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Catholic Church Readings for Thursday, March 11, 2021: Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 240

Reading I

Jer 7:23-28

Thus says the LORD: 

This is what I commanded my people:

Listen to my voice;

then I will be your God and you shall be my people.

Walk in all the ways that I command you,

so that you may prosper.

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.

They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts

and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.

From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,

I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.

Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;

they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.

When you speak all these words to them,

they will not listen to you either;

when you call to them, they will not answer you.

Say to them:

This is the nation that does not listen

to the voice of the LORD, its God,

or take correction.

Faithfulness has disappeared;

the word itself is banished from their speech.

Responsorial Psalm

95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9

R.    (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;

    let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

    let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R.    If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship;

    let us kneel before the LORD who made us.

For he is our God,

    and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R.    If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice:

    “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,

    as in the day of Massah in the desert,

Where your fathers tempted me;

    they tested me though they had seen my works.”

R.    If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Verse before the Gospel

Jl 2:12-13

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart,

for I am gracious and merciful.

Gospel

Lk 11:14-23

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,

and when the demon had gone out,

the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.

Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,

he drives out demons.”

Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.

But he knew their thoughts and said to them,

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste

and house will fall against house.

And if Satan is divided against himself, 

how will his kingdom stand?

For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.

If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,

by whom do your own people drive them out?

Therefore they will be your judges.

But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,

then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,

his possessions are safe.

But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,

he takes away the armor on which he relied

and distributes the spoils.

Whoever is not with me is against me,

and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Sorry I missed yesterday's readings

I'm not sure if anyone or how many people come here to get the readings daily. If you do, please let me know in the comments, I'd appreciate that. Yes, you. Anyway, I got a little off-track and missed yesterday and was late for today's. Would love to hear from you.