Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Official Translation

Reading 1 - Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, listen
to the statutes and to the ordinances,
which I teach you to do;
that you may live and go in
and possess the land
which the Lord, the God of your fathers,
gives you.
Behold, I have taught you
statutes and ordinances,
even as the Lord my God
commanded me,
that you should do so in the land
which you go to possess.
Keep therefore and do them;
for this is your wisdom
and your understanding
in the sight of the peoples,
who shall hear all these statutes, and say,
‘Surely this great nation is
a wise and understanding people.’
For what great nation is there,
that has a god so near to them,
as the Lord our God is to us
whenever we call on him?
What great nation is there
that has statutes and ordinances
as righteous as all this law,
which I set before you this day?

But be careful
and keep your soul diligently,
lest you forget the things
which your eyes saw,
and lest they depart from your heart
all the days of your life;
but make them known to your children
and your children’s children.”

Responsorial – Psalm 147.12-13, 15-16, 19-20 Resp. 12a

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Praise your God, Zion!
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates.
He has blessed your children within you.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

He sends out his commandment to the earth.
His word runs very swiftly.
He spreads snow out like wool;
he scatters the frost like ashes.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

He shows his word to Jacob;
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done this for any other nation.
They do not know his ordinances.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem!

Gospel – Matthew 5.17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that
I came to destroy
the law or the prophets.
I came not to destroy but to fulfill.
For most certainly, I tell you,
until heaven and earth pass away,
not even one iota or one comma
shall in any way pass away from the law,
until all things are accomplished.
Whoever, therefore, shall break
one of these least commandments
and teach others to do so,
shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven;
but whoever shall do and teach them
shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.