Third Sunday of Lent
Processional Hymn - From Ashes to the Living Font
From ashes to the living font
Your Church must journey, Lord,
Baptised in grace, in grace renewed
By your most holy word.
Through fasting, prayer, and charity,
Your voice speaks deep within,
Returning us to ways of truth
And turning us from sin.
You call us to be penitent,
You tend us patiently,
Preserving us from perishing,
So fruitful we might be.
From ashes to the living font
Your Church must journey still,
Through cross and tomb to Easter joy,
in Spirit-fire fulfilled.
1st Reading – Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.
Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush.
As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed.
So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.”
When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
He answered, “Here I am.”
God said, “Come no nearer!
Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.
“I am the God of your fathers,” he continued, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
But the LORD said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.
Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?”
God replied, “I am who am.”
Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.”
God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.
This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 27
R. The Lord is kind and merciful; the Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all within me his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and never forget all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful; the Lord is kind and merciful.
It is the Lord who forgives all your sins, who heals everyone of your ills,
Who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with mercy and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful; the Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD does just deeds, gives full justice to all who are oppressed.
He has made known his ways to Moses, and his deeds to the children of Israel.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful; the Lord is kind and merciful.
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in mercy.
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so strong his mercy for those who fear him.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful; the Lord is kind and merciful.
2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ.
Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.
These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.
Do not grumble as some of them did, and suffered death by the destroyer.
These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come.
Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.
Gospel – Luke 13:1-9
Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.
Jesus said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!
Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem?
By no means!
But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”
And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none.
So cut it down.
Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.
If not you can cut it down.’”
Prayer for Our Lady of Angels Parish
Heavenly Father, we thank you for gathering us together and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through your Son, Jesus, with the great mission of evangelizing and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother, and ask for her intercession and guidance, as we strive to build a parish that loves God, embraces all people, and shares the Gospel joyfully.
Amen.
Offertory Hymn - Tree of Life
Tree of Life and awesome mystery,
In your death we are reborn,
Though you die in all of history,
Still you rise with every morn,
Still you rise with every morn.
Seed that dies to rise in glory,
May we see ourselves in you,
If we learn to live your story
We may die to rise anew,
We may die to rise anew.
We remember truth once spoken,
Love passed on through act and word,
Every person lost and broken
Wears the body of our Lord,
Wears the body of our Lord.
Gentle Jesus, mighty Spirit,
Come inflame our hearts anew,
We may all your joy inherit
If we bear the cross with you,
If we bear the cross with you.
Living Water of salvation,
Be the fountain of each soul;
Springing up in new creation,
Flow in us and make us whole.
Flow in us and make us whole.
Communion Hymn - Deep Within
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
I will give you a new heart,
A new spirit within you,
For I will be your strength.
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
Seek my face, and see your God,
For I will be your hope.
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
Return to me, with all your heart,
and I will bring you back.
Deep within, I will plant my law,
Not on stone, but in your heart.
Follow me; I will bring you back.
You will be my own, and I will be your God.
Recessional Hymn - Forty Days and Forty Nights
Forty days and forty nights
You were fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.
Shall not we Your sorrow share
And from worldly joys abstain,
Fasting with unceasing prayer,
Strong with You to suffer pain?
Then, if Satan on us press,
Flesh or spirit to assail,
Victor in the wilderness,
Grant, we may not faint nor fail!
So shall we have peace divine;
Holier gladness ours shall be.
'Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as served You faithfully.
Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
Ever constant by Your side,
That with You we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.
