Thursday of the First Week of Lent

Send us Fan MailThursday, 13 March 2025Thursday of the First Week of Lent Antiphons and Readings on p. 212 of the Daily Missal.First Reading: Esther 14: 1, 3-4, 11, 13-14In those days:  Esther the queen, seized with deathly anxiety,  fled to the Lord.  And she lay on the earth together with all her maidservants.  From morning until evening, and said:  “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob,  blessed are you;  help me, who am alone and have no helper but you,  for my danger is in my hand.  I have heard from the books of my ancestors  that you liberate all those who are pleasing to you,  O Lord, until the very end.  And now, assist me, who am all alone,  and have now one but you, O Lord, my God.  Come to my aid, for I am an orphan.  Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion,  and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us,  so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him.  But save us from the hand of our enemies;  turn our mourning into gladness and our affliction into well-being.”Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 138:1-2a.2bcd-3.7d-8 (R. 3a)R/. On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.I thank you, Lord, with all my heart; you have heard the words of my mouth. In the presence of the angels, I praise you. I bow down toward your holy temple.I give thanks to your name for your merciful love and your faithfulness. You have exalted your name over all. On the day I called, you answered me; you increased the strength of my soul.With your right hand you save me; the Lord will accomplish this for me. O Lord, your merciful love is eternal; discard not the work of your hands.R/. On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.Glory and praise to you, O Christ. Create in me a clean heart, O God; restore to me the joy of your salvation. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.Gospel: Matthew 7:7-12At that time:  Jesus said to his disciples,  “Ask, and it will be given you;  seek, and you will find;  knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives,  and the one who seeks finds,  and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his child asks him for bread,  will give them a stone?  Or if they ask for a fish, will give them a serpent?  If you then, who are evil,  know how to give good gifts to your children,  how much more will your Father who is in heaven  give good things to those who ask him!  So whatever you wish that people would do to you,  do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.