Daily Catholic Mass Readings for March 16, 2022
First Reading: Jeremiah 18.18-20
18Then they said, "Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words."19Hear me, O LORD, and listen to the voice of my adversaries.20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
Psalm 31
1In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!2Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!3For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;4you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.5Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.6I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the LORD.7I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul,8and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.9Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also.10For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.11Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.12I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.13For I hear the whispering of many--terror on every side!--as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.14But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."15My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!16Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!17O LORD, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol.18Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.19Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!20In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.21Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.22I had said in my alarm, "I am cut off from your sight." But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.23Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!
Gospel: Matthew 20.17-28
17And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,18"See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death19and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.21And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom."22Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."23He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.25But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.26It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on trust in God’s providence and the call to humble service. In the first reading from Jeremiah, the prophet faces opposition and persecution from those who seek to silence him. Jeremiah cries out to God, expressing his trust in divine justice and his confidence that God sees all and will act in His time. This passage reminds us that even in the face of adversity, we must place our hope in the Lord, who is always near to those who suffer unjustly.
In the Gospel, Jesus prepares His disciples for His Passion by revealing the trials He will endure. He speaks of being handed over to death and rising again on the third day. This prediction is met with a request from the mother of James and John, who seeks places of honor for her sons in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus uses this moment to teach the disciples about true greatness, emphasizing that authority in the kingdom is not about power but about service. He calls them to follow His example of self-giving love, even to the point of laying down one’s life for others.
These readings are deeply connected. Jeremiah’s trust in God’s justice and Jesus’ teaching on humble service both point to the same truth: our lives are not about seeking power or recognition but about surrendering to God’s will and serving others. In our daily lives, we are called to trust in God’s plan, even when it is difficult, and to embrace the humility and selflessness that Jesus modeled. Let us ask for the grace to follow Him more closely, putting the needs of others before our own and trusting that God will bring good out of all things.