Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection March 20, 2026

20th March 2026 (Friday)

Psalter: Week 4

Readings of the Day

First Reading: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22

Ungodly men reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s son, he will help him and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God or hope for the wages of holiness or discern the prize for blameless souls.

Psalm 34:17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23 (R. 19a)

R/. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted.

Gospel Acclamation

V/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ

R/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ

V/. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

R/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ

Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

At that time: Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Daily Gospel Reflection

Friday – Fourth Week of Lent

Main Point: The persecution of decent people and antagonism to goodness are constant. The explanation is straightforward: they are blinded by their evil and misled by their lack of insight.

1. The animosity between Jesus and the Jews continues to grow. They want to murder him. The true causes of this growing hostility are once again made clear to us by Jesus in the narrative and Wisdom in the first reading.

2. According to Jesus, it’s because they don’t know the Father or His Son. They are ignorant of both the Father, the real God who sent His one and only Son, and the Son, who came only from the Father and not on his own initiative.

3. Rather, the Jews were only interested in the incidental and superficial aspects, such as his human parents, the location and circumstances of his birth, and his human birth. Now, the first reading’s words precisely apply to Jesus.

4. Because they are immoral, they are antagonistic against Jesus. Jesus’ situation is a great fit for all the components of this ungodliness. Their reasoning is flawed. Since he disagrees with their conduct, they consider him to be inconvenient. He chastises them for their immoral and despicable behavior. He turns into a refutation of their ideas. They start to feel burdened just by seeing him.

5. In addition, he leads an unusual life and has peculiar methods. He proclaims himself a child of the Lord, boasts that God is his father, and claims to know God. He asserts that God will defend the pious and provide pleasure and life as rewards to the pure and innocent.

6. As a result, they want to verify the veracity of his statements. They aim to humiliate him and punish him till he dies. They make a straightforward argument: if he is indeed virtuous and God’s son, he will be shielded from his enemies and continue to be kind and patient.

My Practice: To test and see the genuineness of the righteousness and holiness of good and God-fearing people, many may think like the wicked in God’s Word. However, do they understand that they are subject to God’s wrath? Who are we to judge others?