February 20
Saturday, week 1 of Lent
Feast shown for the year 2027; movable feasts can vary from year to year.
Today in the Roman Catholic Church is a feria, specifically Saturday of the First Week of Lent. 'Feria' refers to days in the liturgical calendar that do not celebrate a specific saint or special feast but instead follow the ordinary progression of the liturgical season. During Lent, ferial days are marked by a particular focus on penance, conversion, and spiritual renewal. The Church invites the faithful to deepen their relationship with God through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for the great feast of Easter. The readings and prayers at Mass during Lent, especially on ferias, are chosen to help Christians reflect on their need for God's mercy and to encourage interior purification. While not associated with a specific saint, these days are integral to the Church's rhythm of spiritual growth and renewal.
Ferial days in Lent are especially significant because they provide an opportunity for individual spiritual effort and communal reflection within the Church. They encourage the faithful to enter more deeply into the mystery of Christ's Passion and Resurrection by embracing the Lenten disciplines that help to purify the heart and unite it more closely to Jesus.
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Questions about Saturday, week 1 of Lent (Novus Ordo Missae)
Liturgical texts of February 20, 2027
The liturgical day
Mass readings
ReadingDt 26, 16-19
Moses said to the people of Israel:
"Today the Lord your God commands you
to carry out these decrees and ordinances.
Take care to observe them
with all your heart and all your soul.
Today you have obtained from the Lord this declaration:
he will be your God;
you will walk in his ways,
you will keep his decrees, his commandments, and his ordinances,
you will listen to his voice.
Today the Lord has obtained from you this declaration:
you will be his people, his own special possession,
as he has promised you,
you must keep all his commandments.
He will raise you high above all the nations he has made,
in praise, renown, and glory,
and you will be a people consecrated to the Lord your God,
as he has promised."
– The word of the Lord.
Psalm118 (119), 1-2, 4-5, 7-8
Blessed are those whose way is blameless
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his statutes,
they seek him with all their heart!
You have given your precepts
to be fully observed.
May my ways be firm
in keeping your commandments!
With an upright heart I will give you thanks,
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
I keep your commandments:
do not utterly forsake me.
GospelMt 5, 43-48
At that time,
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said:
You shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.
But I say to you:
Love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
so that you may be truly children of your Father who is in heaven.
For he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what reward do you have?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,
what are you doing more than others?
Do not even the pagans do the same?
So be perfect,
as your heavenly Father is perfect."
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org