February 28
3rd Sunday of Lent
Feast shown for the year 2027; movable feasts can vary from year to year.
The Third Sunday of Lent marks an important milestone in the Church’s liturgical journey through the penitential season of preparation for Easter. During this period, the faithful are called to deeper conversion, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, recalling both the trials of Israel in the desert and Jesus’ own forty days of fasting. The readings appointed for the day often focus on themes of repentance, thirst for God, and the offer of divine mercy; traditionally, Gospel texts like Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well invite us to consider our own need for the living water of grace. The Church especially encourages catechumens—those preparing to receive Baptism at the Easter Vigil—to reflect on God’s invitation to renewal and to undergo the First Scrutiny, a rite of prayerful examination preceding Christian initiation.
By keeping the Third Sunday of Lent, the Church helps all believers to persevere in their Lenten commitments and to trust in God’s help as they confront personal sin and weakness. This day serves to intensify our spiritual preparation for the Paschal Mystery, awakening a stronger desire for reconciliation and transformation through Christ. The use of the color violet in the liturgy underlines the sober, penitential character, while communal worship and the richness of biblical readings provide nourishment for the soul.
In summary, the Third Sunday of Lent stands as a moment of encouragement and grace, drawing the faithful deeper into the spirit of conversion and hope that characterizes this sacred season.
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Liturgical texts of February 28, 2027
The liturgical day
Mass readings
First readingEx 20, 1-17
In those days, on Sinai,
God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol,
or any image of what is in heaven above,
or on the earth beneath,
or in the waters under the earth.
You shall not bow down before those gods
nor worship them.
For I, the Lord your God,
am a jealous God:
among those who hate me,
I punish the sin of the fathers upon the sons,
to the third and the fourth generation;
but for those who love me and keep my commandments,
I show my faithfulness to the thousandth generation.
You shall not invoke the name of the Lord your God in vain,
for the Lord will not leave unpunished
anyone who invokes his name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
For six days you shall labor
and do all your work;
but the seventh day is a day of rest,
sabbath in honor of the Lord your God;
you shall not do any work,
neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter,
nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your cattle,
nor the foreigner who is in your city.
For in six days the Lord made the heavens,
the earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
but he rested on the seventh day.
That is why the Lord blessed the sabbath day
and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother,
that you may have long life
on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
You shall not commit murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house;
you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
nor his servant, nor his maid,
nor his ox, nor his donkey—
nothing that belongs to your neighbor.”
– The word of the Lord.
Psalm18b (19), 8, 9, 10, 11
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decree of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the simple wise.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
it gives light to the eyes.
The fear he inspires is pure,
it endures forever;
the judgments of the Lord are true
and truly just:
more desirable than gold,
than a heap of the finest gold,
sweeter than honey,
than honey flowing from the comb.
Second reading1 Co 1, 22-25
Brothers and sisters,
while the Jews ask for miraculous signs,
and the Greeks seek wisdom,
we proclaim a crucified Messiah,
a stumbling block for the Jews,
foolishness for the pagan nations.
But for those whom God has called,
whether Jews or Greeks,
this Messiah, this Christ, is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
– The word of the Lord.
GospelJn 2, 13-25
Since the Jewish Passover was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
In the Temple he found those selling oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money changers sitting there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the Temple,
also the sheep and the oxen;
he scattered the coins of the money changers,
overturned their tables,
and said to the dove sellers:
“Take these things out of here.
Stop making my Father's house
a house of trade.”
His disciples remembered that it is written:
Zeal for your house will consume me.
Then the Jews responded to him:
“What sign can you
show us
for doing this?”
Jesus answered them:
“Destroy this sanctuary,
and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews replied:
“It has taken forty-six
years to build this sanctuary,
and you will raise it up in three days!”
But he was speaking about the sanctuary of his body.
So, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this;
they believed the Scripture
and the word that Jesus had spoken.
While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,
many believed in his name,
because they saw the signs that he did.
But Jesus, for his part, would not entrust himself to them,
because he knew them all
and needed no testimony about anyone;
he himself, indeed, knew what was in the human heart.
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Liturgical texts: © AELF — aelf.org