Friday, March 1 Galatians
2:7-10 – 7 On the contrary,
when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as
Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised 8 (for he
who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me
in sending me to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John,
who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave
to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the
Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only one thing,
that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.
Saturday, March 2 Proverbs 14:31– Those who oppress the poor
insult their Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honor him.
Sunday, March 3 Psalms 41: 1-3 –
1 Happy are those
who consider the poor;the Lord delivers them in the day of trouble. 2 The
Lord protects them and keeps them alive; they are called happy in the land. You do not
give them up to the will of their enemies.
Monday,
March 4 Psalms
10:1-2 – 1 Why, O Lord, do you
stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? 2 In
arrogance the wicked persecute the poor— let them be caught in the schemes they have
devised.
Tuesday, March 5 Proverbs 10:15 – 15 The wealth of the rich is their fortress;
the poverty of the poor is their ruin.
Wednesday, March 6
Job 5:8-16 – 8 "As
for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause. 9 He does
great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. 10 He
gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields; 11 he sets on
high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. 12 He
frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. 13 He
takes the wise in their own craftiness; and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick
end. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noonday as
in the night. 15 But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
from the hand of the mighty. 16 So the poor have hope, and injustice
shuts its mouth.
Thursday, March 7 Deuteronomy 15:7-8 – 7 If there is among
you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that
the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy
neighbor. 8 You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough
to meet the need, whatever it may be.
Friday, March 8 Proverbs
16:19 – 19 It is better to
be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Saturday, March 9 Psalms
70:1-5 – 1 Be pleased, O
God, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me! 2 Let those be put
to shame and confusion who seek my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire to hurt me. 3 Let those who say, "Aha, Aha!" turn
back because of their shame. 4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad
in you. Let those who love your salvation say evermore, "God is great!" 5 But
I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not
delay!
Sunday, March 10 I Corinthians 13:1-3 – 1 If
I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but
do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all my possessions,
and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain
nothing.
Monday, March 11
Ecclesiastes 9:13-16 – 13 I have also seen
this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. 14 There
was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it,
building great siegeworks against it. 15 Now there was found in it a
poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor
man. 16 So I said, "Wisdom is better than might; yet the poor
man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heeded."
Tuesday, March 12 Psalms 35:9-10 – 9 Then my soul shall
rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance. 10 All my bones shall
say, "O Lord, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them,
the weak and needy from those who despoil them."
Wednesday, March 13 Romans 12:3-8 – 3 For by the grace
given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you
ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith
that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and
not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are
one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We
have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to
faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the
exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the
compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Thursday, March 14 Matthew 6:1-4 – 1 "Beware of
practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no
reward from your Father in heaven. 2 "So whenever you give alms,
do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their
reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what
your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret;
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Friday, March 15
Proverbs 6:10-11 – 10 A little sleep, a
little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 11 and poverty
will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.
Saturday, March 16 Proverbs 14:20-21 – 20 The
poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. 21 Those
who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.
Sunday, March 17 II Corinthians 8:8-9 – 8 I do
not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the
earnestness of others. 9 For you know the generous act of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich.
Monday,
March 18 Proverbs 17:5 – 5 Those who mock the
poor insult their Maker; those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Tuesday, March 19 Proverbs 19:17 – 17 Whoever is kind to
the poor lends to the Lord, and will be repaid in full.
Wednesday, March 20 Psalms 40:17 – 17 As for
me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my
deliverer; do not delay, O my God.
Thursday, March 21
Psalms 9:17-18 – 17 The wicked shall
depart to Sheol, all the nations that forget God. 18 For the needy
shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever.
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Friday, March 22
Psalms 69:30-33 –
30 I
will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 This
will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. 32 Let
the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 33 For
the Lord hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
Saturday,
March 23 Matthew
5:3-12 – 3 "Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 "Blessed are
the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 "Blessed
are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 "Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 "Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
Sunday,
March 24 (Palm Sunday - Western Churches)
Matthew 5:17-20 – 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or
the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I
tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter,
will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever
breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be
called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven.
Monday, March 25 (Annunciation) Luke 1:51-55
– 51 He has shown
strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He
has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he
has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He
has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according
to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever." 56 And
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
Tuesday, March 26
John 12:1-8 – 1 Six
days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised
from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and
Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of
costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The
house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas
Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 "Why
was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?"
6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was
a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus
said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of
my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always
have me."
Wednesday, March 27 John 12:44-50 – 44 Then Jesus cried aloud: "Whoever
believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And
whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the
world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I
do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the
world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not
receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as
judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me
has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And
I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the
Father has told me."
Thursday, March 28 (Holy Thursday - Western Churches) John
13:1-9 – 1 Now before the
festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and
go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The
devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And
during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things
into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got
up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then
he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with
the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said
to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus
answered, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 Peter
said to him, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash
you, you have no share with me." 9 Simon Peter said to him,
"Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!"
Friday, March 29 (Good Friday - Western Churches) John 19:28-30 – 28 After
this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the
scripture), "I am thirsty." 29 A jar full of sour wine was
standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to
his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is
finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Saturday, March 30 (Holy Saturday - Western Churches) Matthew
25:31-40 – 31 "When the Son
of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of
his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will
separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and
he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then
the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was
a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me
clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then
the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you
food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it
that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And
when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40 And
the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least
of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'
Sunday, March 31 (Easter - Western Churches) John
21:15-17 – 15 When
they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you
love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love
you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16 A second
time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him,
"Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my
sheep." 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John,
do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you
love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love
you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."
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All readings are from the New Revised Standard Version of
the Bible, a scholarly translation sponsored by the National Council of Churches.
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