Third Sunday of Lent

23rd March 2025

Sunday

First Reading: Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-end

A reading from the book of Genesis: In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground—but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground. Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground, the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food: the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man: “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” Out of the ground, the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, the birds of the air, and every animal of the field; but for the man, no helper was found to be his partner.

So, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The rib the Lord God had taken was made into a woman and brought to the man. Then the man said: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man, this one was taken.”

Therefore, a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Psalm 65

Response: You visit the earth and water it; you make it very plenteous.

Second Reading: Revelation 4

A reading from the book of Revelation: After this, I looked, and there in heaven, a door stood open! And the first voice I heard, speaking to me like a trumpet, said: “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once, I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne with one seated on it.

(Details about the throne and surrounding angels are preserved for brevity in this excerpt…)

Gospel: Luke 8:22-25

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke: One day, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” While they were sailing, he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, filling the boat with water, and they were in danger. They woke him, shouting, “Master, we are perishing!” He rebuked the wind and raging waves; they ceased, and all was calm. He asked them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, asking one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and water, and they obey him?”