Invitation
May I hereby draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?
This invitation wants to share with You the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, no one excepted,
can experience that joy by opening their hearts
to the healing power of God’s word.
Available every day.
Opening word
We are halfway through Lent.
[Today we celebrate with pink robes,
for the white of Easter is already shining
through the purple of this period].
We are invited to see,
to see the light that is Jesus.
He wants to be a light and bring light.
What have we seen in Him?
Do we see in Him more than a prophet?
Do we pray that He opens our eyes today
to the way He wants to go with us
and let us also be close to those
for whom the Brotherly Sharing
demands our attention.
FIRST READING I Sam. 16, 1b.6-7.10-13a
David is anointed king over Israel.
From the first book of Samuel:
In those days the Lord said to Samuel:
“Fill a horn with oil:
I am sending you to Isaï the Bethlehemite ,
for one of his sons I have destined for kingship.”
When Samuel got there, his gaze fell on Eliab and he thought:
The one standing there before the Lord is undoubtedly his anointed one!
But the Lord said to Samuel:
“Do not go by his appearance or his tall stature;
him I will not.
“For God does not see as a man sees;
a man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
So Isaï presented seven of his sons to Samuel,
but Samuel said to Isaï:
“None of them the Lord has chosen.”
Thereupon he asked Isaï:
“Are these all your boys?
And the latter replied:
“Only the youngest is missing; he shepherds the sheep.”
Then Samuel said to Isaï:
“Then send for that one, for we will not go to table
until he is here.”
So Isaï sent for him.
The boy was reddish,
had beautiful eyes and a pleasant appearance.
Now the Lord said:
“Him thou must anoint: He is it.”
So Samuel took the horn with oil
and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.
Since that day
the spirit of the Lord was skilful over David.
Responsorial Ps 23(22), 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
Refrain
The Lord is my shepherd,
nothing do I lack.
The Lord is my shepherd, nothing am I lacking;
He makes me graze on green fields.
He brings me to water, where I can rest,
He restores my courage.
He guides my steps along straight paths
For his Name’s sake.
Though my path lead through dark gorges,
I fear no evil wherever You lead me.
Thy rod and thy staff
give me courage and confidence.
You invite me to your table
to the annoyance of my enemies.
With oil Thou anointest my head,
my cup is overflowing.
Prosperity and blessing never leave me
every day of my life.
The house of the Lord shall be my dwelling
for all times to come.
SECOND READING Eph. 5, 8-14
Rise from the dead and Christ’s light will shine upon you.
From the letter of the holy apostle Paul to the Christians of Ephesus
Brothers and sisters,
Once ye were darkness,
now ye are light through your fellowship with the Lord.
Live therefore as children of light.
The fruit of light can only be:
Goodness, righteousness, truth.
Seek to discover what pleases the Lord.
Take no part in dark and unfruitful practices,
rather bring them to light.
What those people do in secret ,
is too shameful to even talk about.
Everything, however, that is brought to light,
comes to clarity in the light.
And everything that is clarified ,
has itself become “light”.
Thus says the hymn:
“Awake, sleeper,
rise from the dead
and Christ’s light will shine upon you.”
Verse for the gospel John 8, 12b
Praise and honour be to You, Lord Jesus.
I am the light of the world, says the Lord,
Whoever follows Me will possess the light of life.
Praise and honour be to You, Lord Jesus.
GOSPEL Jn 9:1-41
He went, washed himself and came back seeing.
From the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
At that time Jesus saw in passing a man who was blind
from birth.
His disciples asked Him:
“Rabbi, who has sinned,
himself or his parents,
that he was born blind?”
Jesus replied:
“Neither he nor his parents have sinned ,
but the works of God must be made manifest in him.
“We must do the works of Him who sent Me,
perform as long as it is day.
“There will come a night
and then no one can work.
“As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.”
When He had said this,
He spat on the ground,
made mire with the saliva,
covered the man’s eyes with it
and said to him:
“Go wash yourselves in the pool of Siloam,”
-which means sent-
the blind man went there, washed himself
and came out of it sighted.
His neighbours now
and those who had seen him begging before, said:
“Isn’t that the man who was begging?”
Some said:
“Indeed, he is.”
Others:
“Nay, he only looks like him.”
He himself said:
“It is me.”
Then they asked him:
“Then how have your eyes been opened?”
He replied:
“The man called Jesus made ooze,
covered my eyes with it and said to me:
Go to the Siloam and wash thee.
“So I went, washed myself and could see.”
They then asked him:
“Where is that man?”
He said:
“I don’t know.”
One now brought the man who had been blind
to the Pharisees;
for the day on which Jesus had made mire and opened his eyes
was, in fact, a Sabbath.
So too the Pharisees asked him,
how he had regained the sight.
He said to them:
“The man called Jesus put mire on my eyes,
I washed and I see.”
Then some of the Pharisees said:
“That man is not from God,
for He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said:
“How could a sinful man do such signs?”
Thus there was division among them.
They again turned to the blind man and asked:
“What say ye yourselves of Him ,
since surely He has opened your eyes?”
He replied:
“It is a prophet.”
The Jews would not assume from him,
that he had been blind and had regained sight,
before they had sent for the healed man’s parents.
They then asked them the question:
“Is this your son ,
who you say was born blind?
“Then how can he see?”
His parents replied:
“We know that this is our son
and that he was born blind ,
but how he can see now, we do not know;
or who opened his eyes ,
we do not know.
“Ask him himself,
he is old enough
and will do his word himself.”
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews,
because the Jews had already agreed
that all those who confessed Jesus as Messiah,
would be banned from the synagogue.
Therefore, his parents said:
He is old enough, ask him yourself.
For the second time
the Pharisees now called the man who had been blind to them
and said to him:
“Give honour to God.
“We know that this man called Jesus is a sinner.”
He, however, replied:
“Whether He is a sinner, I do not know.
“One thing I do know:
That I was blind and now I see.”
Thereupon they asked him again:
“What has He done to you?
“How has He opened your eyes?”
He replied:
“I have already told you that, but ye have not listened.
“Why wilt thou hear it again?
“Wilt thou too sometimes become disciples of Him?”
Then they said smugly to him:
“Thou art a disciple of that man,
we are disciples of Moses.
“We know that God spoke to Moses ,
but of this one we do not know where He came from.”
The man replied to them:
“Surely this is wondrous,
that ye know not whence He is;
and He has yet opened my eyes.
“We know that God does not listen to sinners,
but if someone fears God and does his will,
then He listens to such a person.
“Never in all eternity has it been heard,
that anyone opened the eyes of a blind man.
“If this man did not come from God,
He could never have done such a thing.”
They added to him:
“Into sins you were born,
as great as you are,
and you want to lecture us?”
Then they threw him out.
Jesus learned that they had thrown him out,
and when He found him, He said:
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
He replied:
“Who is that, Lord?
“Then I will believe in Him.”
Jesus said to him:
“Thou seest Him ,
it is He who speaks to thee.”
Then he said:
“I believe, Lord,”
and he threw himself down before Him.
And Jesus spoke:
“To a judgment I have come into this world ,
that the unseen may see
and the seeing become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were standing by Him,
heard this and said to Him:
“Are we sometimes blind?”
Jesus replied:
“If ye were blind, ye would have no sin,
but now that ye say, we see ,
remains your sin.”
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Laudato Si
Encyclic by
POPE FRANCIS
On caring for the common home
114. What is happening presents us with the need to move forward in a courageous cultural revolution. Science and technology are not neutral, but from the beginning to the end of a process can contain different intentions and possibilities and be shaped in different ways. No one wants to return to the stone age, but it is necessary to take pace back to look at reality in a different way, gather the positive and tenable developments while recovering the values and great purposes destroyed by megalomaniacal unrestraint.
To be continued
The Bible text in this issue is taken from The New Translation of the Bible,
©Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.
Considerations from Liturgical suggestions for weekdays and Sundays
Laudato Si Official English translation
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