Fourth Sunday in Lent

 

Invitation

May I draw your attention to
the daily reading of the Gospel?

This invitation is intended to share with you the joy
of the Gospel. Everyone, without exception,
can experience that joy by opening their heart
to the healing power of God’s word.

Available every day.

INTRODUCTION

During Lent, we are invited
to pay more attention to our love for our neighbour.
Brotherly Sharing therefore holds up a mirror to us again this year:
are we aware of the needs of people in the South,
or are we blind to the growing inequality in the world?
Today, Jesus also opens our eyes.
He teaches us to see clearly what is important in these times
and challenges us not to look away from all the suffering and injustice.
Let us pray that He will give us light in our eyes
and inspire us, on our way to Easter,
to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in need.

FIRST READING                    1 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 Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

When Samuel arrived there, his eyes 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 look at his appearance or his tall stature;
I do not want him.
“For God does not see as man sees;
man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
So Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,
“None of them has been chosen by the Lord.”
Then he asked Jesse,
“Are these all your sons?”
And he replied,
“Only the youngest is missing; he is tending the sheep.”

Then Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him, for we will not sit down to eat
until he arrives.”
So Jesse sent for him.
The boy was ruddy,
had beautiful eyes and a pleasant appearance.
Now the Lord said:
“Anoint him: he is the one.”
So Samuel took the horn of oil
and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.
From that day on,
the spirit of the Lord came upon David.

Responsorial Psalm                Ps . 23(22), 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

Refrain
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters, where I can rest,
He restores my soul.

He guides my steps along the right path
for the sake of His Name.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil where You lead me.
Your rod and Your staff
give me courage and confidence.

You invite me to your table,
much to the annoyance of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil,
my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life.
The house of the Lord shall be my dwelling place
for all time to come.

SECOND READING                          Eph. 5, 8-14

Arise from the dead, and Christ’s light will shine upon you.

From the letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Christians of Ephesus

Brothers and sisters,

Once you were darkness,
now you are light through your communion with the Lord.
Live, then, as children of light.
The fruit of light can only be:
Goodness, justice, truth.
Seek to discover what pleases the Lord.
Do not take part in dark and fruitless practices,
but rather bring them to light.
What those people do in secret
is too shameful to even speak of.
However, everything that is brought to light
becomes clear in the light.
And everything that is illuminated,
becomes “light” itself.
As the hymn says:
“Awake, sleeper,
rise from the dead
and Christ’s light will shine upon you.”

Verse before 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                          John 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 a man who had been blind
from birth.

His disciples asked Him,
“Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered,
“Neither he nor his parents have sinned,
but the works of God must be revealed in him.
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me,
while it is day.
“Night is coming,
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 mud with the saliva, anointed the man’s eyes with it, and said to him,
“Go and wash in the pool of Siloam,”
which means “sent.”
The blind man went, washed, and came back seeing.
His neighbours and those who had seen him begging said,
“Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
He replied, “This is not the same man, but he has been made new.”
The blind man went there, washed himself,
and came back seeing.
His neighbours
and those who had seen him begging before said,
“Isn’t that the man who used to sit and beg?”
Some said,
“It is him.”
Others said,
“No, he just looks like him.”
He himself said:
“It is I.”

Then they asked him:
“How then were your eyes opened?”
He replied:
“The man called Jesus made mud,
smeared it on my eyes and said to me:
Go to Siloam and wash yourself.
“So I went, washed myself and could see.”
They then asked him:
“Where is that man?”
He said:
“I do not know.”

They now brought the man who had been blind
to the Pharisees;
for the day on which Jesus had made mud and opened his eyes
was a Sabbath.
The Pharisees also asked him
how he had received his sight.
He said to them:
“The man called Jesus put mud on my eyes,
I washed myself and I can see.”
Then some of the Pharisees said:
“That man is not from God,
because He does not keep the Sabbath.”
Others said:
“How could a sinful man perform such signs?”
So there was division among them.
They turned again to the blind man and asked him,
“What do you say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He replied,
“He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight,
until they had called the parents of the healed man.
They then asked them:
“Is this your son,
who you say was born blind?
How then can he see?”
His parents answered:
“We know that this is our son
and that he was born blind,
but how he can now see, we do not know;
nor do we know who opened his eyes,
we do not know.
“Ask him yourself,
he is old enough
and will speak for himself.”
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews,
for the Jews had already agreed
that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Messiah
would be banished from the synagogue.
That is why his parents said:
He is old enough, ask him yourself.

For the second time,
the Pharisees called the man who had been blind to them
and said to him:
“Give glory to God.
“We know that the man called Jesus is a sinner.”
But he answered,
“Whether he is a sinner, I do not know.
One thing I do know:
I was blind, and now I see.”
Then they asked him again,
“What did he do to you?
How did he open your eyes?”
He answered,
“I have already told you, and you did not listen.
“Why do you want to hear it again?
“Do you also want to become His disciples?”
Then they said to him mockingly:
“You are a disciple of that man,
we are disciples of Moses.
“We know that God spoke to Moses,
but we do not know where this man comes from.”
The man answered them:
“This is remarkable,
that you do not know where He is from,
and yet He opened my eyes.
“We know that God does not listen to sinners,
but if anyone is godly and does His will,
He listens to him.
“Never in all eternity has it been heard of,
that anyone has opened the eyes of a man born blind.
“If this man were not from God,
He could never have done such a thing.”

They added:
“You were born in sin,
as great as you are,
and you want to lecture us?”
Then they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast 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:
“You see Him,
it is the one who speaks to you.”
Then he said:
“I believe, Lord,”
and he threw himself down before Him.

And Jesus said:
“I have come into this world for judgement,
so that those who do not see may see
and those who see may become blind.”
Some of the Pharisees who were standing near Him heard this and said to Him,
“Are we blind too?”
Jesus answered,
“If you were blind, you would have no sin,
but now that you say, ‘We see,’
your sin remains.”

________________________________________________________

Laudato Si

Encyclical of

POPE FRANCIS

On Care for Our Common Home

57. It is foreseeable that, faced with the depletion of certain resources, people will seek a favourable scenario for new wars, masked by noble demands.
War always causes serious damage to the environment and the cultural wealth of peoples, and the risks become enormous when one considers nuclear and biological weapons. War always causes serious damage to the environment and the cultural wealth of peoples, and the risks become enormous when one considers nuclear and biological weapons.
After all, “despite the fact that international agreements prohibit chemical, bacteriological and biological warfare, it is a fact that laboratories are conducting research into the development of new offensive weapons”.
The risks are enormous, especially when one considers nuclear and biological weapons. After all, “despite the fact that international agreements prohibit chemical, bacteriological and biological warfare, it is a fact that laboratories are continuing to research the development of new offensive weapons capable of disrupting the natural balance”.
Politicians are being asked to pay greater attention to preventing and resolving the causes that could trigger new conflicts.
However, the power associated with money is what most resists this effort, and political plans often lack a broad vision.
Why do people today want to maintain a power that will be remembered for its inability to intervene when it was urgent and necessary to do so?

To be continued
Every day at 1 am

The Bible text in this publication is taken from The New Bible Translation, © Dutch Bible Society 2004/2007.