Saturday, March 25,
2017
4th Sunday of LENT –
Year A
5:00 pm Novena to Our Lady
5:30 pm Sunset Mass in English
First Reading
FIRST SAMUEL 16:1, 6-7,
10-13
1 Yahweh said to Samuel,
'How much longer do you mean to go on mourning over Saul, now that I myself
have rejected him as ruler of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am
sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have found myself a king from among
his sons.'
6 When they arrived, he
looked at Eliab and thought, 'This must be Yahweh's anointed now before him,'
7 but Yahweh said to
Samuel, 'Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected
him; God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances but Yahweh
looks at the heart.'
10 Jesse thus presented
seven of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, 'Yahweh has not chosen
these.'
11 He then asked Jesse,
'Are these all the sons you have?' Jesse replied, 'There is still one left, the
youngest; he is looking after the sheep.' Samuel then said to Jesse, 'Send for
him, for we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives.'
12 Jesse had him sent for;
he had ruddy cheeks, with fine eyes and an attractive appearance. Yahweh said,
'Get up and anoint him: he is the one!'
13 At this, Samuel took
the horn of oil and anointed him, surrounded by his brothers; and the spirit of
Yahweh seized on David from that day onwards. Samuel, for his part, set off and
went to Ramah.
“The
Word of the Lord”
PSALMS 23:1-3, 3-4, 5,
6
1 [Psalm Of David] Yahweh
is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 In grassy meadows he
lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me
3 to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.
4 Even were I to walk in a
ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your
staff and your crook are there to soothe me.
5 You prepare a table for
me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims
over.
6 Kindness and faithful
love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for
all time to come.
Second Reading
EPHESIANS 5:8-14
8 You were darkness once,
but now you are light in the Lord; behave as children of light,
9 for the effects of the
light are seen in complete goodness and uprightness and truth.
10 Try to discover what
the Lord wants of you,
11 take no part in the
futile works of darkness but, on the contrary, show them up for what they are.
12 The things which are
done in secret are shameful even to speak of;
13 but anything shown up
by the light will be illuminated
14 and anything
illuminated is itself a light. That is why it is said: Wake up, sleeper, rise
from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
“The
Word of the Lord”
Gospel Reading
JOHN 9:1-41
1 As he went along, he
saw a man who had been blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked
him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should have been born
blind?'
3 'Neither he nor his
parents sinned,' Jesus answered, 'he was born blind so that the works of God
might be revealed in him.
4 'As long as day lasts
we must carry out the work of the one who sent me; the night will soon be here
when no one can work.
5 As long as I am in the
world I am the light of the world.'
6 Having said this, he
spat on the ground, made a paste with the spittle, put this over the eyes of
the blind man,
7 and said to him, 'Go
and wash in the Pool of Siloam' (the name means 'one who has been sent'). So he
went off and washed and came back able to see.
8 His neighbours and the
people who used to see him before (for he was a beggar) said, 'Isn't this the
man who used to sit and beg?'
9 Some said, 'Yes, it is
the same one.' Others said, 'No, but he looks just like him.' The man himself
said, 'Yes, I am the one.'
10 So they said to him,
'Then how is it that your eyes were opened?'
11 He answered, 'The man
called Jesus made a paste, daubed my eyes with it and said to me, "Go off
and wash at Siloam"; so I went, and when I washed I gained my sight.'
12 They asked, 'Where is
he?' He answered, 'I don't know.'
13 They brought to the
Pharisees the man who had been blind.
14 It had been a Sabbath
day when Jesus made the paste and opened the man's eyes,
15 so when the Pharisees
asked him how he had gained his sight, he said, 'He put a paste on my eyes, and
I washed, and I can see.'
16 Then some of the
Pharisees said, 'That man cannot be from God: he does not keep the Sabbath.'
Others said, 'How can a sinner produce signs like this?' And there was division
among them.
17 So they spoke to the
blind man again, 'What have you to say about him yourself, now that he has
opened your eyes?' The man answered, 'He is a prophet.'
18 However, the Jews would
not believe that the man had been blind without first sending for the parents
of the man who had gained his sight and
19 asking them, 'Is this
man really the son of yours who you say was born blind? If so, how is it that
he is now able to see?'
20 His parents answered,
'We know he is our son and we know he was born blind,
21 but how he can see, we
don't know, nor who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough: let him speak
for himself.'
22 His parents spoke like
this out of fear of the Jews, who had already agreed to ban from the synagogue
anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the Christ.
23 This was why his
parents said, 'He is old enough; ask him.'
24 So the Jews sent for
the man again and said to him, 'Give glory to God! We are satisfied that this
man is a sinner.'
25 The man answered,
'Whether he is a sinner I don't know; all I know is that I was blind and now I
can see.'
26 They said to him, 'What
did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?'
27 He replied, 'I have told
you once and you wouldn't listen. Why do you want to hear it all again? Do you
want to become his disciples yourselves?'
28 At this they hurled
abuse at him, 'It is you who are his disciple, we are disciples of Moses:
29 we know that God spoke
to Moses, but as for this man, we don't know where he comes from.'
30 The man replied, 'That
is just what is so amazing! You don't know where he comes from and he has
opened my eyes!
31 We know that God
doesn't listen to sinners, but God does listen to people who are devout and do
his will.
32 Ever since the world
began it is unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of someone born blind;
33 if this man were not
from God, he wouldn't have been able to do anything.'
34 They retorted, 'Are you
trying to teach us, and you a sinner through and through ever since you were
born!' And they ejected him.
35 Jesus heard they had
ejected him, and when he found him he said to him, 'Do you believe in the Son
of man?'
36 'Sir,' the man replied,
'tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.'
37 Jesus said, 'You have
seen him; he is speaking to you.'
38 The man said, 'Lord, I
believe,' and worshipped him.
39 Jesus said: It is for
judgement that I have come into this world, so that those without sight may see
and those with sight may become blind.
40 Hearing this, some
Pharisees who were present said to him, 'So we are blind, are we?'
41 Jesus replied: If you
were blind, you would not be guilty, but since you say, 'We can see,' your
guilt remains.
“The
Gospel of the Lord”
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