Mass Readings - Sunday, 22nd March 2020

First Reading              1Samuel 16:1. 6-7, 10-13
David is anointed king of Israel.

The lord said to Samuel, ‘Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending
you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen myself a king among his
sons.’ When Samuel arrived, he caught sight of Eliab and thought,
‘Surely the Lord’s anointed one stands there before him’, but the
Lord said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height
for I have rejected him; God does not see as man sees; man looks at
appearances but the Lord looks at the heart.’ Jesse presented his
seven sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, ‘The Lord has not
chosen these.’ He then asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you
have?’ He answered, ‘There is still one left, the youngest; he is out
looking after the sheep.’ Then Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Send for him;
we will not sit down to eat until he comes.’ Jesse had him sent for, a
boy of fresh complexion, with fine eyes and pleasant bearing. The
Lord said, ‘Come, anoint him, for this is the one.’ At this, Samuel took
the horn of oil and anointed him where he stood with his brothers;
and the spirit of the Lord seized on David and stayed with him from
that day on.

The Word of the Lord.



Responsorial Psalm    Ps 32

Response:   The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

1. The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.

2. He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.

3. You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.

4. Surely goodness and kindness
shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.



Second Reading              Ephesians 5:8-14
Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like
children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete
goodness and right living and truth. Try to discover what the Lord
wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness
but exposing them by contrast. The things which are done in secret
are things that people are ashamed even to speak of; but anything
exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated
turns into light.
That is why it is said:
Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead,
Christ will shine on you.

The Word of the Lord.



Gospel Acclamation     Jn 8:12

Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
anyone who follows me will have eternal life.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !



Gospel               John 9:1-41
He went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.

As Jesus went along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.
His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
for him to have been born blind?’ ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned,’
Jesus answered ‘he was born blind so that the works of God might
be displayed in him.
‘As long as the day lasts
I must carry out the work of the one who sent me;
the night will soon be here when no one can work.
As long as I am in the world
I am the light of the world.’
Having said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the
spittle, put this over the eyes of the blind man. and said to him, ‘Go
and wash in the Pool of Siloam (a name that means ‘sent’). So the
blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his
sight restored.
His neighbours and people who earlier had seen him begging said,
‘Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some said, ‘Yes, it is the
same one’. Others said, ‘No, he only looks like him’. The man himself
said, ‘I am the man’. So they said to him, ‘Then how do your eyes
come to be open?’ ‘The man called Jesus’ he answered ‘made a
paste, daubed my eyes with it and said to me, “Go and wash at
Siloam”; so I went, and when I washed I could see.’ They asked,
‘Where is he?’ ‘I don’t know’ he answered.
They brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. It had
been a sabbath day when Jesus made the paste and opened the
man’s eyes, so when the Pharisees asked him how he had come to
see, he said, ‘He put a paste on my eyes, and I washed, and I can
see’. Then some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man cannot be from
God: he does not keep the sabbath’. Others said, ‘How could a
sinner produce signs like this?’ And there was disagreement among
them.
So they spoke to the blind man again, ‘What have you to say about
him yourself, now that he has opened your eyes?’ ‘He is a prophet’
replied the man. However, the Jews would not believe that the man
had been blind and had gained his sight, without first sending for his
parents and asking them, ‘Is this man really your son who you say
was born blind? If so, how is it that he is now able to see?’ His parents
answered, ‘We know he is our son and we know he was born blind,
but we don’t know how it is that he can see now, or who opened his
eyes. He is old enough: let him speak for himself.’ His parents spoke
like this out of fear of the Jews, who had already agreed to expel
from the synagogue anyone who should acknowledge Jesus as the
Christ. This was why his parents said, ‘He is old enough; ask him’.
So the Jews again sent for the man and said to him, ‘Give glory to
God! For our part, we know that this man is a sinner.’ The man
answered, ‘I don’t know if he is a sinner; I only know that I was blind
and now I can see’. They said to him, ‘What did he do to you? How
did he open your eyes?’ 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 too?’ At this they hurled abuse at him: ‘You
can be his disciple,’ they said ‘we are disciples of Moses: we know
that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don’t know where
he comes from’. The man replied, ‘Now here is an astonishing thing!
He has opened my eyes, and you don’t know where he comes from!
We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but God does listen to
men who are devout and do his will. Ever since the world began it is
unheard of for anyone to open the eyes of a man who was born
blind; if this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing.’ ‘Are
you trying to teach us,’ they replied ‘and you a sinner through and
through, since you were born!’ And they drove him away.
Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he
said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ ‘Sir,’ the man
replied ‘tell me who he is so that I may believe in him.’ Jesus said,
‘You are looking at him; he is speaking to you’. The man said, ‘Lord, I
believe’, and worshipped him.
Jesus said: ‘It is for judgement that I have come into this world, so
that those without sight may see and those with sight turn blind’.
Hearing this, some Pharisees who were present said to him, ‘We are
not blind, surely?’
Jesus replied: ’Blind? If you were, you would not be guilty, but since
you say, “We see”, your guilt remains.

The Gospel of the Lord