Mass Reading: Sunday - 19th March 2023

First reading
1 Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
David is anointed by Samuel

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 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
Psalm 22(23)

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

________

Second reading
Ephesians 5:8-14
Anything exposed by the light will turn into light

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,
and Christ will shine on you.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn8:12

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

________

Gospel
John 9:1-41
The blind man 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 do not 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 do not 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.

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 19th March 2023

1 SM 16:1B, 6-7, 10-13A; PS 23:1-6; EPH 5:8-14; JN 9:1-41 or JN 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

Today’s readings on this fourth Sunday of Lent are filled with contrasting images — God’s vision versus human vision, the light of Christ versus the darkness of sin, spiritual blindness versus spiritual sightedness. Embracing a stewardship way of life can free us from spiritual blindness, allow us to see as God sees, and help us to reflect the light of Christ’s love in the way we live our daily lives.
 
The first reading, from the First Book of Samuel, recounts God’s choice of a king for his people from among the sons of Jesse. Surprisingly, it was not the oldest or the strongest of the seven brothers that God chose to lead his people. It was the youngest, the least likely candidate by the world’s standards, that God chose — “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” Our Heavenly Father is not impressed by our job title or athletic achievements or the number of Twitter followers we have. He is pleased by the condition of our hearts when they are conformed to Christ and by the way we use the time and gifts He has given us to serve others.
 
Our Second Reading, from Ephesians, gives a further reminder of the aspect of our identity that truly matters to God and encourages us to live in a way that reflects this. “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” Because of our Baptism, we have the “light” of the Blessed Trinity dwelling within us. In the difficulties and messiness of daily life, it’s easy to forget this glorious truth about ourselves. It can also be difficult to determine whether we truly are living in a way that reflects Christ’s light. The stewardship way of life, with its emphasis on the rightly ordered use of the gifts of time, talent, and treasure, gives us a guide we can consult on a daily basis to help ensure that we really are living as “children of the light.”
 
In our Gospel passage from John, Christ says of Himself, “I am the light of the world.” This passage recounts a miracle our Lord performs, restoring sight to a man born blind. The man responds to the Pharisees who question him about his healing by declaring to them that Jesus “opened my eyes.” These Lenten days are an excellent time for us to ask Jesus to open our eyes, too. Let us ask Him to show us where we may be suffering from spiritual blindness, perhaps even in subtle ways. 
 
Are we truly reflecting His light in our use of time by giving priority to our prayer lives, regularly attending Mass and Confession, giving our full and consistent attention to our loved ones?
 
Are we reflecting His light in the sharing of our talents by supporting the ministries in this parish, by community involvement, and by being good neighbors to those near us who may be in need?
 
Are we reflecting His light by sharing our material blessings in a committed and intentional way as an act of gratitude to the God Who has given us all that we have?
 
As we continue on our Lenten journey, let’s intensify our efforts in any of these areas where we have become a little blinded so that by Easter, we are truly living as children of the light.

 

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 27th March 2022

 

For too many of us, Lent is a season of doom and gloom, a time to feel bad about all the ways we are not “measuring up” in our spiritual lives. But this view could not be further from the truth. Lent is a season of refreshment and love, of awakening and rebirth. In fact, the word “lent” comes from the Old English word, “lencten,” which means spring. Lent is intended to be a springtime for us in our spiritual lives where all can become new again.

St. Paul tells us in the Second Reading today, “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ.” The Gospel Reading, too, is filled with this theme of awakening and the extravagant, life-changing love that the Father has for each one of us; it is the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son.

We are all familiar with this amazing story — the bratty younger son who has the audacity to ask his dad for his inheritance early, only to squander it sinfully away. It makes us bristle instinctively at his nerve when we read it. But isn’t that exactly what we do when we selfishly turn away from God (in big or small ways) in our own lives? We squander away the inheritance of grace He has given us. 

In desperation from the mess he had made of his life, the son finally “comes to his senses” — awakening to the truth that he is a beloved son of a loving and merciful father and decides to return home. His contrition is faltering and imperfect and seems motivated in large part by his growling stomach. 

But it was enough for the loving father. “While still a long way off, the father caught sight of him.” The son was still a long way off from a deep understanding of what he had lost and what he was about to gain. But that small and imperfect openness to the father’s love was enough. In fact, the father is “filled with compassion for him” and immediately sets about preparing feast and fine clothes for this son. What an extravagance of love! What a beautiful picture Jesus gives us of our Father’s love and mercy.

Oh, how this should fill us with gratitude for such a Father! Be refreshed in this love. We are new creations thanks to this reconciling love.

And what comfort this passage gives to those of us who watch with sorrowful hearts for a return to faith for own “prodigal” loved ones. Our Father is watching and waiting for their return to Him even more eagerly and patiently than we are.

We owe God everything! But let’s start by giving him one little thing. Take even a faltering step closer to Him — go to confession, join in the Stations of the Cross, call a family member or friend you are at odds with and try to reconcile. With just the tiniest bit of spiritual “spring cleaning” we can be sure we will be swept up in our Father’s loving embrace and find ourselves feasting in His presence. That is what lent is all about.

Mass Reflection: Sunday, 14th March 2021

1 SM 16:1B, 6-7, 10-13A; PS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6; EPH 5:8-14; JN 9:1-41 Our readings today identify the most unlikely individuals for the most extraordinary tasks. These individuals are examples to us in our everyday lives.    In our First Reading, the Lord appoints Samuel to declare the next king of Israel within the family of Jesse of Bethlehem. To an extent, Samuel had his own vision as to who should be the next king. Yet, the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature... Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.” Jesse then shares that there is one more son that was out tending the sheep — the youngest, David. When David came to Samuel, the Lord proclaimed, “There — anoint him, for this is the one!”   The Lord’s words to Samuel cut right to the heart of what matters in God’s eyes, “man sees the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart.” We often embrace the misconception that status and appearance are what carry great importance in life. Yet, God clearly states that it is what is in our hearts that matters most. And He sees each one of our hearts. So how do we cultivate hearts worthy of God? It starts in prayer. Through this time set aside for our Lord, He will work on our hearts so that they will become more like His most Sacred Heart. Let us pray that our hearts might become transformed so that when we meet Christ face to face, He says, “There — anoint him, this is the one!”    Today's Gospel resounds what was proclaimed in our First Reading, “not as man sees does God see.” Jesus heals a man blind from birth, and the disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” Then Jesus heals the man.    Jesus often worked through the most vulnerable people in need to show His greatest works when He was on earth. People thought this man was made blind as a punishment from God — yet, God chose him to become a witness to Christ’s light in the world. His weakness led him to depend on the healing power of Christ. We must also recognize our need for healing and give God the authority to work through us. With that, we will become an instrument of God in the world.    The Gospel continues with various people questioning how the blind man had his sight restored. They wondered from where the Man Who had healed him came. He responds so beautifully, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes... If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.”   How can we not believe in the good works of our God after hearing this testimony? We should be attentive to His good works because He pours them out on us each day. We simply must look through a lens of gratitude to see them.   During these final weeks of Lent, let us ponder God’s words, “not as man sees does God see.” May we become vulnerable and dependent on our Lord so that He might work through us and transform us; may we say a profound “yes” to that which He is calling us.

The Liturgy Of The Word: Sunday, 14th March 2021

 

First reading

2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23

God's wrath and mercy are revealed in the exile and release of his people

All the heads of the priesthood, and the people too, added infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the Temple that the Lord had consecrated for himself in Jerusalem. The Lord, the God of their ancestors, tirelessly sent them messenger after messenger, since he wished to spare his people and his house. But they ridiculed the messengers of God, they despised his words, they laughed at his prophets, until at last the wrath of the Lord rose so high against his people that there was no further remedy.

  Their enemies burned down the Temple of God, demolished the walls of Jerusalem, set fire to all its palaces, and destroyed everything of value in it. The survivors were deported by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon; they were to serve him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. This is how the word of the Lord was fulfilled that he spoke through Jeremiah, ‘Until this land has enjoyed its sabbath rest, until seventy years have gone by, it will keep sabbath throughout the days of its desolation.’

  And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfil the word of the Lord that was spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation and to have it publicly displayed throughout his kingdom: ‘Thus speaks Cyrus king of Persia, “The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth; he has ordered me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him! Let him go up.”’

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 136(137):1-6

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

By the rivers of Babylon
  there we sat and wept,
  remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
  we hung up our harps.

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

For it was there that they asked us,
  our captors, for songs,
  our oppressors, for joy.
‘Sing to us,’ they said,
  ‘one of Zion’s songs.’

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

O how could we sing
  the song of the Lord
  on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
  let my right hand wither!

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

O let my tongue
  cleave to my mouth
  if I remember you not,
if I prize not Jerusalem
  above all my joys!

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

Second reading

Ephesians 2:4-10 ·

You have been saved through grace

God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ – it is through grace that you have been saved – and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.

  This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it.

The word of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn3:16

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Gospel

John 3:14-21

God sent his Son so that through him the world might be saved

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
‘The Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.
Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe in the name of God’s only Son.
On these grounds is sentence pronounced:
that though the light has come into the world
men have shown they prefer darkness to the light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Readings - Sunday, 31st March, 2019

Liturgical Readings for : Sunday, 31st March, 2019
Today's Readings
Léachtaí Gaeilge


FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of Joshua 5:9-12
The People of God kept the Passover on their entry into the promised land

The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I have taken the shame of Egypt away
from you’.
The Israelites pitched their camp at Gilgal and kept the Passover there on
the fourteenth day of the month, at evening in the plain of Jericho. On the
morrow of the Passover they tasted the produce of that country,
unleavened bread and roasted ears of corn, that same day. From that time,
from their first eating of the produce of that country, the manna stopped
falling. And having manna no longer, the Israelites fed from that year
onwards on what the land of Canaan yielded.


The Word of the Lord


Responsorial Psalm Ps 33
Response : Taste and see that the Lord is good.

1. I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast.
The humble shall hear and be glad.                  Response

2. Glorify the Lord with me.
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me;
from all my terrors he set me free.                   Response

3. Look towards him and be radiant;
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him

and rescued him from all his distress.              Response



SECOND READING
A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 5:17-21
God reconciled us to himself through Christ

For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has
gone, and now the new one is here. It is all God’s work. It was God who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on
this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world
to himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to
us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it
is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make
in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the
sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God.


The Word of the Lord


Gospel Acclamation Lk 15:18
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

I will leave this place and go to my father and say:
‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! 



GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 13:1-9
Your brother here was dead and has come to life

The tax collectors and the sinners, meanwhile, were all seeking his
company to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes
complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them. So
he spoke this parable to them:
‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have
the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the
property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together
everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his
money on a life of debauchery.
‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and
now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local
inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly
have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered
him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my
father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying
of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called
your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and
went back to his father.
‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with
pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly.
Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I
no longer deserve to be called your son.” But the father said to his
servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his
finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and
kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine
was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they
began to celebrate.
‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew
near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the
servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied
the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he
has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in,
and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father,
“Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your
orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with
my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing
up your property – he and his women – you kill the calf we had been
fattening.”
The father said,
“My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only
right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead
and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”


The Gospel of the Lord