Sunday 10 March
2013
4th Sunday of Lent A
1 Samuel 16: 1. 6-7. 10-13 Psalm 22 Rv. 1 Ephesians
5:8-14 John 9: 1-41.
God looks at a
man’s heart.
My head you have
anointed with oil, my cup is overflowing.
You were darkness
once but now you are light in the Lord.
Do you believe in
the Son of Man? You are looking at him; he is speaking to you.
Readings at Mass
First reading
1
Samuel 16:1,6-7,10-13
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.
God does not evaluate people in the same
way as we do. He looks into the inner spirit of a person and sees who he/she
really is, what their desires are and how much they desire to know and love the
God who made them and gave them everything they have. What is your inner spirit
– known, maybe, only to yourself and God? Has the Spirit of the Lord seized on
you. In those days the Spirit was not given to all, but now everyone can
receive the Spirit from the hands of Jesus. Have you? Have I?
Psalm
Psalm
22:1-6
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
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
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.
Those who love the truth are in
the light. We must desire to know the truth about life. What is life all about?
Is it just a matter of making money? Having the means to do what we like? What makes
a person’s life meaningful and valuable? Have you discovered why you were born
and where you are going? The answers are found when we meet Jesus in a personal
way.
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
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.
Blind or seeing?
Today’s Gospel
asks, ‘who is really blind?’ The beggar
has been blind from birth. He is now an adult. He is a symbol of us all. We
find ourselves existing. However, what is the purpose of life. Is there any
reason for my birth or is it an accident? What should I do with my life? What
happens when I die? Is there anyone to whom I will have to give an
account? The list of questions goes on.
No answers are given. We have to look for the answers ourselves. Different
philosophies give different answers, like dropping a coin into a blind man’s
begging bowl. Is there anyone who can give us sight?
Jesus puts mud on
the blind man’s eyes and sends him to the pool of Siloam. He comes back with
sight. He does not know Jesus, only his name. His neighbours cannot believe
their eyes and discuss whether he is the beggar or not. He settles the issue,
‘yes, I am’. It was a Sabbath. ‘It is forbidden to make mud and put it on his
eyes’. Never had a man born blind received sight by washing in Siloam, yet that
does not strike his neighbours. They are worried about breaking the Sabbath and
take him to the Pharisees. These ask him how it happened. He tells them but
they begin to argue among themselves. ‘He has broken the Sabbath. He must be a
sinner’. The man sees light after a lifetime of darkness. He can now see and
keeps on repeating his story. When asked
his opinion about Jesus, he draws the conclusion:’ he is a prophet’. Rather
than agree the Jewish authorities prefer to deny the blindness. They call his
parents. Weak and fearful as they are, they admit that he was blind. So what are
they to do now to do now? The authorities refuse to draw the obvious
conclusion. They call the man again. We know he is a sinner, they say, but they
cannot brow beat him and he sticks to his experience. He now sees that Jesus is
a prophet. Seeing they cannot deny the evidence and not wishing to accept
Jesus, they abuse and ridicule him and throw him out. Jesus looks for him. ‘Do
you believe in the Son of Man’? He says; .who is he Lord that I may believe in
him’. “I am,” Jesus says. Then he
falls down and worships Jesus. He progressed from physical blindness through
physical sight to spiritual sight and the adoration of Jesus as Lord. Whereas
the authorities have passed from ‘sight’ as Moses’ disciples to spiritual
blindness ‘because they hardened their hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of
Massah in the desert.’
Have we ‘seen’ Jesus? Though we may have ‘faith’, have we
met Jesus? Have you experienced Him? “I am the light of the world” – have you
experienced the opening of your eyes by Jesus?
Father
open my eyes that I may meet Jesus and live.
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