March 10, 2013 - Year A Scrutinies

Fourth Sunday of Lent – Year A Scrutinies
Lectionary: 31

Reading 11 SM 16:1B, 6-7, 10-13A

The LORD said to Samuel:
“Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”

At this point in Jewish history, the Jews had rebelled against God and asked for a King. God gave them King Saul. But King Saul displeased God. So now God is selecting a replacement for Saul.

God spoke to His High Priest Samuel. He commanded him to fill his horn with oil because he was going to anoint a new King for Israel from the house of Jesse.

As Jesse and his sons came to the sacrifice,
Samuel looked at Eliab and thought,
“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”

When Samuel saw Jesse's sons, he immediately thought that he recognized the new King.

But the LORD said to Samuel:
“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
because I have rejected him.
Not as man sees does God see,
because man sees the appearance
but the LORD looks into the heart.”
In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
but Samuel said to Jesse,
“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”

But God said, "No, none of these are the King I have chosen."

Then Samuel asked Jesse,
“Are these all the sons you have?”
Jesse replied,
“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said to Jesse,
“Send for him;
we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”

Then Samuel said to Jesse, "have you anymore sons?" Jesse responded, "Yes, one more. He is tending the sheep." And Samuel said, "Send for him. We will wait until he arrives for the ceremony."

Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.

He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance.
The LORD said,
“There—anoint him, for this is the one!”
Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed David in the presence of his brothers;
and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.

He was a very handsome young man. And when he arrived, God said, "There he is. Anoint him King!" And Samuel anointed David, the King of Israel and the Spirit of God came upon David.

Responsorial PsalmPS 23: 1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my Shepherd, He takes care of all my needs.
He gives me rest and I feel at ease. He restores my spirit.

He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

God leads me in the way of righteousness.
He is my protector, I fear no wicked thing.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

God, you prepare the way for me. Before my enemies, you exalt me.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

I will always do the right thing and live united to my God.

Reading 2EPH 5:8-14

Brothers and sisters:
You were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.

St. Paul says to the Ephesians, "Brethren, you were once sinners who did not know God.

Live as children of light,
for light produces every kind of goodness
and righteousness and truth.

But now turn to God and live in His righteousness.

Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness;
rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention
the things done by them in secret;
but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
for everything that becomes visible is light.
Therefore, it says:
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”

Turn to God and learn His will. Learn to do good and continue living in the light of Christ. He will raise you from the dead.

GospelJN 9:1-41

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
His disciples asked him,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?”

Jesus and His disciples walked by a man who was born blind and His disciples asked, "Who sinned, he or his parents in order that he would be born blind?

Jesus answered,
“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.

Jesus responded. Neither he nor his parents sinned. He was born blind so that you might see the works of God today.

We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.
Night is coming when no one can work.
While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

He continued, "We must work in the day and do the works of God while I am in the world."

When he had said this, he spat on the ground
and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes,
and said to him,
“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” —which means Sent—.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

Then He spat on the ground and made some mud with His saliva and smeared it on the blind man's eyes. And He said to him, "go and wash in the pool of Siloam."

So the blind man did as he was told and came back able to see.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
Some said, “It is, “
but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
He said, “I am.”
So they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
He replied,
“The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes
and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’
So I went there and washed and was able to see.”
And they said to him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I don’t know.”

His neighbors were astonished that he could see. They couldn't believe it. So they questioned him and he told them what happened. Then they wanted to find Jesus also. But he didn't know where Jesus had gone.

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
So some of the Pharisees said,
“This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the sabbath.”

Then the people brought the blind man to the Pharisees to investigate further. The Pharisees began to complain that Jesus had cured him during the Sabbath. They said, "He must not be from God since He broke the Sabbath."

But others said,
“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again,
“What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?”
He said, “He is a prophet.”

But other people said, "No, how can a sinful man do such things?"

And they were divided. So they asked the blind man, "what do you think?" And he said, "He is a prophet of God."

Now the Jews did not believethat he had been blind and gained his sightuntil they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight.

The Jews questioned that the blind man had ever been blind. So they called his parents to question them.

They asked them,“Is this your son, who you say was born blind?How does he now see?”His parents answered and said,“We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.We do not know how he sees now,nor do we know who opened his eyes.Ask him, he is of age;he can speak for himself.”

They asked the parents if this was their son born blind and how is it that he can see? But the parents simply said, "we know that is our son, but we don't know how he can see." They also said, "he is a grown man, ask him."

His parents said this because they were afraidof the Jews, for the Jews had already agreedthat if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,he would be expelled from the synagogue.For this reason his parents said,“He is of age; question him.”

His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews and did not want to be expelled from the Temple.

So a second time they called the man who had been blindand said to him, “Give God the praise!We know that this man is a sinner.”He replied,“If he is a sinner, I do not know.One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”

So they called the man born blind and said to him, "Tell the truth and give God glory. Admit that this man is a sinner." But he replied, "One thing I know, he cured me."

So they said to him,“What did he do to you?How did he open your eyes?”He answered them,“I told you already and you did not listen.Why do you want to hear it again?Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

They asked him again, "How did He cure you?" And he replied, "How many times must I answer that question? Do you also want to be His disciples?"

They ridiculed him and said,“You are that man’s disciple;we are disciples of Moses!We know that God spoke to Moses,but we do not know where this one is from.”The man answered and said to them,“This is what is so amazing,that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.We know that God does not listen to sinners,but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.If this man were not from God,he would not be able to do anything.”

They ridiculed him and said, "you are His disciple. We belong to Moses. We know that Moses spoke to God but this man is a sinner."

Whereas the man born blind said, "That's news to me that a sinner can pray and cure a man of blindness. God does not listen to sinners. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing."

They answered and said to him,“You were born totally in sin,and are you trying to teach us?”Then they threw him out.

At this they got upset and threw the man out saying, "you were born in sin, you can't tell us anything."

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”He answered and said,“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”Jesus said to him,“You have seen him,the one speaking with you is he.”He said,“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.

When Jesus heard that he had been thrown out He found him and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" And man born blind said, "Who is He Lord that I may believe in Him."

And Jesus said, "It is I." And the man worshipped Him.

Then Jesus said,“I came into this world for judgment,so that those who do not see might see,and those who do see might become blind.”

And Jesus said, "I came to this world to give sight to the blind and so those who have sight to become blind."

Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard thisand said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”Jesus said to them,“If you were blind, you would have no sin;but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.

The Pharisees who were with Him said, "You don't mean us, do you?" And Jesus said, "If you said that you could not see, you would have no sin. But you claim you see, so your sin remains."

The alternate Gospel is a portion of the standard one above, so I'll just post it without comment.

OrJN 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva,and smeared the clay on his eyes,and said to him,“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent —.So he went and washed, and came back able to see.
His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”Some said, “It is, “but others said, “No, he just looks like him.”He said, “I am.”
They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.He said to them,“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”So some of the Pharisees said,“This man is not from God,because he does not keep the sabbath.”But others said,“How can a sinful man do such signs?”And there was a division among them.So they said to the blind man again,“What do you have to say about him,since he opened your eyes?”He said, “He is a prophet.”
They answered and said to him,“You were born totally in sin,and are you trying to teach us?”Then they threw him out.
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”He answered and said,“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”Jesus said to him,“You have seen him, andthe one speaking with you is he.”He said,“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.

Pages

Saturday, March 9, 2013