Churches of the Day

Thursday, Third Week of Lent

Hardness of heart is the characteristic of those who refuse to listen to God.
Satan still acts in our world out of hatred for God and the Kingdom of Jesus, the Christ.

FIRST READING

A reading from the prophet Jeremiah                     7.23-28
Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God.

These were my orders:
Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper.

But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me. From the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets. But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have grown stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors. You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer.
So tell them this, 'Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God nor take correction.
Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.'

The Word of the Lord.           Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 94: 1-2. 6-9. R/v 8
Response                               O that today you would listen to his voice! 'Harden not your hearts.'

1. Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord.                            Response

2. Come in; let us bow and bend low; let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.                                                                                                  Response

3. O that today you would listen to his voice!
'Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massahin the desert
when your fathers put me to the test; when they tried me, though they saw my work'  Response                            
Gospel  Acclamation       Ez 18:31
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
'Shake off all your sins' - it is the Lord who speaks-
'and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.'
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

or                                          Joel 2:12-13
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!
'Now, now' - it is the Lord who speaks - 'come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.'
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory!

GOSPEL 

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke       11:14-23        Glory to you, O Lord
He who is not with me is against me.

Jesus was casting out a devil and it was dumb; but when the devil had gone out the dumb man spoke,
and the people were amazed. But some of them said,
'It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.'

Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them,
'Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? Since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils.
Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then.

But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.

'He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.'

The Gospel of the Lord.                Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection         Thursday.          Third Week of Lent          Luke 11:14-23

Jeremiah is a prophet who is known for his complaints. He regularly complains to God because of the hostile way people are responding to the message that God had asked him to proclaim. In today’s first reading, he complains to God that nobody is listening to the message that God gave him to speak, ‘They have not listened to me, have not paid attention… Here is a nation that will not listen to the voice of the Lord its God’. Jesus could have made the same complaint as Jeremiah, to an even greater degree.

In today’s gospel reading, people are not only not listening to Jesus but they are not seeing either. Indeed, their seeing is completely skewed. When they see Jesus healing the broken, they claim that the power at work in Jesus’ life is the power of Satan. This is a very good example of what has come to be known as fake news in a most extreme form, calling the life-giving power of God the evil power of Satan. Jesus confronts his accusers, these peddlers of fake news, declaring that it is through the finger of God that he casts out devils and heals the broken. It is a striking image, ‘the finger of God’.

It suggests that through Jesus God attends to the details of people’s lives. God is not just concerned with people in general, but with the unique situation of each and every person, in all its very personal detail. If we are open to see, we will recognize God’s involvement in the detailed care many people show to those who are broken in body, mind and spirit. Each of us is called to be an instrument of the finger of God in the way we relate to others.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare, (Rejoicing Sunday)
(- Rose or Violet Sunday-)

The healing of the blind man by Jesus is a sign of our baptism, we begin to see things differently. Like never before you begin to see the light of Jesus, his vision for us and our mission to follow him.

This is the day of the Second Scrutiny of the adult baptism candidates.

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      Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm  Ps 32: 1-3, 3-4, 5-6. R/v 1.
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.                                Response

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.    Response

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.                                       Response                           

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.                                          Response

Second Reading 

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the 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. This is why it is said: 'Wake up from your sleep, rise from the dead, Christ will shine on you.'

The Word of the Lord           Thanks be to God.


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                    

The Lord be with you.          And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John  9:1-41         Glory to you, O Lord
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    Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Shorter Form

Gospel 

The Lord be with you.                                     And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to John  9:1. 6-9. 13-17..34-38        Glory to you, O Lord
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. 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'. 

 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.
'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.




Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.