Antiphon
Cf. Is 66: 10-11
Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her.
Be joyful, all who were in mourning;
exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast.
Collect
O God, who through your Word
reconcile the human race to yourself in a wonderful way,
grant, we pray,
that with prompt devotion and eager faith
the Christian people may hasten
toward the solemn celebrations to come.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Reading 1
1 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.”
As Jesse and his sons came to the sacrifice,
Samuel looked at Eliab and thought,
“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”
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.”
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.”
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.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6.
R. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Reading II
EPH 5:8-14
Brothers and sisters:
You were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light,
for light produces every kind of goodness
and righteousness and truth.
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.”
Verse Before The Gospel
JN 8:12
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Gospel
JN 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 answered,
“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.
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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
Now the Jews did not believe
that he had been blind and gained his sight
until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight.
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.”
His parents said this because they were afraid
of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed
that 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.”
So a second time they called the man who had been blind
and 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 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 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 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,
the one speaking with you is he.”
He said,
“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped 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.”
Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this
and 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."
March 22
Saint Nicholas Owen
(d. 1606)
Born at Oxford, this humble artisan saved the lives of many priests and laypersons in England during the penal times (1559-1829), when a series of statutes punished Catholics for the practice of their faith. Over a period of about 20 years, Nicholas used his skills to build secret hiding places for priests throughout the country.
His work, which he did completely by himself as both architect and builder, was so good that time and time again priests in hiding were undetected by raiding parties. Nicholas was a genius at finding and creating places of safety: subterranean passages,
small spaces between walls, impenetrable recesses.
At one point he was even able to mastermind the escape of two Jesuits from the Tower of London. Whenever Nicholas set out to design such hiding places, he began by receiving the holy Eucharist, and he would turn to God in prayer throughout the long, dangerous construction process.
After many years at his unusual task, Nicholas entered the Society of Jesus and served as a lay brother, although—for very good reasons—
his connection with the Jesuits was kept secret.
After a number of narrow escapes, he himself was finally caught in 1594. Despite protracted torture, Nicholas refused to disclose the names of other Catholics. After being released following the payment of a ransom, “Little John” went back to his work. He was arrested again in 1606. This time he was subjected to horrible tortures, suffering an agonizing death. The jailers tried suggesting that he had confessed and committed suicide, but his heroism and sufferings soon were widely known.
Nicholas Owen was canonized in 1970 as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales.
O Lord, open my lips,
my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 94 (95)
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,
let us acclaim God our salvation.
Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks,
let us acclaim him with songs.
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
For the Lord is a great God,
a king above all gods.
For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands,
and the peaks of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his: he made it;
and his hands formed the dry land.
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
Come, let us worship and bow down,
bend the knee before the Lord who made us;
for he himself is our God and we are his flock,
the sheep that follow his hand.
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
If only, today, you would listen to his voice:
“Do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah,
on the day of Massah in the desert,
when your fathers tested me –
they put me to the test,
although they had seen my works.”
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
“For forty years they wearied me,
that generation.
I said: their hearts are wandering,
they do not know my paths.
I swore in my anger:
they will never enter my place of rest.”
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Christ the Lord was tempted and suffered for us.
Come, let us adore him.
Hymn
Forty days and forty nights
thou wast fasting in the wild
forty days and forty nights
tempted still, yet undefiled.
Shall not we thy sorrow share,
and from earthly joys abstain,
fasting with unceasing prayer,
strong with thee to suffer pain?
And if Satan, vexing sore,
flesh or spirit should assail,
thou, his vanquisher before,
grant we may not faint or fail.
So shall we have peace divine;
holier gladness ours shall be;
round us too shall angels shine,
such as ministered to thee.
Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
ever constant by thy side;
that with thee we may appear
at the eternal Eastertide.
Psalm 23 (24)
The Lord comes to his temple
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all who live in it.
He himself founded it upon the seas
and set it firm over the waters.
Who will climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who will stand in his holy place?
The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,
who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.
He will receive the blessing of the Lord
and be justified by God his savior.
This is the way of those who seek him,
seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of might and power.
The Lord, strong in battle.
Gates, raise your heads. Stand up, eternal doors,
and let the king of glory enter.
Who is the king of glory?
The Lord of hosts
– he is the king of glory.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
Psalm 65 (66)
Hymn for a sacrifice of thanksgiving
All peoples, bless our God,
who gave his life to our souls.
Cry out to God, all the earth,
sing psalms to the glory of his name,
give him all glory and praise.
Say to God, “How tremendous your works!
Faced with the greatness of your power
your enemies dwindle away.
Let all the earth worship you and sing your praises,
sing psalms to your name.”
Come and see the works of God,
be awed by what he has done for the children of men.
He turned the sea into dry land,
and they crossed the waters on foot:
therefore will we rejoice in him.
In his might he will rule for all time,
his eyes keep watch on the nations:
no rebellion will ever succeed.
Bless our God, you nations,
and let the sound of your praises be heard.
Praise him who brought us to life,
and saved us from stumbling.
For you have tested us, O Lord,
you have tried us by fire, as silver is tried.
You led us into the trap,
heaped tribulations upon us.
You set other men to rule over us –
but we passed through fire and water,
and you led us out to our rest.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
All peoples, bless our God,
who gave his life to our souls.
Psalm 65 (66)
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul.
I shall enter your house with burnt-offerings.
I shall fulfill my vows to you,
the vows that I made with my lips,
the vows that I uttered in my troubles.
I shall offer you rich burnt-offerings,
the smoke of the flesh of rams;
I shall offer you cattle and goats.
Draw near and listen, you who fear the Lord,
and I will tell all that he has done for me.
I cried out aloud to him,
and his praise was on my tongue.
If I looked upon sin in the depths of my heart,
the Lord would not hear me –
but the Lord has listened,
he has heard the cry of my appeal.
Blessed be God, who has not spurned my prayer,
who has not kept his mercy from me.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul.
Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.
– You have the message of eternal life.
First Reading
Leviticus 8:1-17,9:22-24
The consecration of the priests
The Lord spoke to Moses;
he said:
‘Take Aaron, his sons with him, and the vestments, and the chrism, the bull for the sacrifice for sin, the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread.
Then call the whole community together at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.’
Moses followed the orders of the Lord; the community gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and Moses said to them,
‘This is what the Lord has ordered to be done.’
He made Aaron and his sons come forward, and washed them with water.
He put the tunic on him, passed the girdle round his waist, dressed him in the robe and put the ephod on him. Then he put round his waist the woven band of the ephod with which he clothed him. He put the pectoral on him, and placed the Urim and Thummim in it. He put the turban on his head, with the golden plate on the front;
this is the sacred diadem as the Lord prescribed it to Moses.
Then Moses took the chrism and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it,
to consecrate them. He sprinkled the altar seven times,
and anointed the altar and its furnishing, the basin and its stand, to consecrate them.
Then he poured the chrism on Aaron’s head, consecrating him by unction.
Then Moses made Aaron’s sons come forward; he put the tunics on them,
passed the girdles round their waists and put on their head-dress,
as the Lord had ordered Moses.
Then he had the bull for the sacrifice for sin brought forward. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the victim’s head and Moses immolated it. Then he took the blood and with his finger put some of it on the horns round the altar, to take away its sin. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar, which he consecrated by performing the rite of atonement over it. Then he took all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty mass which is over the liver, the two kidneys and their fat; and he burnt them all on the altar. The bull’s skin, its flesh and its dung he burnt outside the camp,
as the Lord had ordered Moses.
Then Aaron raised his hands towards the people and blessed them. Having thus performed the sacrifice for sin, the holocaust and the communion sacrifice, he came down and entered the Tent of Meeting with Moses. Then they came out together to bless the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole people –
a flame leaped forth from before the Lord and consumed the holocaust and the fat that was on the altar. At this sight the people shouted for joy and fell on their faces.
Responsory
Of priests there was a succession,
since death denied them permanence,
but Christ remains for ever and can never lose his priesthood.
The Lord raised up Aaron to a holy office;
he conferred on him the priesthood of the nation and honored him with glory,
but Christ remains for ever and can never lose his priesthood.
Second Reading
From a treatise on John
by Saint Augustine, bishop
Christ is the way to the light,
the truth and the life
The Lord tells us: I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. In these few words he gives a command and makes a promise. Let us do what he commands so that we may not blush to covet what he promises and to hear him say on the day of judgement: “I laid down certain conditions for obtaining my promises. Have you fulfilled them?” If you say:
“What did you command, Lord our God?” he will tell you: “I commanded you to follow me. You asked for advice on how to enter into life.
What life, if not the life about which it is written: With you is the fountain of life?”
Let us do now what he commands. Let us follow in the footsteps of the Lord. Let us throw off the chains that prevent us from following him. Who can throw off these shackles without the aid of the one addressed in these words:
You have broken my chains? Another psalm says of him:
The Lord frees those in chains, the Lord raises up the downcast.
Those who have been freed and raised up follow the light. The light they follow speaks to them: I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness. The Lord gives light to the blind. Brethren, that light shines on us now, for we have had our eyes anointed with the eye-salve of faith. His saliva was mixed with earth to anoint the man born blind. We are of Adam’s stock, blind from our birth; we need him to give us light. He mixed saliva with earth, and so it was prophesied:
Truth has sprung up from the earth. He himself has said:
I am the way, the truth and the life.
We shall be in possession of the truth when we see face to face. This is his promise to us.
Who would dare to hope for something that God in his goodness did not choose to promise or bestow?
We shall see face to face. The Apostle says: Now I know in part, now obscurely through a mirror, but then face to face. John the Apostle says in one of his letters: Dearly beloved, we are now children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.
We know that when he is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. This is a great promise.
If you love me, follow me. “I do love you,” you protest, “but how do I follow you?”
If the Lord your God said to you: “I am the truth and the life,” in your desire for truth,
in your love for life, you would certainly ask him to show you the way to reach them.
You would say to yourself:
“Truth is a great reality, life is a great reality;
if only it were possible for my soul to find them!”
Responsory
I hate the ways of falsehood.
Your word is a lamp for my steps,
and a light for my path.
Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the message of eternal life.
Your word is a lamp for my steps,
and a light for my path.
Let us pray.
Lord God, in your surpassing wisdom
you reconcile man to yourself through your Word.
Grant that your Christian people may come with eager faith and ready will
to celebrate the Easter festival.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
