Cycle B – Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 11, 2018
(Gospel only)
“Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you”.
OPENING PRAYER (Psalm 137)
Leader:Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.
All:By the rivers of Babylon – there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion.
On the rivers there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Leader:How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my mouth be silenced!
SHARING THE WORD
Gospel – John 3:14-21
The image of a serpent raised up on a pole has become a cultural symbol of healing. The Gospel of John is an invitation to look upon Jesus crucified and to see in this image the healing of the world. It is an invitation to bring our darkness into the healing light of the cross. In the glory of the cross we see our sinfulness for what it really is – the bearer of death. In today’s Gospel we are extended the invitation to step into the light and become bearers of life.
- Nicodemus resisted stepping into the light. What makes bringing our darkness into the light so difficult?
- It is difficult to see in the dark. Where in your life do you need the light of Christ to help you see more clearly?
- Recall a time when you experience illumination or insight that brought you to see things in a new way. How did this change you?
- Darkness can be social as well as personal. In what ways is our culture the bearer of darkness and death?
LIVING THE WORD
Darkness keeps us from seeing the needs of others and the reality of the world around us. This week, may we be attentive to the way our darkness keeps us from seeing the needs of those around us - then do something that will bring light to the situation.
PRAYING THE WORD
Leader:Fill our hearts with the light of your gospel, that our thoughts may please you, and our love be sincere. May your light shine brightly in and through our Lenten prayer.
INVITE PERSONAL INTECESSIONS FOLLOWED BY THE OUR FATHER…
CLOSING PRAYER:
Leader:Lord God, source of unfailing light,
by the death and resurrection of Christ
you have cast out the darkness of hatred and lies,
and poured forth the light of truth and love
upon the human family.
All:Help us each day to pass from darkness to light
and to love as children of the light.
We make this prayer in the name of Christ the Lord. Amen
Leader:Let us share with one another the sign of Christ’s peace.
Gospel used in ALL YEARS with RCIA’s 2nd Scrutiny–
4th Sunday of Lent, March 11, 2018
Second Scrutiny in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
“The man who was blind washed his eyes and came back able to see….”
OPENING PRAYER (Psalm 23)
Leader:The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
All:He makes me lie down in green
pastures;
he leads me beside still waters,
he restores my soul.
Leader:Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
All:and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long. Amen
Gospel – John 9:1-41
This is the second in a series of three “Scrutiny” Sunday gospel stories (the Lenten readings from Year A are always used in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults for those who are journeying through their final weeks of “purification and enlightenment” before their baptism at the Easter Vigil.) The story of the man born blind is artfully told in an imaginative way, exploring the relationship between faith, knowledge, sin and vision. Even though the healing of the blind man is the central physical change, the moral and theological reality of sin is equally important in this gospel account. The disciples’ first question, “Who sinned?” and Christ’s answer are provocative still today. The Pharisees are so threatened by Jesus’ action – an action that explodes their neat traditional categories – that they resort to meaningless nit-picking.
- What sentence or phrase in the gospel speaks to you?
- Has there been a time when you “saw” Jesus clearly, perhaps in a person, a news story or an ordinary event in your life? Explain.
- Has your own stubbornness or unwillingness to see another’s point of view ever caused hurt or division?
- We all have blind spots in matters of justice and charity. They affect the way we see things in family life, work, etc. What will help us to improve our vision, in order to “truly see” ?
Living The Word
What is God’s challenge for me this week? Perhaps it is to recycle old glasses, examine my own spiritual eyes, learn about physical blindness? Or something else?
Praying The Word
Intercession: For those suffering from physical or spiritual blindness, for those preparing for Baptism and for those helping them to see the light of Christ. We pray to the Lord.
Invite other intentions, end with “Our Father …”
Closing Prayer
Leader: We are called to be open to God’s truth, to shed the blindness that keeps us from seeing the Lord in our own life and the lives of others.
Lord of all ages, we are blinded from seeing your goodness,
All:Remove the scales of mistrust from our hearts.
Leader:Lord of light, we fail to see you in the busyness and distractions of our lives,
All:Help us to devote time each day to you first.
Leader:Lord of new beginnings, we are resistant to your guidance,
All:Give us the resolve to follow you to a new awareness.
Leader:Lord of all knowing, we resist your healing of past hurts and sorrows,
All:Transform our wounded spirits.
Leader:Lord of our hope, we fail to see you in others and in ourselves,
All:Open us so we may see you first and last. AMEN
Leader: Let us share with one another the sign of Christ’s peace.