Fourth Sunday of Lent
Reading 1
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.
Ps 23: 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6Responsorial Psalm
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.
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.
Eph 5:8-14Reading 2
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.”
Jn 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38Gospel
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.
Catholic Fundamentalism Interpretation:
The Loving Programmer let all who would read this part of His First Programming Log know that He was telling us about The Big Download.
His beloved "David Program" was going to be put in charge of Israel’s Tribes, and that download would be finished when Christ, Himself, came to earth.
He had Samuel let everyone know that no one would be able to judge His download with human ability.
He told Samuel He was concerned with the very essence of a Human’s Program.
So, He rejected seven of Jesse’s sons.
The youngest was asked about, and called to come in from tending the sheep.
The Loving Programmer told Samuel that David was the one, the beginning of the line of rulers that would include Jesus Christ. Samuel anointed David in the presence of his brothers.
From that day on, the Holy Wireless Connector kept David joined with the Mind of God, The Loving Programmer.
The Loving Programmer provides downloads for me. They are all I need.
The Loving Programmer downloads what I need. He lets me rest in peace beside still waters. He refreshes my soul with His downloads.
The Loving Programmer provides downloads for me. They are all I need.
He keeps my program from downloading error for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk where I can be erased or damaged, I don’t fear erasure or corruption of my files because You, O Loving Programmer, are at my side with Your programming assistance that keep me going.
The Loving Programmer provides downloads for me. They are all I need.
You provide downloads for me right in front of those who are angry because you haven’t done so for them. You make me ever more able to receive Your downloads. I have more than I can use.
The Loving Programmer provides downloads for me. They are all I need.
Only (His) good, kind, programming assistance help me every day of my life. And, I shall dwell with He Who programmed and sustained me for years to come.
The Loving Programmer provides downloads for me. They are all I need.
Brothers and Sisters, You were at one time so doomed that you were darkness, itself. Now, you are transformed, you are light (transforming faith) in The Loving Programmer. Live that way, because light produces every kind of goodness, righteousness and truth.;
Try to learn what is pleasing to The Loving Programmer. Don’t let yourself get into the destructive doings of darkness. Instead, expose those things, for it’s shameful to even talk about the secret sins they commit; but, everything that has light reflecting from it becomes visible, and everything that becomes seeable is light (the only thing anyone can see is light, either from something or reflecting from it). Therefore, it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
This parable concerns the power of Jesus Christ. Catholic Fundamentalism describes Him as "The Program in perfect, obedient, human form". Descended from David, He came to earth to do The Loving Programmer’s will. He makes it clear in this passage that the blind man nearby was not made blind because of sin, but so that The Programmer could show His power by having The Creation Program have this blind man appear right when he was needed for Christ to perform the miracle of this parable, thus making His power visible.
Jesus, The Program in perfect, obedient, human form, spat on the ground and made clay with His saliva. He smeared the clay on the blind man’s eyes (God had made Adam’s organs of sight from clay) and told Him to wash in the Pool of Siloam.
The once-blind man did so, and came back, and light went into his eyes and mind and He could see, because Christ had reprogrammed his ocular system, even the part inside the mind that made sense out of light. (Usually, when blind people see, they have no idea what they’re seeing, but Jesus fixed his mind so that it perfectly related to the outer world, an even greater miracle that most don’t see.)
His neighbors were curious and confused. He told them that "Jesus make clay, anointed my eyes, and said to go wash in Siloam. I did, and could see."
They asked where He was, and he told them he didn’t know. They brought him to the Pharisees.
Jesus had cured the blind man on the Sabbath. As the others, the Pharisees asked how he came to be able to see.
He told them what he’d told his neighbors, "He put clay on my eyes, I washed, now I see."
Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God because He doesn’t keep the Sabbath."
Others said, "Then, how does He get the power to do such things? How can a sinful man do such good things?
The Pharisees were divided among themselves. So, they asked the blind man what he thought about Jesus.
The man said, "He’s a prophet."
Now, if the Jews believed that, they’d be out of work, so the easiest thing to do was believe he wasn’t born blind and gained his sight. So, they called his parents and asked them,
"Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How can he now see?"
They said,
"We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We don’t know how he sees now, nor who opened his eyes. Ask him, he’s of (legal) age; he can speak for himself."
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews (in this case, the Pharisees), for the various groups of them had all agreed to put aside their own
differences and would get rid of anyone who believed Jesus was the Messiah. That’s why his parents said, "He’s of age, ask him."
So, they called the formerly blind man back, again, and said, "Give God the praise! (through us, His proper agents on earth) We know Jesus is a sinner."’
The man answered, "I don’t know about that. I do know this, once (before Jesus came into my life) I was blind and now I see."
So, they said to him, "What did He do to you? How did He let you see?" (They were beginning to appreciate the power of Christ’s ability to re-program.)
He replied, "I told you already and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become His disciples, too?" (actually, they may have wanted to do so, but were too afraid of the others)
They mocked him, and said, ‘You are That Man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we don’t know where this one is from." (using "one" meant that they wanted to think of Him as some evil, non-human being)
The man answered, "This is what is so amazing, that you don’t know where He’s from yet He fixed me so that I can see. We know that God doesn’t respond to sinners, but to those who are devout and obedient to Him.
"It is unheard of that anyone had the programming power to reprogram something as complicated as the human ocular system, from cornea to the innermost part of the mind. If this Man were not from God, He wouldn’t be able to do anything (much less something this unbelievably complicated)."
The Pharisees replied, "You were born totally in sin, and you are trying to teach us?" (As if they were not similarly born) Then, they expelled him from their midst.
When Jesus heard that, He found him, and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
He said, "Who is He sir, that I may believe in Him?"
Jesus said, "You have seen Him. He is the one speaking to you."
He answered, "I do believe, Lord.", and he worshipped Him.
Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment, so that those who don’t see might be able to do so, and that those (who think) they see might become blind."
Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say that, and said "Surely we aren’t also blind, are we?"
Jesus replied: "If you were blind, you wouldn’t have sin. But now, you are saying ‘We see’, so your operating systems can’t be fixed."
