Family Liturgy for the 4^th Sunday of Lent

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22 March 2020

-Family gathers around the table.

-The mother (or other family member) lights the candle and prays:

MAY THE LIGHT OF CHRIST SHINE BRIGHTLY IN OUR LIVES AND DISPEL ALL DARKNESS.

-The leader (Ldr.) continues:

WE PRAY IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

All:      Amen!

Ldr:       WE PRAY TOGETHER TODAY WITH GOD’S PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD PRAYING FOR THE MERCY, THE LOVE AND THE STRENGTH WE NEED TO BE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST.                                   

WE INCLUDE IN OUR PRAYERS IN A SPECIAL WAY ALL THOSE WHO ARE SICK OR ARE AFRAID AND WORRIED ABOUT THE SICKNESS AND INFECTION THREATENING OUR SOCIETY. (pause)

            LORD, HAVE MERCY.                     [all: Lord, have mercy.]

            CHRIST, HAVE MERCY.                  [all: Christ, have mercy.]

            LORD, HAVE MERCY.                     [all:  Lord, have mercy.]

            LET US PRAY:                                                                                                                                       

LOVING GOD, YOU GIVE US JESUS, YOUR SON, AS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.  DISPEL ALL DARKNESS FROM OUR MINDS AND HEARTS SO THAT WE MAY WALK WITH JOY IN THE WAY OF SALVATION.                                                                                                                      

WE PRAY IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AMEN.

First reader:

A reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

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.                

The word of the Lord.        All:  Thanks be to God

Second reader:

A reading from the Gospel of John.

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 Jesus 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”

So the man 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.”

The man 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.

The man born blind 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 Jewish leaders 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 his parents,

“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 leaders,

who had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,

they 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 the leaders,

“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 Jesus, “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 Gospel of the Lord.

(reflection:      Who were the ones who were truly blind?

                        What forms of blindness do we have in our society?

                        What forms of blindness do we have in our lives? )

Prayer leader:

As we offer our prayers to God our response will be, “Lord, have mercy.”

We pray for the Church gathered here and throughout the world,

may the light of Christ always give us hope and joy… We pray:

We pray for all those who are blind to the presence of God, blind to the needs of others

and blind to their own faults; may they overcome their blindness… We pray:

We pray for all whose lives are filled with anxiety due to the coronavirus threat,

may the love of God and the goodness of others give them comfort and strength…  We pray:

We pray for all doctors and scientists that they may use the knowledge God has given them

to overcome the threat of the coronavirus and other serious diseases… We pray: 

Give healing to the sick and have mercy on all who have died…  We pray:

(other prayers may be added)

We bind all our prayers into one as we pray:   OUR FATHER…

Ldr:

O God, we yearn for our sight to be restored. 

May your light illuminate us

so that the light of Christ may always shine from our hearts. 

We pray in his name who is Lord for ever and ever.  Amen

May the Lord bless us with peace

     and protect us from all harm.  Amen.