{"id":2915,"date":"2017-03-21T15:02:10","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T20:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/?p=2915"},"modified":"2024-06-20T15:40:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T15:40:19","slug":"the-stars-in-your-eyes-a-lenten-reflection-from-kevin-oconnor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/?p=2915","title":{"rendered":"The Stars in Your Eyes: A Lenten Reflection from Kevin O’Connor"},"content":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/ZsFSBk2pU6M<\/a><\/p>\n

March 26, 2017, The\u00a0<\/strong>Fourth Sunday of Lent<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Reading 1 <\/strong><\/p>\n

1 SM 16:1B, <\/strong>6-7, 10-13A<\/strong><\/p>\n

The LORD said to Samuel:
\n“Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.
\nI am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,
\nfor I have chosen my king from among his sons.”<\/p>\n

As Jesse and his sons came to the sacrifice,
\nSamuel looked at Eliab and thought,
\n“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”
\nBut the LORD said to Samuel:
\n“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,
\nbecause I have rejected him.
\nNot as man sees does God see,
\nbecause man sees the appearance
\nbut the LORD looks into the heart.”
\nIn the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,
\nbut Samuel said to Jesse,
\n“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”
\nThen Samuel asked Jesse,
\n“Are these all the sons you have?”
\nJesse replied,
\n“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”
\nSamuel said to Jesse,
\n“Send for him;
\nwe will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”
\nJesse sent and had the young man brought to them.
\nHe was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
\nand making a splendid appearance.
\nThe LORD said,
\n“There\u2014anoint him, for this is the one!”
\nThen Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
\nanointed David in the presence of his brothers;
\nand from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.
\nResponsorial Psalm PS 23: 1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6<\/strong><\/p>\n

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
\nThe LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
\nIn verdant pastures he gives me repose;
\nbeside restful waters he leads me;
\nhe refreshes my soul.
\nR. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
\nHe guides me in right paths
\nfor his name’s sake.
\nEven though I walk in the dark valley
\nI fear no evil; for you are at my side
\nWith your rod and your staff
\nthat give me courage.
\nR. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
\nYou spread the table before me
\nin the sight of my foes;
\nyou anoint my head with oil;
\nmy cup overflows.
\nR. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
\nOnly goodness and kindness follow me
\nall the days of my life;
\nand I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
\nfor years to come.
\nR. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
\nReading 2 EPH 5:8-14<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brothers and sisters:
\nYou were once darkness,
\nbut now you are light in the Lord.
\nLive as children of light,
\nfor light produces every kind of goodness
\nand righteousness and truth.
\nTry to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
\nTake no part in the fruitless works of darkness;
\nrather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention
\nthe things done by them in secret;
\nbut everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
\nfor everything that becomes visible is light.
\nTherefore, it says:
\n“Awake, O sleeper,
\nand arise from the dead,
\nand Christ will give you light.”
\nVerse Before The Gospel JN 8:12<\/p>\n

I am the light of the world, says the Lord;
\nwhoever follows me will have the light of life.
\nGospel JN 9:1-41<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
\nHis disciples asked him,
\n“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
\nthat he was born blind?”
\nJesus answered,
\n“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
\nit is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.
\nWe have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day.
\nNight is coming when no one can work.
\nWhile I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
\nWhen he had said this, he spat on the ground
\nand made clay with the saliva,
\nand smeared the clay on his eyes,
\nand said to him,
\n“Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” \u2014which means Sent\u2014.
\nSo he went and washed, and came back able to see.<\/p>\n

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said,
\n“Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?”
\nSome said, “It is, ”
\nbut others said, “No, he just looks like him.”
\nHe said, “I am.”
\nSo they said to him, “How were your eyes opened?”
\nHe replied,
\n“The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes
\nand told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’
\nSo I went there and washed and was able to see.”
\nAnd they said to him, “Where is he?”
\nHe said, “I don’t know.”<\/p>\n

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
\nNow Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
\nSo then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
\nHe said to them,
\n“He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
\nSo some of the Pharisees said,
\n“This man is not from God,
\nbecause he does not keep the sabbath.”
\nBut others said,
\n“How can a sinful man do such signs?”
\nAnd there was a division among them.
\nSo they said to the blind man again,
\n“What do you have to say about him,
\nsince he opened your eyes?”
\nHe said, “He is a prophet.”<\/p>\n

Now the Jews did not believe
\nthat he had been blind and gained his sight
\nuntil they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight.
\nThey asked them,
\n“Is this your son, who you say was born blind?
\nHow does he now see?”
\nHis parents answered and said,
\n“We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.
\nWe do not know how he sees now,
\nnor do we know who opened his eyes.
\nAsk him, he is of age;
\nhe can speak for himself.”
\nHis parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews,
\nfor the Jews had already agreed
\nthat if anyone acknowledged him as the Christ,
\nhe would be expelled from the synagogue.
\nFor this reason his parents said,
\n“He is of age; question him.”<\/p>\n

So a second time they called the man who had been blind
\nand said to him, “Give God the praise!
\nWe know that this man is a sinner.”
\nHe replied,
\n“If he is a sinner, I do not know.
\nOne thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.”
\nSo they said to him,
\n“What did he do to you?
\nHow did he open your eyes?”
\nHe answered them,
\n“I told you already and you did not listen.
\nWhy do you want to hear it again?
\nDo you want to become his disciples, too?”
\nThey ridiculed him and said,
\n“You are that man’s disciple;
\nwe are disciples of Moses!
\nWe know that God spoke to Moses,
\nbut we do not know where this one is from.”
\nThe man answered and said to them,
\n“This is what is so amazing,
\nthat you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.
\nWe know that God does not listen to sinners,
\nbut if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him.
\nIt is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind.
\nIf this man were not from God,
\nhe would not be able to do anything.”
\nThey answered and said to him,
\n“You were born totally in sin,
\nand are you trying to teach us?”
\nThen they threw him out.<\/p>\n

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,
\nhe found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
\nHe answered and said,
\n“Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
\nJesus said to him,
\n“You have seen him,
\nthe one speaking with you is he.”
\nHe said,
\n“I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him.
\nThen Jesus said,
\n“I came into this world for judgment,
\nso that those who do not see might see,
\nand those who do see might become blind.”<\/p>\n

Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this
\nand said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?”
\nJesus said to them,
\n“If you were blind, you would have no sin;
\nbut now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 26, 2017, The\u00a0Fourth 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 read more <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,18,22,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ips-students","category-ips-videos","category-old-testament","category-pastoral-counseling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4607,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2915\/revisions\/4607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ips\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}