4th Sunday of Lent (Year A) 26th March, 2017
Preparing the worship space
Theme: Eyes/Sight/See.
Theme Colour: Purple
==== 7:00 -
7:03 ====
Entrance Song
God of mercy and
compassion, look with pity upon me, Father let me call Thee Father 'tis this
child returns to Thee
Jesus Lord, I ask for
mercy, let me not implore in vain
All my sins I now detest
them; never will I sin again.
By my sins I have
deserved death, and endless misery. Hell with all its pains and torments, for
all eternity.
Ask: Last week’s theme was <“Water”> We talked about how Jesus helps
us start over again if we just listen and believe in Him..
Welcome; Today we are going to talk about different kinds
of blindness and sight.
Ask: Tell me what you know about blindness. <being in the dark, not being able to see
things around you, etc.> What might
it mean if I were to say that a person whose eyes work well is really
blind? <discuss> It means that this person who can see really
doesn’t understand. When we look, do we see? We have leant in previous weeks about not ‘hardening your hearts’. And we compared it with being open,
and with listening. Today we will look at the same idea, only comparing
it with ‘seeing’.
//V// In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit,
//R// Amen.
//V// May The Grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ,
And the love of God,
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with you all.
//R// And with Your Spirit.
==== 7:03 - 7:08 ====
NEWS TIME :-)
==== 7:08 - 7:11 ====
Penitential Rite
Dear little children, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Confession of our
sins
I confess to the Almighty God,
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words
in what I have done and In what I have failed to
do
-strike
the breast 3 times as you say-
through my fault
through my fault
through my most grievous fault
THEREFORE I ask Blessed Mary Ever Virgin
all the Angels and Saints
and you, my brothers and sisters
to pray for me to the Lord our God
Have Mercy on us oh
Lord
For we have sinned against you.
Show us, Oh Lord,
your mercy
And grant us your salvation.
You were sent to
heal the contrite of heart.
Lord have Mercy
Lord have Mercy
You came to sinners
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
You are seated at
the right hand of the father to intercede for us.
Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
May the almighty
God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting?
AMEN
==== 7:11 - 7:14 ====
GLORIA*
In
lent period, we shall not sing the Gloria because it’s a time for us to reflect
on the quality of our life style.
Opening Prayer:
God of
power and glory, we give thanks to you for the wonderful gift of sight. Open
our eyes to the good things in this world and help us also to see when things
are wrong and what we can do to change them. ……. Amen.
=== 7:14 -
7:19 ====
Liturgy of the Word
Introduce the first reading.
The first reading today is taken from the Old Testament book of Samuel. Do
you remember hearing about the great king David? This is the story of how David was chosen
to be king...…
A prepared child/children come and take the first reading or
second reading.
First Reading is from the book of
1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
David
Anointed as King
16 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have
rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out;
I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a
king among his sons.”
6 When they came,
he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the
Lord.”[a] 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on
the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not
see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on
the heart.”
10 Jesse made seven
of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not
chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he
said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel
said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes
here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes,
and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his
brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day
forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
“This
is the word of the Lord”
All say “Thanks be to God”.
Ask: Was there anything unusual about the way that
David was chosen? <let the children
answer> Why did the Lord choose David the way he did? What was he looking for? <He
was looking for qualities that would make a good king, things that are not visible to the eye> It didn’t matter what David looked like, it
mattered what he was like inside.
Say: Let us
focus on our responsorial Psalm:
< The
Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.........>3x.
Introduce the
Gospel
Say: Today’s Gospel
reading is taken from the book of John. Today we hear about one of Jesus’
miracles. We will hear about two kinds
of blindness – the kind where a person can’t see with their eyes and the kind
where a person doesn’t understand.
Listen and see if you can hear about what Jesus says about people who
don’t believe in Him.
....
Now we will stand to get ready to hear the Gospel
..with No Alleluia!! –J J
In lent
period, we shall not sing the ALLELUIA, BECAUSE it’s a time for us to reflect
to be extra silent in our life style. Sing a song without Alleluia.
Silently say: “Cleanse my heart and my lips, almighty God, that I
may worthily proclaim your Holy Gospel”.
The Leader starts: The Lord be with You,
And with your Spirit.
A reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. John.
Glory to You, O Lord
John 9:1, 6-12, 35-38.
(NRSVCE)
A Man Born Blind Receives Sight
9 As he walked along, he
saw a man blind from birth.
6 When he had said this, he spat on the
ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of
Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen
him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and
beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others
were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how
were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made
mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went
and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He
said, “I do not know.” Spiritual
Blindness
35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and
when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered,
“And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to
him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said,
“Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.
The Gospel of the Lord”
“Praise to you
Lord Jesus Christ”
==== 7:19 - 7:24 ====
(*) Tell your prepared reflecting
story to motivate the children, but according to the Gospel and children’s
level of understanding like in the suggestions below…
Gospel
reflection:
Ask:
What miracle did Jesus perform? <healed a blind man> What did Jesus say about people who don’t
believe in him? <He said that they
are blind> Can these people see
with their eyes? <maybe – but more importantly, they didn’t
know Jesus – they didn’t understand about the love He brings to us>.
Memory Verse: “John 9:37(“ Jesus said
to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is He.”)
Let us stand up and we
profess our faith.
Profession of our faith
I
believe in God the Father, Almighty,
creator
of heaven and earth:
And
in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:
--bow
down--
Who
was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:
Suffered
under Pontius Pilate;
was
crucified, died and was buried:
He
descended into hell:
The
third day he rose again from the dead:
He
ascended into heaven,
and
sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From
there He will come to judge the living and the dead:
I
believe in the Holy Spirit:
the
holy catholic church:
the
communion of saints:
The
forgiveness of sins:
The
resurrection of the body:
And
the life everlasting.
Amen.
==== 7:24 - 7:26 ====
Prayers of the Faithful Now is the time to pray for our stuff :-)Intercessions.
You may want to ask the children to offer
their own prayers or you can use the suggestions here.
Leader: We ask God to help us
open our senses to the world as we pray together:...
Prayer 1. Let us pray for
world leaders: that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to see the problems
that face them and find ways to help all people, especially those who are poor.
We pray to the Lord...
Prayer2. Let us pray for people
who are blind physically: that they may not be ignored and for those that do
not understand God’s will, continue to seek the love of God. We pray to the Lord...
Prayer 3. We pray for our
parish, family and friends: that the Lord will guide us to notice the problems
of others and together we may do all that we can to make a difference. We pray to the Lord....
Prayer 4. For all our relatives
and friends who have died, especially for whom we remember in a special way at
this Mass, Eternal
rest grant unto them oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
We pray to the Lord...
==== 7:26 - 7:28 ====
Silently, each one tells God your petition.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
Amen
==== 7:28 - 7:30 ====
Song Interlude: Walk Walk in the light, walk walk in the light,
Sing as we give in our offertory and we walk to the big church... NOTE--
after the song, is being sung, we pick the children that will perform next
Sunday....
