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sambuhay
a pastoral ministry of the priests and brothers of the society of st. paul
Year 24 No. 53
How were your eyes opened?
A mother of two teenage boys
became pregnant at the age
of 47. She did not want another
child. Somebody suggested that
pregnancy was a high risk at her
age, so she went to an abortion
doctor. But right on the doctor’s
table, she felt she could not go
through with the abortion.
When she gave birth to a child
with Down syndrome, the woman
was inconsolable. She kept tell-
ing herself, “It’s my fault! I didn’t
want this baby. This is God’s
punishment. God did this to my
child because I wanted to get rid
of him.”
A younger woman, instead,
did everything right, made intel-
ligent decisions, and selected the
best prenatal care. She exercised,
meditated, and listened to both
Mozart and Dr. Spock. She strictly
followed the diet recommended
by her doctors. She could rattle
off child care facts with the au-
thority of a grandma, and she
and her husband knew exactly
how many minutes it would take
to get to the hospital—even with
heavy traffic.
After delivery, she shook her
head in disbelief as she gazed at
the fragile life lying before her.
The child was cradled in a nest
of tubes instead of her arms. His
transparent skin was crisscrossed
with wires. This was not supposed
to happen. She did ever ything
right. Whose fault was this?
We know stories like these—
we may have heard them, and we
may even have lived through them
ourselves.
The first question the disciples
ask when they see the blind man
is, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man
or his parents, that he was born
Please read the reflection before or after the Mass.
4th Sunday of Lent (A) — Violet
blind?” They assume that the blind
man is being punished, either
for sins of his own doing or for
those of his parents. That sounds
pretty harsh when we hear it. But
in Jesus’ time, this is a common
belief—that misfortune is the re-
sult of sin or wrongdoing, whether
it be illness or injury or death, a
fire, a spilled jug of wine, a famine,
even being poor.
How does Jesus answer?
“Neither he nor his parents sinned;
it is so that the works of God might
be made visible through him.”
Jesus’ statement can easily be
misunderstood. We hear people
say, “God gives us suffering to
teach us a lesson…” or “God
makes us suffer to strengthen our
faith…” But what does that say
about God? A God who would send
suffering on a poor baby at birth to
teach the parents something? We
cannot accept the assumption that
God would use blindness or any
other affliction as a punishment
for some ethical infraction or as
a teaching illustration for right
behavior in the kingdom.
Jesus says that we are created
so that the works of God might
be made visible in all of us—the
blind man, you and me, healthy
and sick, rich and poor. Surely,
we all fall short of the glor y of
God, but as the Lord tells Samuel
(First Reading), God looks into the
heart. God sees us with the heart
and loves us anyway.
It is human to want a reason
for everything, to want things to
make sense. We ask questions
every time we are confronted with
a mystery we cannot solve or with
a tragedy we cannot explain. And
we easily assign blame to others
or to ourselves.
April 3, 2011
Whose sin is it? Whose fault?
We ask these because we are
not comfortable with the alterna-
tive—that there may be no easy
answers, that sometimes, bad
things happen to good people.
Perhaps it is hard to believe that
God’s glory can shine forth from
anything that we find painful or
horrifying or just plain wrong.
Jesus’ reply challenges us to
see the world in a different way
and to ask a different question:
“Where is God in this situation?”
Instead of looking at the appear-
ance, Jesus asks us to look into
the heart.
The neighbors who ask, “How
were your eyes opened?” some-
how manage to stumble upon
the right question. Jesus invites
us to ask not, “Who sinned?” but
deeper questions like, “How are
your eyes opened?” “How is God
made visible?” “What do you have
to say about him, since he opened
your eyes?”
These are questions with no
easy answers. They do not remove
our pain or protect us from tragedy.
They will not dry the tears of a
mother whose dreams have just
died. But they are questions that
will point us to the One who leads
us from darkness into light, anoints
us, and spreads a table before us.
How are your eyes opened? If
we continue to ask this question,
we may be amazed at what we
begin to see. We will realize that
all through the mystery we call
life, where bad things do happen
to good people, God sees us for
who we really are and loves us
anyway—the same way God calls
us to see and love others.
— Fr Apolinar Castor Jr, SSP
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INTRODUCTORY RITES
Entrance Antiphon
(See Is 66:10-11)
(Recited when there is no opening song)
Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad
for her, you who love her;
rejoice with her, you who
mourned for her, and you
will find contentment at her
consoling breasts.
Greeting
(The sign of the cross is made here)
P — Blessed be God the Father
who sends his Son to be the
light of the world. May the light
of salvation be with you.
All — And also with you.
Introduction
P — Dear sisters and brothers:
We claim to be people who
live in the light of Christ.
But do we always know who
we are and where we are
going? Tr ue faith demands
following Jesus who cannot
be hindered by opposition
and misunderstanding in
coming to the help of those
who suffer. True faith means
being the hear ts and hands
of Jesus so that through us he
may continue to do good to
the people of today. May this
Eucharist open our eyes to the
myster y of Christ who is the
Light of the world.
Penitential Rite
P — Let us ask the Lord’s
forgiveness for being blind to
his love and for failing to reflect
his love to one another. (Pause)
P — Lord, you are the light. You
see not as man sees because
you look into the heart: Lord,
have mercy.
All — Lord, have mercy.
P — Lord, you are the light.
Anyone who follows you will
have the light of life: Christ,
have mercy.
All — Christ, have mercy.
P — Lord, you are the light.
You give sight to the blind but
count as blind those who claim
they see: Lord, have mercy.
All — Lord, have mercy.
P — May almighty God have
mercy on us, forgive us our
sins, and bring us to everlasting
life.
All — Amen.
(The Gloria is omitted.)
Opening Prayer
P — Let us pray [for a greater
faith and love]. (Pause)
Father of peace, we are
joyful in your Word, your Son
Jesus Christ, who reconciles
us to you. Let us hasten toward
Easter with the eagerness of
faith and love.
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.
All — Amen.
LITURGY OF
THE WORD
First Reading (Sit)
The prophet Samuel anoints the
young David who would later
succeed Saul as king over Israel.
God does not judge by a person’s
appearance but looks into the
heart.
 
 _  
A reading from the first Book 
of Samuel (16:1, 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 sacrifice, Samuel looked
at Eliab and thought, “Surely
the L ord ’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 L ord 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.
— The word of the Lord.
All — Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm (Ps 23)
R — The Lord is my shep-
herd; there is nothing I shall
want.
E. C. Marfori
G/G C C/E
3 
4            

The Lord__ is my shep-herd;__
Dm G C/sus- C
    h   h  
there is no-thing I shall want.__
1. 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)
2. 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)
3. You spread the table before
me/ in the sight of my foes;/
you anoint my head with oil;/
my cup overflows. (R)
4. Only goodness and kindness
follow me/ all the days of my
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life;/ and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord/ for years to
come. (R)
Second Reading
By the sacrament of Baptism,
we have risen from the darkness
of sin to the light of Christ. The
apostle Paul reminds us to live
according to our calling as
children of light.
A reading from the Letter of
Saint Paul to the Ephesians
(5:8-14)
BROTHERS and sisters:
You were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light, for
light produces ever y 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 ever ything 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.”
— The word of the Lord.
All — Thanks be to God.
Verse before the Gospel
[Jn 8:12] (Stand)
All — I am the light of
the world, says the Lord;
whoever follows me will have
the light of life.
Gospel
(Jn 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38)
P — The Lord be with you.
All — And also with you.
P — A reading from the holy
Gospel according to John.
All — Glor y to you, Lord.
AS JESUS passed by he saw a
man blind from birth. 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.”
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.”
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 hear d 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.
— The Gospel of the Lord.
All — Praise to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
Homily (Sit)
Profession of Faith (Stand)
All — I believe in God, the
Father Almighty, Creator of
heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord. He
was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit and born of the
Virgin Mary. He suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
died, and was buried. He
descended to the dead. On the
third day, he rose again. He
ascended into heaven and is
seated at the right hand of the
Father. He will come again to
judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the
communion of saints, the for-
giveness of sins, the resurrec-
tion of the body, and the life
everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of the Faithful
P — Let us beseech the Father
for the light of personal and
committed faith so that through
our good works his name may
be glorified. We will pray:
R — Lord, let your light
shine on us.
C — That the Church may
humbly acknowledge her own
weakness so that strengthened
by Christ she may be faithful to
her mission to be the light of
the world, we pray: (R)
C — That our spiritual and
political leaders may see their
own limitations and sins so that
they may prove to be effective
and compassionate guides to
others, we pray: (R)
C — That the blind and the
handicapped may be effectively
assisted by both governmental
and non-governmental agencies
to lead meaningful lives, we
pray: (R)
C — That the eyes of those
blinded by honor, wealth, and
sense of superiority may be
open­ed by the Lord, and that
they may humbly recognize
their reliance on the Lord and
their fellow human beings, we
pray: (R)
C — That we may renew our
commitment to justice and
peace and raise our voice in
behalf of the poor and the
downtrodden, we pray: (R)
C — (The urgent concerns of
the community are prayed here.)
P — Father, Jesus our Lord
opened the eyes of the blind.
Open our eyes to recognize his
presence especially in the least
of our brothers and sisters.
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This we ask you through
Christ your Son and our Lord.
All — Amen.
LITURGY OF
THE EUCHARIST
Presentation of the Gifts
(Stand)
P — Pray, brethren…
All — May the Lord accept
the sacrifice at your hands
for the praise and glor y of
his name, for our good, and
the good of all his Church.
Prayer over the Gifts
P — Lord, we offer you these
gifts which bring us peace and
joy. Increase our reverence
by this Eucharist, and bring
salvation to the world.
We ask this through Christ
our Lord.
All — Amen.
Preface (Four th Sunday of
Lent—The man born blind)
P — The Lord be with you.
All — And also with you.
P — Lift up your hearts.
All — We lift them up to the
Lord.
P — Let us give thanks to the
Lord our God.
All — It is right to give him
thanks and praise.
P — Father, all-powerful and
ever-living God, we do well
always and everywhere to give
you thanks, through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
He came among us as a
man, to lead humankind from
darkness into the light of faith.
Through Adam’s fall we
were born as slaves of sin, but
now through baptism in Christ
we are reborn as your adopted
children.
Earth unites with heaven to
sing the new song of creation,
as we adore and praise you for
ever:
All — Holy, holy, holy... (Kneel)
Acclamation (Stand)
All — When we eat this
bread and drink this cup,
we proclaim your death,
The Church at Prayer
A Liturgical Catechesis
Sr. Maria Cecilia M. Payawal, PDDM
Communion Under Both Kinds
It can be more significant if the faithful, not only the presiding
priest, commune under both kinds: bread and wine.
The Roman Missal (n. 281) recommends that all faithful can
receive communion under both kinds for three reasons:
• to show more that we are in a Eucharistic “feast or banquet,”
wherein there is food and drink;
• to remember that we are participating in the sacrifice of Christ
on the cross (the wine and its relation with the Blood);
• and the wine signifies the foretaste of the joy in the Kingdom
of Heaven.
Lord Jesus, until you come our hear ts with the light of
in glor y. your gospel, that our thoughts
may please you, and our love
COMMUNION RITE
be sincere.
The Lord’s Prayer Grant this through Christ
our Lord.
All — Our Father… All — Amen.
P — Deliver us, Lord…
All — For the kingdom, the
CONCLUDING RITE
power, and the glor y are
yours, now and for ever. P — The Lord be with you.
All — And also with you.
Invitation to Peace
Prayer over the People
Invitation to Communion
and Blessing
(Kneel)
P — Bow your heads and pray
P — Behold Jesus, the Light
who enlightens everyone. He for God’s blessing. (Pause)
Father, look with love upon
is the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. your people, the love which
our Lord Jesus Christ showed
Happy are those who are invited
to his supper. us when he delivered himself
to evil men and suffered the
All — Lord, I am not worthy to
receive you, but only say the agony of the cross, for he is
Lord for ever.
word and I shall be healed.
All — Amen.
Communion Antiphon
P — And may the blessing of
(See Jn 9:11)
almighty God, (†) the Father,
The Lord rubbed my eyes; I and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
went away and washed, then come upon you and remain with
I could see, and I believed you for ever.
in God. All — Amen.
Prayer after Communion Dismissal
(Stand)
P — The Mass is ended. Go
P — Let us pray. (Pause) and share the light of Christ
Father, you enlighten all with others.
who come into the world. Fill All — Thanks be to God.