Readings and Gospel

Lectionary for this day - This has all the readings and Gospel

1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a - Samuel Is sent to Bethlehem and anoints David

[Letter of St Paul to the] Ephesians 5:8-14 - Duty to Live in the Light

John 9:1-41 - The Man Born Blind

• Read the footnotes here for a deeper explanation.

• Focus: Jesus, is the light of the world, who allows us see things as they truly are.  Without Jesus we walk in darkness and are spiritually blind.

Who / What / Where is...?

Samuel

• Samuel is the last of the Judges. He bridges the gap between the period of the Judges and the monarchy, and guides Israel’s transition to kingship. (A Judge is a leader or champion sent by God to lead the Israelites. A Judge delivered the Israelites from oppression.)

Jesse

• The father of David

Bethlehem

• The word means "House of Bread".

• It is a Palestinian town south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. The biblical birthplace of Jesus.

Eliab

• Eldest son of Jesse

David

• Youngest of 8 sons of Jesse

• 2nd king of Israel

Paul

• A Jew and a pharisee. He was educated by Gamaliel, a notable teacher of Jewish law.

• A Roman citizen.

• He first persecuted Christians. After Jesus appeared to him, he became a Christian and was responsible for the conversion of many Gentiles. More information.

Ephesians

• People in Ephesus, which was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. (Source: Wikipedia)

• More information about the Letter of St Paul to the Ephesians.

John

• Means "Yahweh has been Gracious"

• Brother of James (another apostle)

• Son of Zebedee

• He was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.

  • • 12 Apostles - the first 12 people that Jesus called to follow Him.

Anointed

• Received the Lord's favor

Pharisees

• "Pharisee" is derived from Ancient Greek Pharisaios (Φαρισαῖος), from Aramaic Pərīšā (פְּרִישָׁא), plural Pərīšayyā (פְּרִישַׁיָּא), meaning "set apart, separated". (Source: Wikipedia)

• The Pharisees (/ˈfærəsiːz/; Hebrew: פְּרוּשִׁים, romanized: Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism. (Source: Wikipedia)

• Pharisees are marked by devotion to the law, written and oral, and the Scribes, experts in the law, belonged predominantly to this group.

Sabbath

• The Sabbath (/ˈsæbəθ/) or Shabbat (from Hebrew שַׁבָּת Šabbāṯ) is a day set aside for rest from work and to worship God.

Messiah

• Messiah or messias (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ, romanized: māšīyaḥ; Greek: μεσσίας, messías; Arabic: مسيح, masîḥ; lit. 'the anointed one') is a saviour or liberator of a group of people.

Give God the praise

• an Old Testament formula of adjuration to tell the truth

Moses

• The person called by God to lead the Israelites of out Egypt and into the Promised Land. 

• The authorship of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) is attributed to him.

Son of Man

• This is a term that Jesus called Himself, meaning that He is the Messiah.

Dig deeper into this Sunday's Readings and Gospel with teachings from Brant Pitre.

Saints