Friday, March 27

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent 

First Reading – Jeremiah 20:10-13

For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived, then we can overcome him, and take our revenge on him.” But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble, they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. O Lord of hosts, who test the righteous, who see the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 5-6,  7

℟ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised.

℟ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me;

℟ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

The cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.

℟ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was ang

℟ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.

Verse Before the Gospel – John 6:63, 68

It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Gospel – John 10:31-41

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, Ignatius Press, Copyright ⓒ 2006.