Collect
Grant,
we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily
deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
First
Reading
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I
have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go;
I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a
king among his sons.” And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears
it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I
have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I
will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me him whom I name to
you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of
the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” And
he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; consecrate
yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and
his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab
and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 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 sees not as man sees; man
looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then
Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither
has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said,
“Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” And Jesse made seven of his
sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen
these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he
said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he
comes here.” And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and
had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him;
for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him
in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon
David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16: 1-7 (RSV)
Second
Reading
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And
his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he
was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his
parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work
the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can
work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and
anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, “Go, wash in
the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back
seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, “Is
not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he”; others said,
“No, but he is like him.” He said, “I am the man.” They said to him, “Then how
were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made
clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went
and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?”
He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who
had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made
the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received
his sight. And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I
see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he
does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do
such signs?” There was a division among them. So they again said to
the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He
said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been
blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who
had received his sight, and asked them, “Is this your son, who you
say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents
answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but
how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he
is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this
because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one
should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore
his parents said, “He is of age, ask him.” So for the second time
they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give God the praise;
we know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a
sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They
said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He
answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you
want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?” And
they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We
know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he
comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is a marvel! You do not
know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 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.
John 9: 1-41
(RSV)
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