They took the man who was previously blind to the Pharisees. It was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  The Pharisees began to ask him how he could see again. 

He said to them ‘He put mud on my eyes and I washed myself and I now see.’

Then some of the Pharisees said: ‘He is not from God – this man – 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 asked the blind man again: ‘What do you say about him, on the basis that he opened your eyes?’ He said ‘He is a prophet.’

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

Then neighbours, and the people who had seen him before when he was a beggar, said ‘ This is not the man who used to sit and beg, is it?’  Some said ‘This man is him!’ and others said ‘No, it’s someone like him.’ The man said ‘It’s me!’

So they said to him ‘How have your eyes been opened?’ 

He replied ‘The man, called Jesus, made mud, and spread it on my eyes. He said to me “Get up and go to Siloam and wash.” When I had gone and washed, I could see.’ 

And they said to him ‘Where is that man?’ He said ‘I don’t know.’

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

So the Jewish leaders said ‘Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets too, yet you say “If someone keeps my teaching, they will never ever experience death.” Are you greater than our father, Abraham, who was mortal?’ What is more the prophets died. Who are you making yourself out to be?’  

Jesus answered: ‘If I glorify myself, my glory amounts to nothing. It is my Father who is the one who glorifies me – about  whom you say  “He is our God”. And yet you do not know him. 

‘If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like yourselves. But I know him and keep his word. Abraham, your father was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing my day, and he saw it and rejoiced.’

Then the Jewish leaders said to him ‘You are not yet 50, and you have seen Abraham, have you?’

Jesus said to them: ‘Truly, truly I say to you before Abraham was born, I am.’

So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself and left the temple.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535

The Jewish leaders responded: ‘Don’t we rightly say that you are a Samaritan and you are possessed by a demon? 

Jesus answered: ‘I am not possessed by a demon, but I honour my Father; you treat me shamefully. I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it and judges. 

Truly, truly I say to you if someone  keeps my teaching, they will never ever see death.’

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

So Jesus spoke to those Judeans who had believed in him: ‘If you stay in my word, truly you show that you are my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 

And they said to him :’We are descendants of Abraham, and we have never been enslaved to anyone. “How then do you say that we will become free?”’

Jesus answered them: ‘Truly, truly I say to you that everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. But the slave does not stay in the household for life, rather the son stays forever. So if  the Son frees you, you will really be set free.  

I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. But you seek to kill me, because my word finds no room in you. ‘

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

Therefore the officers went back to the Chief Priests and the Pharisees, and they said to them: ‘Why did you not bring him?’ 

The officers replied ‘ No man has ever spoken like him.’ 

So the Pharisees answered ‘You have not been deceived too, have you?’ Has one of the authorities or any of the Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd, which does not know the Law, is cursed.’

Nicodemus, who came to him before and  who was one of them, said to them, ‘Our Law does not judge a man unless first it has heard from him, and knows what he has been doing, does it?’ 

They responded :’ You are not from Galilee too, are you?  Search and you will see that that (the) prophet does not rise from Galilee.’ 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

Some of the crowd, hearing this, began to say ‘This man is really the Prophet.’ Others were saying ‘This man is the Christ.’ but still others said ‘No. The Christ does not come from Galilee, does he? Did not Scripture say that the Christ has David as an ancestor, and comes from the village of Bethlehem, where David was.’ So a split happened in the crowd because of him. 

Some of them wanted  to arrest him, but nobody laid their hands on him.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

On the last day of the feast , the most important,  Jesus was standing and cried out:

 ‘If anyone is thirsty let them come to me
and let whoever believes in me, drink.
As the  Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from his core. ‘

(He said this about the Spirit, which he was about to give to those who believed in him. For the Spirit was not yet present, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

The Pharisees heard of the crowd murmuring these things about him and the Chief Priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 

Then Jesus said ‘I am with you for only a short time and then I will go to the one who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you cannot come. ‘

So the Jewish leaders said to one another: ‘Where is this man about to go that we will not find him?  He is not about to go to where our people live among Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is he?’ What is this saying:  “You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you cannot come?”’

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem were saying ‘Isn’t this the man they are seeking to kill?’ and ‘Look he speaks out publicly and they say nothing to him. Can it possibly be that the authorities have actually realised that this man is the Christ? But we know where this man comes from. But when the Christ comes, no-one will know where he comes from.’

Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts, teaching: ‘You know me, and where I come from. I have not come on my own authority but it is true about the one who sent me, whom you do not know. I know him, because I am from him; that one sent me.

So they sought to arrest him, and yet no-one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. In fact many of the crowd believed in him and they said ‘When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than this man has done, will he?’

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert