March 28 2021

First Reading

Galatians 5፡1-10

Stand firm, and do not be willing to be again held by the yoke of servitude. Behold, I,

Paul, say to you, that if you have been circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

For I again testify, about every man circumcising himself, that he is obligated to act

according to the entire law. You are being emptied of Christ, you who are being

justified by the law. You have fallen from grace. For in spirit, by faith, we await the hope

of justice. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision prevails over

anything, but only faith which works through charity. You have run well. So, what has

impeded you, that you would not obey the truth? This kind of influence is not from him

who is calling you. A little leaven corrupts the whole mass. I have confidence in you, in

the Lord, that you will accept nothing of the kind. However, he who disturbs you shall

bear the judgment, whomever he may be.

Second Reading

James 5፡13-20

Is any of you sad? Let him pray. Is he even-tempered? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone ill

among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him,

anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And a prayer of faith will save the infirm,

and the Lord will alleviate him. And if he has sins, these will be forgiven him. Therefore,

confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be saved.

For the unremitting prayer of a just person prevails over many things. Elijah was a mortal

man like us, and in prayer he prayed that it would not rain upon the earth. And it did not

rain for three years and six months. And he prayed again. And the heavens gave rain,

and the earth brought forth her fruit. My brothers, if anyone of you strays from the

truth, and if someone converts him, he ought to know that whoever causes a sinner to

be converted from the error of his ways will save his soul from death and will cover a

multitude of sins.

Gospel

John 5:1-18

After these things, there was a feast day of the Jews, and so Jesus ascended to

Jerusalem. Now at Jerusalem is the Pool of Evidence, which in Hebrew is known as the

Place of Mercy; it has five porticos. Along these lay a great multitude of the sick, the

blind, the lame, and the withered, waiting for the movement of the water. Now at times

an Angel of the Lord would descend into the pool, and so the water was moved. And

whoever descended first into the pool, after the motion of the water, he was healed of

whatever infirmity held him. And there was a certain man in that place, having been in

his infirmity for thirty-eight years. Then, when Jesus had seen him reclining, and when he

realized that he had been afflicted for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be

healed?" The invalid answered him: "Lord, I do not have any man to put me in the pool,

when the water has been stirred. For as I am going, another descends ahead of me."

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your stretcher, and walk." And immediately the man was

healed. And he took up his stretcher and walked. Now this day was the Sabbath.

Therefore, the Jews said to the one who had been healed: "It is the Sabbath. It is not

lawful for you to take up your stretcher." He answered them, "The one who healed me,

he said to me, 'Take up your stretcher and walk." Therefore, they questioned him, "Who

is that man, who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk? " But the one who had been

given health did not know who it was. For Jesus had turned aside from the crowd

gathered in that place. Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple, and he said to him:

"Behold, you have been healed. Do not choose to sin further, otherwise something

worse may happen to you." This man went away, and he reported to the Jews that it was

Jesus who had given him health. Because of this, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, for he

was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "Even now, my Father

is working, and I am working." And so, because of this, the Jews were seeking to kill him

even more so. For not only did he break the Sabbath, but he even said that God was his

Father, making himself equal to God.