God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has chosen us in Christ
to live in his presence and with him to carry out his plan of bringing everyone
together under Christ. May the Lord's peace and grace be always with you. R/
And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. Don't Keep the Word to Yourself
A good test of how strong our faith is would be how much we
want to share it with the people around us. We cannot keep for ourselves what
is good and rich and beautiful. If the gospel has shaped our lives and made it
deep and precious for us, why not let it become Good News also to others? Not
everyone is called to go out and preach it but just to let it speak for itself
by the way we live it. Ask the Lord here in this eucharist to help us live and
spread his Good News.
B. Let Your Life Speak God's Word
Ordinary people like you and me went out into the world with
the message of Jesus, with nothing else to offer than the Good News, and yet
the gospel spread far and wide. In the early centuries after Jesus' coming most
of the converts were won over by seeing how the Christians lived, how they
worshipped God and loved and served one another. In that way they lived and
preached the heart of the gospel message. Is it perhaps this simplicity and
directness which we need in our day? With the Lord Jesus among us, we ask him
how best to make his Good News known.
C. Speak in My Name: You Are a Prophet
Who of us dares to stand up and speak out on seeing
something in society or the local community that is against the gospel and
genuine human values? To speak and spread the Good News is not always welcome
to people. Even some faithful protest. It demands courage on the part of the
messengers. For it will upset some of the leaders, and they will say you are
meddling in politics when you are merely asking for justice or defending the
voiceless poor. But speak we must, for it is God's word he has entrusted to us.
A prophet is literally one who speaks for God. We ask Jesus for courage.
D. Chosen in Christ
It is not we who have chosen God, because we like him or because he
conforms to our ideas about him or seems to answer our aspirations. It is he
who has chosen us to become his sons and daughters. He has forgiven our sins
and given us life through Jesus Christ. All is given us, all is grace. How rich
we are! We are God's people called to give him glory in the name of all the
world and to bring the world to him. With Jesus we thank the Father for having
chosen us in Christ.
Penitential Act
Our lives may have been far from being Good News to others. Let
us ask the Lord to forgive us. (PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, in you we have been blessed with all love and
grace from heaven: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Jesus Christ, in you we have been chosen to be holy and spotless in God's sight: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, in you the Father chose us to live through love in his presence: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Touch us with your healing hand, Lord, and forgive us all our sins. Make us free and rich in grace and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
A. Don't Keep the Word to Yourself B. Let Your Life Speak
God's Word C. Speak in My Name: You Are a Prophet
D. Chosen in Christ
Let us pray that we may live the life of God's sons and daughters (PAUSE) Blessed are you, God our Father, that you have chosen us in Christ to be your sons and daughters, set free by the blood of your Son. Keep us free and make us live a life that reflects the Good News brought us by Jesus. Make our spirit of love and service contagious, that it may inspire people and attract them to you, our living and loving God. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the First Reading: The Lord Took
Me and Sent Me Amos has to speak God's uncomfortable message of conversion
to a self- sufficient people which paid only lip-service to God and speak he
does.
Introduction to the Second
Reading: God Has Chosen Us in Christ Paul thanks God for his plan of
love. For God has chosen all people to be his children through the blood of
Christ and has destined us to be his people and heirs of eternal happiness.
General Intercessions
We and all the members of our communities are called by the
Lord to make the Good News known. Let us all pray with one another and for each
other that we may respond to God's call according to the grace he gives each of
us. Let us say: R/ Here we are, Lord, send us!
- Lord, he was only a shepherd and a pruner of trees, but
you called Amos and put your words in his mouth. Give us the courage to speak
your word. And so we pray: R/
- Lord, they were only stammerers and timid people, but you
called Moses and Jeremiah to speak out and lead. Make us voice your word
without hesitation, even to people not well disposed to listen. And so we pray:
R/ Here we are, Lord, send us!
- Lord, they were only fishermen cleaning their nets, but
you called your apostles to spread your Good News. Make us fearless to speak
your word. And so we pray: R/
- Lord, he was only a tax collector behind his desk, but you
called Matthew to heal people and to cast out devils. Wounded as we are, make
us healers too. And so we pray: R/
- Lord, they are only teachers or parish priests or
employees, but you call your people in our communities to tolerate no
injustice, to defend the poor. Speak through them and through all of us for all
that is right and good. And so we pray: R/
God our Father, let the life and message of Jesus so inspire
us that we become willing to voice his truth and bring his kind of freedom to
everyone on this earth, that he may be the Lord of all now and for ever.
Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, we have nothing to rely upon except your
strength. Give us your own Son Jesus in these signs of bread and wine. Help us
to be to the world today his message of hope and justice. As he breaks the
bread of himself for us, may we bring food to the hungry and love and truth to
the satisfied, in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord for ever.
Amen
The Father has chosen us in Christ to be his daughters and
sons and to carry out his plan with and through Christ. For all this we thank
and praise him with Christ.
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer
The Father has chosen us in Christ to be his beloved
children. We call on him and thank him in the words of Jesus himself: R/ Our
Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our
day. Keep us holy and spotless and let us live through love in your presence, as
we wait in joyful hope for the coming in glory of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/
For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Christ the Lord, who has brought us by his blood the
forgiveness of our sins and the riches of his grace. Happy are we to be invited
to the holy meal of his love. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, you have given us yourself in your Son Jesus
Christ. Do not allow us to be possessive but make us realize that your life and
love are ours for good insofar as we are willing to grow in them and to share
them with our neighbor. Give us this conviction and the strength to put it into
practice, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Blessing
God has entrusted to us his mission of bringing the Good
News of his Son to a self-sufficient world, ill-disposed to receive him. We ourselves
are often poor witnesses, yet speak we must by our words and our style of life.
May God himself be our strength and may he bless you for this task: the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go and proclaim God's Good News to all who are
willing to listen. R/ Thanks be to God.