1. The Law Is in Your Heart 2. Prove Yourself a Neighbor Greeting (See Second Reading)
May the Word of God be very near to us in our mouths and in our hearts, and may Jesus, the living Word and our Lord, always be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
1. The Law Is in Your Heart Love is the core and meaning of life; it is also the summit of the commandments. We know this. But the question is: How genuine and deep is our love? The test will be how far we are willing to be inconvenienced by it, to “lose” time for it, to go out of our way for it, and to have a heart for strangers and misfits too. Jesus is with us here: he was moved with compassion at the sight of sinners, the sick and the suffering. Let us ask him, the first Good Samaritan, to make us good neighbors to all who need us.
2. Prove Yourself a Neighbor It is easy to pray for all the people who are suffering and in need, but Jesus asks of us today: “What do you do for them?” It is easy if we have the means to just write a check and send it, for then we are not bothered any further. But Jesus asks us: “Are you willing to make personal contact and to make your hands dirty for them?” We ask Jesus today for the heart and the will to make ourselves the neighbors of the needy.
Penitential Act 1. The Law Is in Your Heart We want to love people and the Lord. But we know that our love is often inadequate. We now ask the Lord and each other for forgiveness. (PAUSE) Lord Jesus, you came among us as compassionate as the Good Samaritan; you lift up all the downcast: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Jesus Christ, you make yourself near to those wounded in their body or their life and you bring them healing: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy. Lord Jesus, you ask us to show your own affectionate love to everyone in need, whatever the cost. Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us all our sins, especially our lukewarm love. Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen. 2. Prove Yourself a Neighbor We have not always recognized the Lord’s face in the person pleading for our compassion. We ask pardon from the Lord and from our neighbor. (PAUSE) Lord Jesus, the plaintive voice that begs for our help is yours, Lord: Make us hear it: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Jesus Christ, the troubled eyes that crave for our friendship are yours, Lord: Open our heart: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy. The humble, silent need that cries out to us to see and hear it, is you, Lord: Make us notice and relieve it: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Lord, you meet us in our need for forgiveness. Make us meet the needy in their misery and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that we may always be available to people who need us (PAUSE) Tender and merciful Father, you did not let your Son pass us by in our poverty and pain, but you let him make himself our neighbor. Make our heart go out to those who lie wounded by the roadside and give us the courage to lose time on them to lift them up and to care for them until they are healed. We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading (Deut 30:10-14): The Law of the Heart God calls us to be converted to him and to obey him and his commandments. For God is near to us and his law is written in our hearts.
Gospel (Lk 10:25-37): Everyone in Need Is My Neighbor To have eternal life it is not enough to know that we ought to love God and our neighbor; we must also practice this love, even when it is inconvenient or when the other person is an enemy. For every person in need is our brother or sister.
General Intercessions
Let us present to our God who cares our concern for the people whom God has placed on our road of life, and let us say: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you. – For all ministers of the Church, that they may faithfully proclaim God’s word and God’s law and at the same time walk in God’s ways of compassion and love without measure, let us pray: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you. – For all those whose profession it is to help the sick and the needy – like doctors, nurses, social assistants – that they may be motivated by gentleness and love for those they help, let us pray: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you. – For those who lie wounded by the road of life, that they may find good Samaritans who assist them to restore their faith in life and their trust in people, let us pray: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you. – For drivers and travelers, that they may have a safe journey, let us pray: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you. – For all those who have been good neighbors to us, that the Lord may reward them, let us pray: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you. – And for all of us, that we may have for one another time and attention and a helping hand, let us pray: R/ Lord, you are near to all who call on you.
Lord God, people are your gift to us. Help us to love one another with the generous love you have shown us in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Preparation of the Gifts
Lord our God, you want us not to seek security in observing the letter of the law but to seek the insecurity of committing ourselves to you and to people. Give us the courage to take the risk and, like Jesus, make the sacrifice of giving ourselves to you in our neighbors in need, of sharing in their joys and sorrows, their problems and their protests, that we may know and love them as you know and love us in Christ Jesus our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
We remember in the eucharistic prayer the total love shown us by Jesus in his death on the cross and the giving of the eucharist. Let us give our wholehearted thanks to the Father.
Invitation to the Lord’s Prayer
As sons and daughters of one Father, we are called to love one another. Let us pray with all trust to him who is our Father: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy, make us free from our fears and formalisms, and help us to love our neighbor as you yourself love us— with all your heart and soul— as we work in joyful hope for the return in glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom... Invitation to Communion
This is the Lamb of God who laid down his life that we might live. Happy are we to be united around the table of the Lord as the Lord’s brothers and sisters. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, when, exhausted and hungry, we sat by the side of the road, you sent us Jesus your Son. We thank you for letting him speak to us his tender words of encouragement and for healing with his body and blood our wounds caused by sin. Let him give us here the love that makes us near to all the miseries of our brothers and sisters who suffer. We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Several people saw the man who lay half-dead by the side of the road, but it was a stranger who came and took pity on him. Go and help people around you who are suffering, humiliated, beaten by life. Lift them up, bind their wounds, waste your time on them, and give them the best of yourselves, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen. Let us go and love one another as the Lord loves us. R/ Thanks be to God.
