Paradise Restored in Mary
Greeting (See Second Reading)
We are called in Christ to be holy and spotless. and, like Mary, to live in God’s presence. May we respond to God’s call and may our Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
Mary leads the way for all the people who journey toward the
Lord. Today the Church applies to Mary, the virgin conceived without sin, the
words of the prophet: “I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my
God.” Why this joy? Because Mary is like the garden of humankind in which God
lets the good seed sprout. Because she is the servant of the Lord and the image
of what the Church ought to be. God is faithful to his promises and through her
he gave us our Savior. Mary is the first and the only one of all people who was
kept from sin. She is paradise restored, where God and people encounter one
another.
Penitential Act
We are not free from sin, and we share in the responsibility
for sin in the world. Let us seek God’s forgiveness and pray that we may also
share in God’s grace and goodness. (pause)
God loves us with so much love that he was generous with his
mercy: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
When we were dead through sin, he brought us to life with
Christ: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
It is through grace that we have been saved and raised up
with Christ: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Have
mercy on us, Lord, destroy the power of evil in us and keep your promises. Make
us your children of light and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that with Mary we may overcome evil (pause)
God our Father, we thank you for choosing Mary as the Mother
of your Son and for preserving her from all sin from the first moment of her
life. Let this sign of your boundless love give us hope and strength to
overcome evil in all its forms. May we respond to your loving goodness with the
eagerness of Mary, by the power of the grace won for us through Jesus Christ
our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: The Promise of Victory Over
Evil
God condemns the power of evil symbolized by the serpent. He
promises that the forces of good in humankind and the world will overcome sin.
Reading 1 GN 3:9-15, 20
Second Reading: Called to Be God’s Children
Before all ages, we have been destined to become God’s
daughters and sons, his holy people, through Christ’s salvation.
Gospel: The Beginning of the Fulfillment
As the “Favored One of God,” Mary is the prophetic model of
those who overcome evil. With her begins the fulfillment of God’s promises.
With her, those who are one with Christ will learn to say Yes to God’s plan.
Gospel LK 1:26-38
Commentary
We hear one of the stories of our genesis-our first parents
who symbolize all people created in the image and likeness of God, called to
obey the Word of God. They failed, missed the mark, and found themselves
searching for knowledge of themselves, of God, of freedom to do both good and
evil. Since the beginning, all of us have struggled to know and obey God. Adam
and Eve represent each and everyone of us seeking and failing to know life in
God. We have been recreated in baptism, sharing the life of God in Jesus, and we
have also been blessed beyond description. We are filled with the love of God.
This is the will and pleasure of God-to make us all-holy, to know God
intimately, and to live our lives in praise of God's goodness to us.
We hear the story of the beginnings of the incarnation, with
God sending his angel to declare that God's presence will be among us forever
and always, in a child born of a woman and the power of the Spirit of God. This
is the account of the Trinity and the Incarnation, two core mysteries at the
heart of our belief and practice. It is about Mary saying yes, It is about her
baptism and our saying yes so that God can be born and can be seeded into our
souls, hearts, and bodies.
Intercessions
Let us thank God our Father for giving us his beloved Son
Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us ask that the work of salvation
begun in Jesus and very visible in Mary may continue in us, as we pray:
R/ Lord, be with us through your Son
– For the Church of Jesus Christ, that it may be
the sign to all the world that God wants to be near to his people, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us
through your Son.
– For our world in dire need of peace, that
people may understand and love one another and that we may be spared from wars
and all violence, from natural calamities, hunger and sin, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us
through your Son.
– For our Christian families, that they may be
united in the Lord; for our young people, that we may give them a future to
believe in; for orphans and abandoned children, that we may give them love and
security, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us
through your Son.
– For our Christian communities, that they may
be centers of hope and joy and protectors of all life; that their faith and
spirit of service may bear witness to the presence of Christ, let us pray:
R/ Lord,
be with us through your Son.
God our Father, Mary did not keep her child, your Son, for
herself alone but gave him to the world. Make our faith and love so deep and
wide that we too may share Jesus with all people far and near, for he is the
Lord of all, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father, when Mary, the Virgin without sin, said her
YES to your plans, the world was given its Savior. Accept our YES in this
Eucharist to bring the life and hope of your Son to all our brothers and
sisters. Let this be the sacrifice that pleases you, and that makes us grow day
after day in your justice and freedom. We ask this in the name of Jesus the
Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
With joy and hope we thank the Father for giving us Mary,
and for giving us Jesus through her, to make an ever-new beginning with
us.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
With Mary we want to do God’s will, that his kingdom may
come. Let us say so to our Father in heaven in the words of Jesus
himself: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our
day, for we are powerless to break the chain of violence and evil. Make us
messengers and instruments of reconciliation and love rather than agents of
strife and injustice, as we wait in joyful hope for the full coming of your
Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus our Lord, the Son of the Virgin Mother; in
him, we have been chosen to be holy and spotless. Happy are we to be invited to
share his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father, Mary heard the Word spoken to her, in your
name by your messenger, and she put herself at your service. We have heard here
the Word of your Son. Let this Word stir us to break the chain of evil in us
and in the world around us and to replace it with a stream of goodness and
mercy that wells up to everlasting life. Grant this through Christ our
Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
To a waiting world Mary gave a Savior, because she said her
YES to God’s plan. To a world waiting in our day for meaning and hope, we can
give the peace and justice of Christ, if we too are willing to say our YES to
God’s Intercessions with us and the world. For he called us to continue the
work he began in Jesus with the cooperation of Mary. May we respond to this
call with the blessing of almighty God: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace and give Christ to the world. R/ Thanks be to God.
