SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Here Am I, Lord
Come And See
We Too Are Called
Greeting: (See Second Reading)
Your bodies are members making up the body of Christ. Anyone who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Use your body for the glory of God. May the Lord Jesus be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
1. Here Am I, Lord
Perhaps we don’t realize enough how hard it is to listen to one another. We are so busy with ourselves and with our affairs that we don’t hear others or listen to them. How much harder it is for us to hear God and to listen to him! He loves us; he speaks to us, mainly through his written word in the scriptures, in the voice of the Church, in his commandments, in other people, especially in prophets and the poor, in the events of life. Pay attention, try to hear him and say: “Speak, Lord, your servant listens.”
2. Come And See
Have we Christians really encountered the Lord? Certainly, we believe in him, we pray to him, we hear his message proclaimed Sunday after Sunday, and have perhaps read the gospels in private. But affecting us much more deeply is encountering the Lord in person. It is only then that a deep understanding, a warm relationship with him and a real sense of our mission in life can be born and develop. Come, let us accept his invitation to “come and see” what he has to offer us and what he is asking of us. He is here with us in the Eucharist. Let us ask Jesus to show us where he lives, who he is, and what he expects of us.
3. We Too Are Called
Before we could even know him God called us by name when we were baptized. He called us to be his sons and daughters and gave each of us a task in the Church. Vocation is not restricted to priests and nuns but a call given to us all. This call came not only once when we became God’s children in baptism. God keeps calling us day after day to live as his children and to work for his kingdom. The readings that we hear in this Eucharistic celebration are God’s word and call to us today. The sacrifice that we offer with Jesus our Lord commits us to give a generous answer to God’s call of love.
Penitential Act
1. Here Am I, Lord
If only we had heeded more the word of the Lord! We ask him now to forgive us. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you speak to us when you let your Spirit prompt us to do what is good and be just to people. Make us listen to your voice: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you speak to us when our shepherds and prophets remind us how we can serve you and our neighbor. Make us listen to your voice. Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you speak to us when people appeal to our sense of justice, mercy or compassion. Make us listen to your voice:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us, Lord, that we have turned a deaf ear to you when you spoke to us. Dispose us to listen to you and lead us to everlasting live. R/Amen.
Opening Prayer
2. Here I Am Lord. - Come And See
Let us pray that we may be aware of Jesus’ call (pause)
God our Father, we believe in your Son Jesus Christ. Open our ears to listen to his Word. Open our hearts that we may experience his message as a call addressed personally to each of us. And may each of us say, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
3. We Too Are Called
Let us pray that we may always be open to God’s word and call
(pause)
Father, you know us and called us by our name even before we could know and love you. May we hear and heed your word to follow Jesus your Son. Let him become close and familiar to us, that we may learn from him how to live for you and for people. Help us to live with him and in him, for he is our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
First Reading • 1 Samuel 3:3b—10, 19 Speak Lord, Your Servant Listens
Young Samuel responds to God’s mysterious call to put himself entirely in God’s service.
Second Reading • 1 Corinthians 6:13b-15a, 17-20 Your Body Is The Temple of the Spirit
To the Corinthians, living in a port city with much sexual immorality, Paul says: your body is sacred for God, for it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Gospel • Jn 1:35-42: Come And See
Two disciples of John encounter Jesus and he calls them to stay with him. Once they know him better, they will follow him.
General Intercessions
In baptism God our Father has called us to belong no longer to ourselves but to live for God and for people. Let us pray to our Father in heaven that we may always respond to his call in the concrete circumstances of life and let us say: R/
Speak Lord, your servants listen. To those called in the Church to lead the people of God, that they may have the courage to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth without compromise or fear, let us pray: R/ Speak Lord, your servants listen.
· For those who seek God, that the Lord may enlighten their minds and stir their hearts to accept and love him through the inspiring life of dedicated Christians, let us pray: R/ Speak Lord, your servants listen.
· For those responsible for others through their positions of leadership, that they may promote justice and love among those entrusted to them and that they may be open and accessible to people in their concrete needs, let us pray: R/ Speak Lord, your servants listen.
· For all of us, that we may recognize the voice of Christ to those who appeal to us in their poverty and difficulties, let us pray: R/ Speak Lord, your servants listen.
· For this community gathered around the Word and the Table of the Lord, that we may hear his word as a call and find strength in the Eucharist to help one another on the way to God, let us pray: R/ Speak Lord, your servants listen.
· Father in heaven, when you call us in the events of everyday life let your Spirit give us the insight and the strength to say: “Lord, here I am. I am ready to do your will,” together with Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer Over the Gifts
Father in heaven, you have called us together, saints and sinners alike, at the table of your Son. With him we offer you our willingness to carry out in everyday life the tasks you entrust to us. Let your Son give us the courage to be your new people and to be open to the prompting of your love. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
We now join Christ in his praise of the Father. As God’s people and the body of Christ, let us become signs of his saving love to all.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
In Jesus' words we pray to our heavenly Father that we may always respond to his love by seeking and doing his will: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us Lord, from every evil and give your needed peace to our time. Make us attentive to every call from you and from anyone who appeals to us. Set us free from all sin, for it destroys our dignity of being your children and image. Be our strength in temptation and trials and lead us forward in hope and joy toward the full coming among us of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Come and see how good is the Lord: Happy are those who rely on him. R/ Lord, l am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion Loving Father, you have let us encounter Jesus your Son in the word and call he spoke to us and in the bread of himself he broke for us. We thank you for trusting us so much, notwithstanding our weakness, that you loved us and called us by name to be the sign of all of your goodness and unfailing mercy. Let all that we think and say and do be a grateful answer of love to you. Grant this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing In this Eucharist we have encountered the Lord; we have heard his voice calling us to be the community of his Church. Each of us has his or her own gifts to answer that call. May you do so with the blessing of Almighty God: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen. Go in the peace of Christ and let him be your companion in life.
R/ Thanks be to God.
