Greeting (see First Reading)
God has
glorified his servant
Jesus,the
Holy One, the Just One, the prince of life. God raised him from the dead and to
that fact we are the witnesses. In his name we are gathered here. May the Risen
Lord be always with you.
R/ And
also with you.
1.
Marked with Wounds
Our faith
in the Risen Lord is a concrete faith, a faith in someone who is risen, yes,
but not a “ghost,” not a figment of the imagination, but real and so much like
us, in everything except sin, including wounds and scars and struggles. Is this
the Jesus in whom we believe, who walks by our side on the road of life, who
sustains us with his love and strength when we struggle and are wounded? For he
is really risen, and he goes with us to help us start rising already now in
this life above our troubles and fears and cowardice, until we are taken up in
his unending joy and happiness. Let it be this Jesus with us with whom we can
identify and to whom we bear witness in everyday life.
2.
Dying and Rising with Christ
To make the
mistakes of sin and to make up for them, to stumble and to get back on our
feet, to fall and to rise again, is that not for all a repeated experience in
life? This is not just an image but basically the same reality as resurrection;
for a Christian this life is already a repeated dying and rising with Christ.
Resurrection is not merely something that will come for us at the judgment or
when we enter God’s home after death. It is here with us, beautifully and
repeatedly. By the grace of our Lord’s resurrection we keep dying and rising
even now. Let us share the meal of resurrection with the risen Lord.
Penitential
Act
If we
had more faith in the nearness of the Risen Lord we would have fallen less into
sin. Let us seek the Lord’s forgiveness. (pause)
Risen Lord
Jesus, you show us your hands and feet, for you are near us: Lord, have mercy.
R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus
Christ, risen Lord, before you rose you suffered and died to bring us
forgiveness and life: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Risen Lord
Jesus, you eat with us to share with us your strength and life: Lord, have
mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
By the
power of your love change us, Lord, forgive us all our sins, and accompany us
on the journey to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening
Prayer
Let us pray
that we may live the risen life of Jesus. (pause)
God of the
living, who will believe that your Son is risen if he is not alive among us
today? Do not let the death of sin hold us, for he has set us free by his
blood. Make us brim with his life, that it may overflow on those around us in
deeds of compassionate forgiveness, of generosity without measure. Nourish this
life in us in the Eucharist of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First
Reading: Peter, Witness to the Risen Lord
In his
preaching, Peter bears strong witness that Christ is risen from the dead. He
asks his hearers to turn to Christ and to let him make them new.
Second
Reading: True to the Risen Lord
When we
follow the commandments of love of Christ, we are true to the risen Christ and
we grow in God’s love.
Gospel:
Witnesses to The Risen Lord
Jesus
appeared to his doubting disciples to strengthen their faith that he was risen.
Then he sent them out as he sends us – to bear witness to his forgiveness and
new life.
Intercessions
God our
Father, you help all those who come to you because our risen Lord Jesus Christ
stays with us and speaks on our behalf. We pray you: R/ Lord our God,
hear your people.
–
We ask that there be more faith among us, more confidence in the future,
because we are certain that Christ is alive and present among us. And so we
pray: R/ Lord our God, hear your people.
–
We ask for a more positive attitude toward all life on earth, more
understanding and solidarity among peoples and cultures, whatever language we
speak, because we are certain that you call everyone to peace and friendship.
And so we pray: R/ Lord our God, hear your people.
–
We ask you to give us the willingness to make personal sacrifices, for we are
certain that in this way we can promote the happiness of the community. And so
we pray: R/ Lord our God, hear your people.
–
We ask you for the spirit of Christian love and of forgiveness toward each and
all, for we are certain that all are invited in Christ to share in your
unending happiness. And so we pray: R/ Lord our God, hear your people.
–
We ask you for those baptized in Christ’s name that they may follow in Christ’s
footsteps, and for all married couples, that they may be faithful to you and to
one another, for we are certain that you are faithful to them. And so we pray: R/
Lord our God, hear your people.
–
We ask you for humility for ourselves, for we are certain that Christ has not
yet completed his work in us and that we still have to grow in his life. And so
we pray: R/ Lord our God, hear your people.
Loving God,
let your risen Son be alive among us in our words and actions. Hear the prayers
of your people, on account of him who stays with you and with us, Jesus Christ,
our lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer
over the Gifts
Living
Father, with bread and wine we celebrate the presence of your Son in our midst here
around this table and in every day life. Let us experience him here as your
great gift to us and let him stay with us in our never-ending quest to be your
people free from sin and living the risen life of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/
Amen.
Introduction
to the Eucharist Prayer
Where can
Jesus be closer to us than here in this Eucharist? He speaks to us, we eat and
drink him. Here he assures us that he goes with us our sometimes-weary way. Let
us thank the Father for giving Jesus to us.
Introduction
to the Lord’s Prayer
Jesus stays
with us and lives in the presence of the Father to intercede for us. With him
we pray to our Father: R/ Our Father...
Deliver
Us
Deliver us,
Lord, from every evil and grant us faith and peace in our day through the
presence of your risen Son. Let him stay with us in our pains and fears that we
may overcome them with him. Let him stay with us too in days of joy and
laughter, that he may deepen our happiness. Let hope grow in us as we wait for
the day of his coming in glory as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/
For the kingdom...
Invitation
to Communion
This is
Jesus, the Lamb of God. He died for us but he is alive. Happy are we to receive
him and to touch him as our bread of life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer
after Communion
God of life
and saving love, we have enjoyed the presence of your Son among us, for we have
been together in his name, he has spoken to us his words of life and we have
shared his table. May he live on in our community by our attentive presence to
one another, our common faith expressed in deeds of love and service, of
gratitude and forgiveness, by our efforts to create a better world where there
is justice and hope for all. May we thus journey together to you and bear
witness that Jesus Christ is our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Christ
calls us to bear witness to his presence among us as our risen Lord. Let us
live, then, as God’s new people, full of faith and hope and love and mutual
forgiveness. That we may bring this blessing to the world, may almighty God
bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in
peace to love and serve the Lord in one another. R/ Thanks be to God.
Commentary
Jesus begins to teach the disciples a lesson about
Scripture. He had already done it with the two who had gone to Emmaus. He
had explained the Scripture to them and later at the breaking of the bread,
their hearts are opened and they understood the meaning of the Word of God. Why
does he insist on the Word of God as the light that would illuminate
the minds of the disciples? The reason is, the disciples are confused.
They find themselves in front of a Messiah with his hands and feet pierced ...
What kind of Messiah were they waiting for? They expected a
mighty king who would use his mighty hands to rescue them from the powers of
the Romans and establish the Jewish kingdom to impose the power of the chosen
people over the rest of the world. But instead, they were now facing a pair of
hands and feet that are the identity of the Messiah of God who contradicted all
their expectations and hopes.
What does the Risen One tell them? Read the Scripture and
you will understand the true design of God. A messiah is not someone who
would change the world with force, with power, with dominion, but with LOVE.
This was the project of God; and Jesus has gone through the events that would
appear as a defeat, a failure. But this project of God was realized through the
greatest crime committed by people.
It is only by careful study of the Scripture – the Old
Testament – that they would understand the meaning of the pierced hands and
feet of the Messiah. The sufferings and death that Jesus underwent were all in
the plan of God and the Scripture was realized in the life of Jesus. To
understand the person of Jesus the Messiah and to know the plan of God for
mankind and His plan for you and me, go back to the scripture… this is the
message of today. This is the message for the new world.
And the Risen One concludes, saying to his community,
"You are the witnesses of this". They are called to be the Witnesses
of the new World which Jesus of Nazareth with his pierced hands and feet
began. It is not the world of the dominators but to the world of those who
donate their lives for love. To this, we are witnesses.