30 Sunday C: Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the Temple

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time from heartnoi2k

Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
 Today we are going to reflect on self-knowledge and humility. By gathering here in public we are telling the world that we take the need to profess faith in God seriously; we are saying we are people with a definite way of life, that we have taken up the cross of discipleship. But without humble awareness of our faults and our need of God’s mercy, we could be deceiving ourselves. Let us ask the Spirit to enlighten our minds that we might know our failings, and to give us the humility to ask for mercy.
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Michel de Verteuil
 General Textual comments

General Comments
This Sunday’s gospel reading is in three sections
- verse 9, introduction to the parable
- verses 10 –14a, the parable
- verse 14b, general saying of Jesus.
As always with gospel passages we are free either to focus on the sections independently or to see the connection between them so that each one serves as a guide for interpreting the others.

29 Sunday C: Liturgical Prayers

Greetings

The Lord will guard you from evil;
he will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard your going and coming.
May the Lord be always with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant (three options)

A. Prayer: The Breath Of LifeDo we put our very life in our prayer or are we reciting formulas, even though we agree with their contents? If we could only express in prayer what we live, cry out our miseries and shout our joys, persist in praying, not giving up, insisting, against all odds, because our faith is against all odds and because our very life depends on it, as does the life of justice and love in the world. In this Eucharist we join our prayers to those of Jesus our Lord.
B. Prayer: Conversing With GodIn a personal relationship with a person, you speak to him or her, to thank, to tell how you feel about the other or yourself, and about things and persons. Once in a while you ask for a favor or you offer your help and encouragement. In our relationship with the Lord prayer is doing all these things. If we love him, we cannot keep silent. Let us ask Jesus again in this Eucharist: "Lord, teach us to pray."

29 Sunday C: Persistent Widow

29th sunday c from heartnoi2k

Michel de Verteuil
General Comments
Today’s passage is in four movements:
– verse 1: introduction to the parable
– verses 2 to 5: the parable
– verses 6 to 8a: Jesus draws a conclusion from the parable
– verse 8b: a saying of Jesus, flowing from the parable.

28 Sunday C: Liturgical Prayers

Greetings

May all of you who are chosen by God,
be saved by Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord,
and share in his eternal glory.
May Jesus our Lord be with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

A. Giving Thanks At The Top Of Our VoicesWe appreciate grateful people very much. Do we ourselves not forget to thank? For many, it is the Lord who is forgotten. Look at everything we owe God: our life, our bodies with our eyes to see the marvels of creation and our ears to hear creation's songs. There is all the beauty around us and all the good people to appreciate and love. Above all, God himself has come near to us in Jesus. He brought us repeated forgiveness and the capacity to forgive and to love. Let us thank God and praise him at the top of our voices.

28 Sunday C: The Ten Lepers

28th Sunday C from Jaimelito Gealan

LEPROSY
Almost every age has had its social outcasts, people barred from normal society whether through physical illness or national origin. One person who stepped across these barriers in India was pioneer missionary Mary Reed. Already working in India, Mary visited a leper colony and was deeply moved by the people's plight. Later Mary contracted leprosy herself and went to work with the lepers, eager to tell them that she knew firsthand their pain and trauma. She became head of the leper colony she had visited, and in the years following many were saved and a church built. Mary retired at the age of eighty-four after many years of faithful service to these social outcasts. 
Today in the Word, January, 1990, p. 24.  
Once upon a time there was a man who was struck down in his early thirties who was diagnosed with  brain cancer. He had a wife and young children and a promising career. Suddenly all of that was swept away from him. He could barely talk or walk. He was in constant agony. His friends and his family, except for his wife and mother, avoided him. The doctors shook their head. It was too bad. He was a nice man and deserved longer life. But there was nothing they could.

27 Sunday C - Liturgical Prayers

Greetings

May you keep alive in you
the faith and love in Christ Jesus.
May the Holy Spirit who lives in you
help you to guard the riches of your faith
and be always with you.
R/ And also with you.

27 Sunday C: Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed; We are only Servants

27th Sunday C from Jaimelito Gealan

Gospel reading: Luke 17:5-10

Michel de Verteuil
General Textual comments
This Sunday’s passage is in two clearly distinct sections:
– verses 5 to 6 – a teaching on faith; and
– verses 7 to 10 – a parable on humble service.