Greetings (See First Reading)
Before you were born, I knew you; I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. May the Lord Jesus be your strength and may he always be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. Jesus Asks For Prophets Like Himself
We know we are willing to listen to people as long as they tell us what pleases us, what conforms to our own ways of thinking. But when they remind us of things, even good things, that make demands on us or upset our patterns of thinking and doing things, we close our ears and hearts. Yet it is good that Jesus reminds us of things that shake up our conscience when we neglect to do them: like forgiving, caring for the poor, standing up for what is right and just. Let us listen today to the Lord and to all that speak in his name.
B. The Greatest Of All Is Love Sometimes we hear people voice their disappointment, as "I have given so much time and effort to the parish community and now I am not even elected to the parish council," or "Look at all I have done for my family and see how my children disappoint me!" Is the undertone frustrated self-love or a real spirit of love and service of others? We are told today in strong words that love does not take offense and is not resentful. It is trusting and endures everything. Let us ask the Lord here with us to make our love genuine and deep.
Penitential Act
Do we listen to the Lord also when his words are demanding? Let us examine ourselves. (pause) Lord Jesus, when your word wants to wake us up from our indifference and complacency, make us listen: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Jesus Christ, when we see injustice and evil, give us the courage to stand up and make us speak: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy. Lord Jesus, when we meet the poor, give us the strength and the means to help them: make us commit ourselves to them: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. In your kind mercy forgive us, Lord, and dispose us to make your Good News available to all in our words and deeds. Lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
A. Jesus Asks For Prophets Like Himself Let us pray to God that we may listen to his Word and put it into practice (pause) Lord God, our Father, you speak to us today the demanding words of the Gospel of Jesus your Son. Let these not be words coming from a distant past. Let them be words that shock us now out of the petty peace we have with ourselves. Make us see the signs and needs of our times and help us to speak without fear with the living words of our lives the message of truth and justice and love of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen. B. The Greatest Of All Is Love Let us pray that we may keep growing in a genuine love of God and people (pause) Lord God, our Father, You know us and you keep loving us even when we fail you and one another. Your love went as deep as giving up your own Son, that we might live and learn to love. Fill our hearts with a constant, grateful love and let it overflow upon our brothers and sisters. Give us the strength to keep loving people even when we still bear the scars of the hurt others have caused us. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction: Stand Up And Tell Them! God chooses Jeremiah for the ungrateful, disturbing mission of being a prophet. He has to be the mouthpiece of God. God will give him strength and protection.
Second Reading Introduction: The Greatest Of All Is Love
All the gifts of grace serve no purpose unless they are inspired by self-giving love, the heart of all Christian living. God will complete this love and make it perfect in the glory of heaven.
Gospel Introduction: Who Does He Think He Is?
Jesus explains to the people of his hometown Nazareth that he has a prophetic mission and that it is destined not merely for his privileged compatriots but for all. The opposition of the people cannot stop Jesus.
General Intercessions
Aware of our mission in the world to be prophets of God's merciful love, let us pray to our Father in heaven to make us faithful and courageous in our task, and let us say: R/ Lord, speak your mighty word today. • For all Christians, that they may be faithful to their prophetic task of pointing out to the people of our time the saving values of the Gospel, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your mighty word today. • For all prophets in the Church and in the world, that they may keep hope alive in the final victory of justice and truth, of God's life and love, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your mighty word today. • For the people without a voice or who are deprived of their rights, that they may find Christians who have the courage to speak out for them, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your mighty word today. • For all those who work for a better world, that contradiction may not make them bitter, but that love may inspire them to unite rather than to polarize and divide, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your mighty word today. • For us gathered here around the Word and the Bread of the Lord, that we may experience the Gospel as a message meant for today, and the Eucharist as our bond of unity, let us pray: R/ Lord, speak your mighty word today. Lord our God, we do not ask you to satisfy our own expectations. Surpass our own insights and projects and open us to your world and your plans through the challenging word of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, in these signs of bread and wine we place our willingness and also our hesitation to speak the stirring words of your Son to the groping world of our day. Give us the vision of your Son, break for us his bread of strength, that without compromise we may accept and share the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
With Jesus we give thanks to the Father in heaven that he has given us Jesus to speak to us his living Word and to strengthen us by his Bread of Life.
Invitation to the Lord's Prayer
Let us pray in the words of Jesus to the Father of all to give us today the bread of his Word and the food of strength of the Eucharist. R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us Lord, from every evil and when we ask you for peace in our time grant us reconciliation and unity with you and with one another. Do not allow us to live in the false peace of indifference or compromise with evil. Instill in us the holy unrest of feeling personally addressed and challenged by your word, and of straining in hope and joy toward the full coming among those you love of the kingdom of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus our Lord, the living Word of the Father, who lived as he spoke and whose voice could not be silenced even in death. Happy are we to be invited to hear his Word and share his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
You have spoken your Word, Lord, and it became flesh here in our midst. You have strengthened us with his word and his body. Could we ask you anything better than to let our lives become the Good News of his message to whomever we meet? Set us all free with the freedom brought us by Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
The Word of God has been addressed to us as good news for today. It is a message of hope and love that is mightier than all evil and than all contradiction. May God's Word keep us sensitive to the needs of our time, to the values we tend to forget and to the rights that are trampled upon. May God bless you all and give you his courage: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen. Let us go and speak with our lives the Good News of our Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.
