22nd Sunday C: Liturgical Prayers

 Greetings

What do you have that you have not received?
If everything you have was received as a gift,
then why boast?
If anyone must boast,
let him boast of the Lord.
May the Lord, the giver of life, be with you.
R/ And also with you.

Introduction by the Celebrant

A. A Good Place For Everyone
How do we regard other people and ourselves in relation to them? Do we look down on others, at least on some, and hold ourselves as more important, people to be noted and given honors? The message of today is: In the Kingdom there is a good place for everyone. If there is to be any preference, it is for the poor, the disabled, the humble, for they are given the first place by God, they are the favorites of Jesus. Jesus asks us here and now: What place do you take and what place do you give to others?
B. Know Your Place
Today our Lord Jesus invites us to his table. He knows that we are people with faults, people who have hurt him and others, by the wrong we did or the good we didn't do. Knowing who we are he still loves us and invites us, as his friends, to join him at his table. Let us humbly take part in his meal and ask the Lord to make us more open to the humble, to people who have erred, and to the poor.

Penitential Act

A. A Good Place For Everyone 
We seek honors and self-advancement,
even elbowing others aside to become first.
We ask the Lord and people to forgive us.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you came among us
not to be served but to serve:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you invite everyone
to the table of your feast meal:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you came to call
not the healthy but the sick:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us our pride
and hunger to be noticed and honored.
Admit us to your table
as you lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
B. Know Your Place
Poor in love and wounded by sin,
let us seek the Lord's forgiveness.
(pause)
Lord Jesus, you ate with sinners
and encountered them with love and compassion:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you were always available
to the humble and the poor:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you give yourself here to us
as our food and the drink of life:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
You have never stopped loving us, Lord.
Forgive us once more all our sins
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to God
who invites everyone to his Kingdom
(pause)
Our Father, you who lift up the lowly;
your Son Jesus came into our world
as the servant of all and he cherished the helpless.
With him, make us respect and appreciate
the weak, the defenseless, and the humble
and accept to be numbered among them.
Dispose us to help them and to seek their help.
For you have poured out your mercy on us too
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction: The Greater, The Humbler      We cannot be open to God's grace unless we put aside our pride. People appreciate lack of pretense and they see through our boasting.

Second Reading Introduction: Our Savior And Covenant Is Jesus
      Through Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, Christians, even on earth, are already as if living as citizens of heaven.

Gospel Introduction: Come Up Higher, My Friend

      In his kingdom, God invites those who recognize their lowliness and need of salvation. Likewise, the follower of Christ invites the poor and the humble.

General Intercessions

Let those who are the last and the least in the eyes of people, be first in our prayers to the Father. Let us say: R/ Lord, come and save us.
• Lord, in our world the powerful are honored and the humble are looked down upon. Remember the humble, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
• Lord, in our world the poor become poorer and the rich become richer. Remember the destitute and the needy, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
• Lord, in our homes many sick people, the old and the weak and the lonely, are often neglected and abandoned. Remember all those who suffer, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
• In many countries, ours included, there are many homeless and refugees who have no stone upon which to lay their head. Remember all of them, Lord, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
• Many children and old people have only the street to live and to sleep on; also many prisoners are forgotten. Remember all of them, Lord, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
• There are people for whom nobody prays, and there are those who hurt and afflict us. Remember them, Lord, we pray: R/ Lord, come and save us.
Lord, you listen, to the prayers of those who trust in you. Help us to remember with you the least of our brothers and sisters. We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord God, our Father,
you overlook the poverty of our hearts
and you have given us a place of honor
at the table of your Son.
May we learn from him
to be at the service of all,
that you may also give us a place,
however lowly,
at the eternal festive meal
of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Pride is at the root of many sins. Jesus came to undo our pride by humbly obeying the will of the Father. We humbly join Jesus in his sacrifice.

Invitation to the Lord's Prayer

Conscious of our limitations,
we expect all good things from God
and so we pray with Jesus our Lord:
R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us Lord, from all pride,
which sets us up against one another
and makes us unwilling to serve.
Keep us free from the evil spirit
of seeking gain and fame
at the expense of others,
even as we try to serve one another
and work together for the full coming
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
R/ For the kingdom...

Invitation to Communion

This is Jesus the Lord
who invites us to his table.
He comes to seek us
at the lowliest place
and tells us to move up higher. 
R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
we stand here before you
as guests invited to his table
by your Son Jesus Christ.
We thank you that he has accepted us
without judging or condemning us,
though our faith is not clear-eyed
and we often limp while trying to follow him.
Dispose us too to accept as friends and guests
the poor and the weak, just as you have accepted us
in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

If we want the Lord to live among us,
there is only one place that fits us:
the last place, the place of people
who know how to serve.
There is no room for pretending
to be what we are not.
And before God, we are all small,
we cannot claim any merit.
May this attitude be ours
with the blessing of Almighty God,
the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with one another
God's way of peace and love. R/ Thanks be to God.