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.
A. Giving Thanks at the Top of Our Voices
We 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.
B. A Grateful Stranger
Isn't it a pity that we believers, are at times, even often, put to shame by people who are not Christians, or separated or non-practicing? Not that we are in competition with them or have to think that we are better than they, but we owe it to Christ, to the Church, to the kingdom for which we work, to live our faith in practice, to do deeds of faith. We see "outsiders" do these deeds even as we fail to do them. Let us recognize the good deeds done by others and learn from them, as Jesus points out to us today.
Penitential Act
Let us ask the Lord to heal us from the disease of sin. (pause) Lord Jesus, Master, take pity on us and heal us from our sins: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, Master, take pity on all outcasts and dispose us to accept them as you do: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, Master, take pity on all who have to suffer for trying to follow you faithfully: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Have mercy on us, Lord, and tell us to rise from our sins. Accept our thanks and praise and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us thank our loving God for all his goodness (pause) God our Father, we are your graceful work of art. When we were doomed to death through sin you called us to life through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Open us to your love and life given for free as a gift without charge or regret. Give us thankful hearts. May we learn from you and your Son to give ourselves away for free to our brothers and sisters. Accept our thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction: A Grateful Foreigner
Naaman, a foreigner, had come to beg the prophet Elisha to cure him of his leprosy in the name of the God of Israel. When he was healed, he gratefully promised to honour the God of Israel.
Second Reading Introduction: Remember Jesus Christ!
God's greatest gift to us is Jesus Christ, who sums up all gifts. Gratitude prompts us to be loyal to him and to live the life of Jesus.
Gospel Introduction: Another Grateful Stranger
Jesus cured ten men, simply because they believed in him. But only one returned to thank him. He was a foreigner, and a Samaritan at that.
General Intercessions
Let us pray to our Father in heaven, who has loved us long before we could love him, and who has set us free in Jesus Christ. Let us say to him: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
• For the People of God, the Church, that our loving God may bless it for all it has given to us: God's love, God's life, and the guidance and strength of the Spirit, let us pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
• For our parents and all who have been good to us, that the heavenly Father may bless them all and keep them in his love, let us pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
• For our country and our people, that God may make us grateful to those who have gone before us for the riches of culture we have inherited from them and for the faith they have handed over to us; that we may contribute our efforts and ourselves toward a bright future for our people, let us pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
• For those who are poor or who suffer in their person or human dignity, that our God who cares may bless them all; that out of gratitude for what we have received we may bring them love, freedom, and peace, let us pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
• For this Christian community, that the heavenly Father may bless us all; that we may learn from him what generosity and gratitude mean and pass it on to our children and neighbors, let us pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
Our generous and loving God, as we have received freely from you, may we also freely give and share, that we may grow more in your image and the image of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father, in this Eucharist we celebrate the thanksgiving of Jesus your Son. With these signs of bread and wine allow us to praise and thank you. By his passion we can win our struggles, and by his resurrection we gain the courage to live and to fill all we do with the depth of the love of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
In the Eucharistic prayer we thank God our Father for giving us Jesus. We join our thanksgiving and praise with that of the leper who thanked God at the top of his voice.
Invitation to the Lord's Prayer
With Jesus our Lord, let us pray with trust and gratitude to our Father in heaven: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us your peace in our day. Keep us free from any hidden resentment for having to depend on you and on the people around us. Teach us to say a simple and sincere "Thank you" for all we have received, as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lamb of God who has brought us forgiveness and life. Let us accept with gratitude his invitation to share his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Loving Father, what else can we do —and we do it with joy—than give you thanks for speaking to us through Jesus and renewing our strength with his bread of life? May all we say and do, and all of our lives be a gift to those around us, and an act of gratitude to you, our God for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
This Eucharist has been a feast of thanksgiving to the Lord. Let us always be grateful for the gifts of life, and the gift of one another. Let us turn everything we do into an act of thanksgiving to God. And may Almighty God bless you all: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen. Go in the peace of the Lord and thank him with your living faith. R/ Thanks be to God.
