Paradise Restored in Mary
Greetings (See Second Reading)
We are called in Christ to be holy and spotless. and, like Mary, to live in God’s presence. May we respond to God’s call and may our Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
Mary leads the way for all the people who journey toward the Lord. Today the Church applies to Mary, the virgin conceived without sin, the words of the prophet: “I exult for joy in the Lord, my soul rejoices in my God.” Why this joy? Because Mary is like the garden of humankind in which God lets the good seed sprout. Because she is the servant of the Lord and the image of what the Church ought to be. God is faithful to his promises and through her he gave us our Savior. Mary is the first and the only one of all people who was kept from sin. She is paradise restored, where God and people encounter one another.
Penitential Act
We are not free from sin, and we share in the responsibility for sin in the world. Let us seek God’s forgiveness and pray that we may also share in God’s grace and goodness. (pause)
God loves us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
When we were dead through sin, he brought us to life with Christ: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
It is through grace that we have been saved and raised up with Christ: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy. Have mercy on us, Lord, destroy the power of evil in us and keep your promises. Make us your children of light and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray that with Mary we may overcome evil (pause)
God our Father, we thank you for choosing Mary as the Mother of your Son and for preserving her from all sin from the first moment of her life. Let this sign of your boundless love give us hope and strength to overcome evil in all its forms. May we respond to your loving goodness with the eagerness of Mary, by the power of the grace won for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: The Promise of Victory Over Evil
God condemns the power of evil symbolized by the serpent. He promises that the forces of good in humankind and the world will overcome sin.
Reading 1 GN 3:9-15, 20
Second Reading: Called to Be God’s Children
Before all ages, we have been destined to become God’s daughters and sons, his holy people, through Christ’s salvation.
Gospel: The Beginning of the Fulfillment
As the “Favored One of God,” Mary is the prophetic model of those who overcome evil. With her begins the fulfillment of God’s promises. With her, those who are one with Christ will learn to say Yes to God’s plan.
Gospel LK 1:26-38
Commentary
We hear one of the stories of our genesis-our first parents who symbolize all people created in the image and likeness of God, called to obey the Word of God. They failed, missed the mark, and found themselves searching for knowledge of themselves, of God, of freedom to do both good and evil. Since the beginning, all of us have struggled to know and obey God. Adam and Eve represent each and everyone of us seeking and failing to know life in God. We have been recreated in baptism, sharing the life of God in Jesus, and we have also been blessed beyond description. We are filled with the love of God. This is the will and pleasure of God-to make us all-holy, to know God intimately, and to live our lives in praise of God's goodness to us.
We hear the story of the beginnings of the incarnation, with God sending his angel to declare that God's presence will be among us forever and always, in a child born of a woman and the power of the Spirit of God. This is the account of the Trinity and the Incarnation, two core mysteries at the heart of our belief and practice. It is about Mary saying yes, It is about her baptism and our saying yes so that God can be born and can be seeded into our souls, hearts, and bodies.
Intercessions
Let us thank God our Father for giving us his beloved Son Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us ask that the work of salvation begun in Jesus and very visible in Mary may continue in us, as we pray:
R/ Lord, be with us through your Son
– For the Church of Jesus Christ, that it may be the sign to all the world that God wants to be near to his people, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us through your Son.
– For our world in dire need of peace, that people may understand and love one another and that we may be spared from wars and all violence, from natural calamities, hunger and sin, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us through your Son.
– For our Christian families, that they may be united in the Lord; for our young people, that we may give them a future to believe in; for orphans and abandoned children, that we may give them love and security, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us through your Son.
– For our Christian communities, that they may be centers of hope and joy and protectors of all life; that their faith and spirit of service may bear witness to the presence of Christ, let us pray:
R/ Lord, be with us through your Son.
God our Father, Mary did not keep her child, your Son, for herself alone but gave him to the world. Make our faith and love so deep and wide that we too may share Jesus with all people far and near, for he is the Lord of all, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father, when Mary, the Virgin without sin, said her YES to your plans, the world was given its Savior. Accept our YES in this Eucharist to bring the life and hope of your Son to all our brothers and sisters. Let this be the sacrifice that pleases you, and that makes us grow day after day in your justice and freedom. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
With joy and hope we thank the Father for giving us Mary, and for giving us Jesus through her, to make an ever-new beginning with us.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
With Mary we want to do God’s will, that his kingdom may come. Let us say so to our Father in heaven in the words of Jesus himself: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day, for we are powerless to break the chain of violence and evil. Make us messengers and instruments of reconciliation and love rather than agents of strife and injustice, as we wait in joyful hope for the full coming of your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus our Lord, the Son of the Virgin Mother; in him, we have been chosen to be holy and spotless. Happy are we to be invited to share his table. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father, Mary heard the Word spoken to her, in your name by your messenger, and she put herself at your service. We have heard here the Word of your Son. Let this Word stir us to break the chain of evil in us and in the world around us and to replace it with a stream of goodness and mercy that wells up to everlasting life. Grant this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
To a waiting world Mary gave a Savior, because she said her YES to God’s plan. To a world waiting in our day for meaning and hope, we can give the peace and justice of Christ, if we too are willing to say our YES to God’s Intercessions with us and the world. For he called us to continue the work he began in Jesus with the cooperation of Mary. May we respond to this call with the blessing of almighty God: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace and give Christ to the world. R/ Thanks be to God.