Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1. Healing for the Broken-hearted
2. Crying Out Our Pain
Greeting (see Responsorial Psalm)
In this eucharist let us praise the Lord, for he is good; he heals the broken-hearted and binds up all their wounds. May this Lord Jesus be with you all. R/ And also with you.
1. Healing for the Broken-hearted
Our world is full of suffering and pain, many people are in agony and distress and are victims of exploitation and injustice. We feel powerless in the face of all this. Today we are reminded that we are not alone: God does not want us to suffer: in his son Jesus he showed us that he commits himself against death and misery, for Jesus went around healing people and overcame death by rising. We, disciples of Jesus, have to follow in his footsteps and bring healing to one another and to our world. We ask Jesus here among us to give us that insight and commitment.
2. Crying Out Our Pain
Today we are reminded once more that long ago the very Son of God cried out his anxiety and pain: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” We know that God has made us for happiness and yet we also have our crosses to bear. We do not always see the reason for our misery and pain. We also see Jesus heal some people, but what were these among so many? We remember that the cross led Jesus to life and resurrection. We express our hope and trust today in a Savior who suffered with us and for us.
Penitential Act
1. Healing for the Broken-hearted
We now ask the Lord to heal us from all sin, so that we can become healers of others. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you bore our sickness and endured our suffering: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, people brought the sick to you and you cured many: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you heal the brokenhearted and you bind up their wounds: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Lord, we look for you to heal us from all sin and evil. Forgive us and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
2. Crying Out Our Pain
Why does it not pain us more when we bring misery to one another by our sins? We ask forgiveness from God and one another. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you cried out in the garden, “Take this suffering away from me, but your will be done, Father.” Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, on the cross you asked, “My God, why have you abandoned me?” Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you have left us the sign of the cross to remind us of your suffering and to look up to in hope. Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us the pain we have caused one another and the suffering of your Son. Let him lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
1. Healing for the Brokenhearted
Let us pray to our healing God that he may cure us from all our ills (pause) Compassionate and loving God, when Jesus healed those who were ill from all sorts of diseases he revealed you as a God of life and happiness. Let Jesus cast out of us all evil of fear and hatred, of sin and death. Fill us with his tender love and concern, that we too may follow him in bringing his healing power to all those who suffer. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
2. Crying Out Our Pain
Let us pray to our compassionate God who is near to us in Jesus Christ (pause)
Tender-hearted God, when we cry out to you in our weariness, our sorrow and illness, remember how your Son too called on you in his suffering unto death. Keep us from shutting ourselves up in self-pity and strengthen us in the conviction that you are to be found in our pain as well as in our joys, and that you always care for us through him who showed us how much you loved us, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: Job 7:1-4, 6-7 Job Cries Out His Misery to God
Here a man who is sorely tried cries out to God his misery and loneliness. He is a man of faith, but he struggles for an answer: why suffer?
Second Reading: 1 Cor 9:16-19,22-23 For the Weak I Made Myself Weak
For the sake of the good news of Christ, Paul became everything to all, even weak with the weak.
Gospel: Mark 1:29-39 Jesus Healed Many Who Were Suffering
Jesus healed many as an invitation to have faith in him.
Intercessions
As people who have experienced suffering, let us bring all the needs and pains of people before God whose Son suffered and died, and let us say: R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For all who preach the gospel, that they may bring the Good News of Christ to people in their full human realities and with all their needs, let us pray: R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For the leaders of nations, that they make justice and service the foundations of the social order and in this way bring to all a sense of dignity and human fulfillment, let us pray: R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For the victims of discrimination, for all those in search of security and love, for all those lonely and despairing, for the sick and the handicapped, that they may encounter the Lord in people who give them love and hope, let us pray: R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For all those who care for the sick, that they may never tire of treating them with personal attention and infinite respect, as they would do for the Lord himself, let us pray: R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
– For this and all Christian communities, that disappointments and failures may not embitter us but draw us closer to the Lord; that we may be of one heart and soul and not allow anyone among us to be in want, let us pray: R/ Hear us Lord, and have mercy.
Our living and loving God, you are familiar with our needs and cares and see our pains, for you know us by name. We rely on you because of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father, in these signs of bread and wine we remember your Son Jesus Christ. Accept our disposition to become like him, and so, fill us with his Spirit that we too may become weak with the weak and servants of one another. May your Son thus live in our midst as our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
We thank God for showing us the power of his healing love in Jesus. Through him, our Father in heaven brought us friendship, forgiveness and strength. Let us give him all thanks and praise.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Our heavenly Father loves us in Christ. And so let us pray to him the trusting prayer of his Son: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Perhaps it is part of your plan, Lord, that our faith be tested in trials. But deliver us from discouragement and from the spirit of rebellion that complains and sours. Give us the serenity of knowing that we live in the palm of your hands, even in moments of hardship and pain. Help us to support one another as we prepare with hope and joy for the full coming among us of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who took upon himself all our ills and sacrificed himself for us to set us free from death and all our fears. Happy are we that he invites us to come to him with our pains and burdens. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer of Acceptance (Charles de Foucauld)
The following prayer could be slowly said by the prayer leader in thanksgiving, or by all together if the people have the text.
Father, I entrust myself to you. Do with me what you want.
Whatever you wish to do with me, I thank you.
I am ready for everything, I accept everything.
Provided your will be done in me and in all your creatures, I desire nothing else, my God.
I place my soul into your hands, I give it to you, my God, with all the love of my heart,
because I love you, because it is to me a demand of love to give myself,
to commit myself to you without reserve, with an unlimited trust, for you are my Father.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father, no one except you can fully understand the pains and joys we experience, for your Son became one of us. By the strength he has given us here, may we reach out to one another and share in each other’s laughter and pain. And when words fail us, let us just be near to those who suffer in respectful silence, on account of him who is near to us and heals us from all our ills, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Suffering will always remain a scandal or at least a mystery. We can try to act as if it doesn’t affect us, to deny that it exists or to run away from it, but there is no real escape from it for a Christian. It is written into our existence since Christ died on the cross. We will never understand it fully, but we know that it is meaningful and saving. May we learn to bear our pains with Christ with courage and hope and with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with Christ to bear one another’s burdens. R/ Thanks be to God.
