Greeting (1 Cor 4:7 and 1:31)
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 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?
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 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.
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.
First Reading (Sir 3:17-20,28-29 [Vulg.
3:19-21,30-31]): 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.
1 Reading: Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Second Reading (Heb 12:18-19, 22-24): 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.
2 Reading: Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a
Gospel (Lk 14:1,7-14): 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.
Gospel: Lk 14:1, 7-14
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.
****
Commentary
Feeding
the Hungry
Read:
We are
exhorted to practice discretion and humility. Those who humble themselves will
find themselves raised – to the city of God where they live with God. Jesus
affirms the virtue of humility and encourages us to give without expectations
of return.
Reflect:
Jesus
speaks of inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind to our
dining tables. As per the United Nations, the people living in extreme poverty
(read, those living on less than $1.90 a day) in the world would number around
703-729 million in 2020-21. About 690 million people go hungry and 21.3% of the
world’s children suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition. Now read
this: The world wastes or loses annually 1.3 billion tons of food and 1.6
billion tons of primary product equivalents. The total global military
expenditure in 2019 was $1,917 billion! If not for heavenly reasons, at least
for humane and earthly reasons, it is time we invited the poor and the hungry
to our dining tables, provided for them, and took care of their needs. And this
act must begin, humbly, at the dining tables of every family.
Pray:
Lord, give
us humble and generous hearts that care for the needs of others.
Act:
Share your
food with a hungry person today.
