God loves us, even though we sin. By dying for us, Jesus
brought us reconciliation and has filled us with joyful trust in God. May the
Lord Jesus be always with you. R/ And also with you
Introduction by the Celebrant
Many in our society and our communities are in need of
healing. We, too, need the healing of forgiveness, maybe also of illness, pain
and suffering. Jesus came to bring us healing from sin, and he sends out his
disciples, in the past and today, to bring healing to a world so often
afflicted and yet often harsh and pitiless. Let us ask the Lord that we may
pass on to others the mercy he is showing to us.
Penitential Act
Let us ask forgiveness from the Lord because we have often
been hard and merciless. (pause)
Lord Jesus, you are our Good Shepherd who laid down your
life for people: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you went around doing good, healing the people
from all their ills: Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you want us to pass on to others what we have
received for free from you: Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Take pity on us too, Lord, and forgive us all our sins. Heal
us and restore us and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us pray to God that we may be to everyone the sign of
his healing love (pause)
Lord God, source of all love You showed through your Son
Jesus Christ how You take pity on the people in their helplessness. You have
made yourself our God and have bound us closely to yourself in a lasting
covenant of life and love. Mould us into real people set free by Jesus, your
Son. Make us responsible for one another and let us be to all a living sign of
your tender love and compassion. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
R/ Amen.
First Reading: Exodus 19:2-6a
Chosen by God as His Holy People: God
chose Israel as his people, liberated them and bound himself to them in a
covenant union of permanent life and love. The priestly mission of this people
was to reflect the holiness of God and to make it known to all.
Second Reading: Romans 5:6-11
We Are What We Are by God’s Love: God
made us what we are by his love. The proof of the depth of his love is that his
Son Jesus Christ died for us to reconcile us with God and to let us share in
his life.
Gospel: Matthew 9:36—10:8
Sent to Proclaim the Good News: Jesus
sends out his apostles on a mission that will be the mission of the whole
People of God: to bring to everyone God’s compassionate love which we ourselves
have experienced.
Prayers of the Faithful
Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that with him we may
take compassion on people and heal their wounds by God’s power. Let us
say: R/ Lord, fill us with your mercy.
– Lord Jesus, make your Church treat its erring
members with deep compassion and endless patience, in the way you are lenient
with us. And so we pray: R/ Lord, fill us with your mercy.
– Lord Jesus, make political leaders aware of
the many poor in society: the homeless, refugees, the jobless, those abandoned
by parents or spouses. We pray: R/ Lord, fill us with your mercy.
– Lord Jesus, look with pity on those of your
faithful who have no shepherds to lead them, on parishes without priests or
with inadequate shepherds, on discouraged and bungling priests. We pray: R/ Lord,
fill us with your mercy.
– Lord Jesus, make us look with pity for young
people without ideals or guidance, for sad old people in their loneliness, for
broken families and couples in irregular marriages. We pray: R/ Lord,
fill us with your mercy.
– Lord Jesus, look with pity on our communities.
Unite them when they are divided, make them welcome those who have erred, let
them be hospitable to all. We pray: R/ Lord, fill us with your
mercy.
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, by your free gifts, you have been
very good to us. Dispose us to be equally kind and good to all people in need.
Lead us, Lord, now and forever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father, you have given us without charge this bread
and wine. Turn them by the power of the Holy Spirit into your best free gift to
us, your Son Jesus Christ. Dispose us not to keep him to ourselves but to share
him freely with all those around us, without any other preference than his own:
the poor, the needy, and the little people. May this be the sign that your
kingdom has come among us, that we are your people and you our God for ever and
ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has made us
his chosen people. We, that “holy people,” offer ourselves with Jesus to bring
God’s compassion and healing to all.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Our Lord Jesus Christ has filled us with joyful trust in
God. With him we pray to our Father in heaven. R/ Our Father...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who died for us while we
were still sinners. He has made us into God’s new people. Happy are we to
receive him and to live through him in the Father’s love.
R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Lord God, Father of all, again we ask of you to make us more
the people of the covenant. Through Jesus, your Son-with-us, make us all one, praying
and working together to build up your kingdom among people. Let none of us be
an uncommitted spectator but make each of us fully aware that weak and fallible
as we are, You need us and want us to be a holy people, The sign to all of your
lasting goodness. We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
In his love, God chose us and made us his own people. Now he
sends us out to make his love known to all. May we be his heart that beats for
others, his hands that lighten burdens, his word of encouragement and hope. And
on all our ways may he go with you and bless you: the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
The Lord guides us to one another; let us go in his peace.
R/ Thanks be to God.
REFLECTIONS: Matthew 9:36–10:8
Jesus has a Mission for you!
We all hope that something new will emerge in our world,
that chaos will give way to order, and that peace, justice, and respect for
each individual will reign.
The evangelist Mathew began his Gospel by introducing the
vision and Mission of Christ through the Sermon on the Mount. After the long
discourse on the mountain, Matthew narrates ten healings and wonders Jesus
performed for humanity. He wants to tell us that Jesus' Word brought
healing and changes in people’s lives; his word makes all that is
inhuman disappear from the world. The Gospel heals us from our inabilities and
enables us to see the face of God and listen to the voice of God.
In Jesus, God fulfilled this promise and has personally come
to care for the sick humanity. God revealed himself in Jesus as someone
emotionally involved and compassionate for humanity’s pain. But Jesus makes it
clear that he is not going to accomplish this mission alone. He calls on us to
join his mission, to be a part of the healing of a broken world.
There are two tasks that Jesus asks us to carry out: to cast
out unclean spirits and to heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. This
means that we are called to give continuity to his work of salvation, and to
carry out this mission, he gives us the power to perform wonders, to expel
unclean spirits. Unclean in the Bible means everything contrary to life. They
are the demons; they are called envy, jealousy, hatred, grudges, and always
desires to possess more goods, to dominate, and to enslave others.
These demons create a ruthless world where the other is seen
as a rival, an enemy, not as a brother or sister to love. These demons must be
cast out from each person’s heart because we are all possessed. Seeing the
large crowd, the Lord says, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only
a few; therefore, ask the master of the harvest to send workers to gather his
harvest. “We are the workers, and we must join together to cast out the demons
of hatred and division and replace them with the love of God.
Mathew names the 12 apostles, including himself. Number 12
represents the 12 tribes of Israel. In Jesus’ time, not everyone in Israel
believed in God. One betrayed the Master; another denounced the Master
thrice... Despite their infidelity and weaknesses, Jesus assigns them with the
mission.
For example, how come Judas Iscariot also got selected? Was
he a wrong choice? A theologian had an interesting answer: “I am not sure if
Judas was a wrong choice, but I have an even harder question: Why did Jesus
choose me?” Because he has a mission for you
Jesus has a Mission for you!
