Celebración de la palabra

Friday June 28, 2019

Twelve Week in Ordinary Time

SACRED HEART OF JESUS

A Loving and Trusted Guide

Greeting

We have been called together here
by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Good Shepherd.
He looks after us when we get astray.
He loves us and calls each of us by name.
May you listen to his voice
and may he be with you always. R/ And also with you.

Introduction

Are we ever sure that love is genuine, that it is going to last and to remain strong? Yes, we are sure that it is authentic when it is tested and tried in difficulties, when it can weather all storms, when it survives disappointments and betrayals. True love wears often such scars that have not destroyed love but often deepened it. We discover such dependable love in God, the source of all love, as evidenced in the heart of his Son. He does not give up on us. The gospel expresses this in the image of the Good Shepherd: Christ who leads his people, seeks out what is lost, brings together what is scattered and binds the wounds of the injured. Let us celebrate this love without measure.

Penitential Act

Let us seek forgiveness
for not always having followed
our shepherd and sure guide.
(PAUSE)
Lord, you keep caring for us
and you are always ready to forgive
those who seek you with a sincere heart.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, your heart was pierced for our sins
and yet, of those entrusted to you by the Father
you did not want any to be lost.
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord, in your love
you give strength to the weak
and bind the wounds of those injured by life.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
To whom else can we go
than to you, Lord?
Forgive us our infidelities,
keep us in your friendship
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us pray to God with gratitude
for the faithful love he has shown us
in the heart of our Good Shepherd
(PAUSE)
How can we ever thank you enough,
our faithful God,
for keeping us in the heart of your Son?
He did not abandon those crushed
under the weight of their sins
but sought them out, lifted them up
and walked by their side.
We praise you for your goodness,
for letting him give us fresh courage
when tired we sat down by the side of the road.
We are certain that he loves us
and will guide us to you, our God for ever. R/ Amen.

First Reading: The Lost I Will Seek Out

God's love prompts him not to abandon his scattered people but to seek what is lost, to care for the injured, and to be attentive to each and every one.

First Reading: Ez 34:11-16

Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the foreign lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel in the land’s ravines and all its inhabited places. In good pastures will I pasture them, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing ground. There they shall lie down on good grazing ground, and in rich pastures shall they be pastured on the mountains of Israel. I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord GOD. The lost I will seek out, the strayed I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, the sick I will heal, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy, shepherding them rightly.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me in right paths
For his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Second Reading: The Proof of God's Love

The proof of God's love is that Christ died for us sinners. He wiped away our sins by his blood and gave us life. The Holy Spirit makes us grow in God's love.

Second Reading: Rom 5:5-11

Brothers and sisters:
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath. Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life. Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Gospel: Share My Joy: I Have Found My Lost Sheep

The leaders of God's people gave up on sinners and condemned them. Jesus' leadership is one of love. He does not abandon the wayward but brings them back.

Gospel: Lk 15:3-7

Jesus told them this parable, "Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and seek out the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbors together and say: 'Celebrate with me for I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you, just so, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine upright who do not need to repent."

Intercessions

Love can hardly be commanded, for it is first an invitation. Let us pray to the Father of all love for the capability to love him and all people, as we pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your love.
- That the Church for which Christ died may grow into a universal community of love, which makes Christ's unconditional love visible to everyone, we pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your love.
- That Christians everywhere may not be people of legalisms and outward observances but people with a heart, who do what they have to do and more because they are God's children, we pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your love.
- That the nations of the world may come to respect and help one another, and build peace and progress not at the expense of each other but on the basis of friendship and brotherhood, we pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your love.
- That we may be reliable friends to those marked by suffering in any form; that we may lighten their burdens and help them to keep trusting in God and people, we pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your love.
- That our anemic and dried-up love may become rich and spontaneous, like a fresh breath of life and joy brightening the lives of those around us and a wordless song of praise to God, we pray: R/ Lord, make us instruments of your love.
Loving God, we claim to belong to you and to your Son. Help us through your Spirit of love to give to your love a human shape, that we may make people happy and be your happy people, in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

God our Father,
we bring bread and wine before you
as signs that we eagerly accept the love
which you offer us in Jesus Christ.
We do so with humility and shame,
for we are aware of the poverty of our unreliable hearts.
But accept them, Father,
on account of the riches and reliability
of the love of our Savior and our brother,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

With Jesus we give thanks to the Father for the healing and compassion he keeps showing us in Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

Introduction to the Lord's Prayer

With one heart and one voice
let us pray now to our Father
the prayer taught us by Jesus. R/ Our Father…

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from our self-seeking
which brought suffering and death
to your Son Jesus Christ.
Grant us the peace of reconciliation
with your and with our neighbor
and keep us in your love,
that without fear we may look forward
to the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom…

Invitation to Communion

This is the Lamb who was betrayed
and handed over for our sins.
This is the risen Lord
who sought us out
and brought us life and joy.
Let us receive him with grateful love. R/ Lord, I am not worthy…

Prayer after Communion

Our God and Father,
you have allowed us again
to encounter your Son in the fullness of his love.
It was a crucified and defenseless love
in which he gave himself totally.
Fill our love with his,
that never again we become ungrateful to you.
May we learn from him
to overlook our pride and injuries
and to keep loving those who have hurt us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.

Blessing

God never crushes people.
through he could, and we deserve it.
We have not responded to his love as we should have;
we may have grossly betrayed him
or shown not much more than indifference.
It is good that we keep that in mind,
but God does not remind us;
for him all this belongs to the past,

Wouldn't it be wonderful
if we too could forget injuries,
if we could stop looking at the scars of the past,
if the pains suffered for one another
would only deepen our love?
May God deepen and bless our love,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Go in peace
and have a heart for one another. R/ Thanks be to God.

Commentary

I knew a gentle Indian nun who had lived a year in Europe and was beginning to get courage to comment on things. “Europeans are always asking ‘Why?’,” she said, “and ‘How much?’ and ‘What time is it?’” It was one of the best lessons I ever had, and like all the best lessons it wasn’t intended as a lesson at all.
The head makes distinctions and oppositions; it thinks in numbers and percentages; it would mince everything down to a featureless sameness like chipboard. In Samuel Beckett’s play, Waiting for Godot, one of the characters, on hearing that one of the two thieves crucified with Jesus was saved, remarked, “It was a fair percentage!” In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd had he been working only with his head, would have found 99% quite satisfactory. But he was working from his heart, which knows nothing about percentages, and he went searching for the one that was lost. That’s the nature of the heart.
How do we see the outsider, the marginal person, the failure…? That is the surest way of checking whether we live out of our head or out of our heart.