Tuesday September 12, 2017
Introduction
If there are difficulties and dissensions in the community, these should be settled in the community itself rather than bringing them before a civil court, St. Paul tells the Corinthians. Shouldn’t communities not be “one heart and one soul”?
As in other very important occasions in his life, Jesus prays before selecting twelve apostles from among his disciples. For this is a very important moment. He will train them and then will take the risk of entrusting his own work to fallible people. He knows they will not always do the best they can, as they will have moments of fear, discouragement, cowardice and compromises. Still, he trusts them enough and will help them to bring his work to a good end in God’s own good time. In this Eucharist, we express our trust in the Church of Jesus Christ.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
your Son, Jesus Christ could build
firm foundations for your Church
on weak and fallible people.
Only he could do it; we would not dare.
We pray with your Son,
that our faith may remain unshaken
in your Church and those who lead it.
As they struggle and grope,
let your Holy Spirit fill them
with his wisdom and fire.
And lead us all forward in hope.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Reading: COL 2:6-15
Brothers and sisters:
As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him,
rooted in him and built upon him
and established in the faith as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
See to it that no one captivate you with an empty, seductive philosophy
according to the tradition of men,
according to the elemental powers of the world
and not according to Christ.
For in him dwells the whole fullness of the deity bodily,
and you share in this fullness in him,
who is the head of every principality and power.
In him you were also circumcised
with a circumcision not administered by hand,
by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ.
You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him
through faith in the power of God,
who raised him from the dead.
And even when you were dead in transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
he brought you to life along with him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions;
obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims,
which was opposed to us,
he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;
despoiling the principalities and the powers,
he made a public spectacle of them,
leading them away in triumph by it.
Responsorial Psalm 145:1B-2, 8-9, 10-11
R. (9) The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is compassionate toward all his works.
Alleluia JN 15:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
that you may go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: LK 6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
Intercessions
– For the pope, that he may lead the Church in faith, wisdom and mercy, we pray:
– For our bishops united with the pope, that they may see and attend to the great needs of the Church in our day, we pray:
– For those who are afraid to answer the call of God to follow Christ and to serve the people of God, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in the name of Jesus, your Son,
your ministers and people offer to you
the memorial of his death and resurrection.
Let us, sinful as we are, be your holy people,
that we may bear witness to your name
and be a believable sign to all,
that your Son lives
and that you are our mighty God and Father,
now and for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Holy God and Father,
to us, your people on the way,
you have let your Son speak
his uplifting word
and give to us his food of strength.
Renew your Church in its leaders and members,
that we may live as we believe
and raise in our world a prophetic voice
that speaks with credibility
of justice, truth and unity.
May thus the world believe in your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
Jesus entrusts his own mission to weak and fallible human hands. “Entrusts,” for he trusts them enough. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can do God’s work. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
