MISSION SUNDAY

MISSION SUNDAY

  

Let Your Faith Be Contagious 

 

Greeting (See 1 Thes 1:4)

God loves you and has chosen you
and had the Good News brought to you.

May the grace and peace of God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. R/ And also with you.

  

Introduction by the Celebrant 

As we celebrate Mission Sunday today, we are reminded that our faith is not something just to be kept to ourselves but to be shared with all the world. The reason is that Christ suffered and died for all and rose from the dead for all. The forgiveness that Jesus brought and the new life he came to give is to be preached in his name to all nations. Jesus adds that all of us have to be witnesses to this. Only a few of us can go to the mission field to make Christ known there. What we all can do is to pray for the evangelization of peoples and support missionaries, but certainly also to let our faith radiate in our lives. It should be a contagious faith that enlightens and inspires others.

 

Penitential Act

How much thought have we given

to those who do not know Christ?

Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.

(pause)

 

Lord Jesus, you prompt us

to go out to the whole world

and to teach all peoples how much you love them:

Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

 

Jesus Christ, you have made us

a light to shine on all nations:

Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

 

Lord Jesus, the Good News

of the love of the Father

and of your death and resurrection

is destined to be known by all:

Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

 

Have mercy on us, Lord,

and forgive us all our sins.

Do not allow us to hide your light

and lead us to everlasting life. R/  Amen.

 

Opening Prayer

Let us pray that all may come

to know and love Christ

 (pause)

God, you love all nations and people,

for they are your creation,

your sons and daughters.

Let all come to know Christ and his message,

that they may become aware

of how much you love them

and what they are called to become

by growing toward the adulthood of your Son.

May the day come when all peoples praise you
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

  

First Reading • Is 56:1, 6-7: My House Is A House Of Prayer For All Peoples 

Christ is not just for the People of God but for all peoples who accept the invitation to accept him and attach themselves to him. 

 

 

 

Second Reading • Rom: 10:9-18: All Should Hear About Christ: 

Christ is our Lord, but he is destined to be the Lord of all. How will people know him if we do not preach him to them? 

 

⁹ that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

¹⁶ However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

¹⁸ But I say, surely they have never heard, have they? On the contrary: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.”

 

 

Gospel • Mk 16:15-20: Proclaim The Good News To All 

The proclamation of the Good News of Christ should cover the whole world to bring it the Lord’s healing. Jesus himself will help them do that work

 

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹ So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

 

Intercessions 

Let us pray to God, who wants every person on earth to receive the Good News of Jesus, and let us say: R/ Lord, may all people praise you.

• For all whom God has called to reap a rich harvest for Christ, that their idealism may be lasting, their service unselfish, and their faith constant, let us pray: R/ Lord, may all peoples praise you.

 

• For those who have committed themselves to the task of the development of peoples, that adversity and opposition may not discourage them and that their work may contribute to the growth of happy communities and to giving the Gospel a human face today, let us pray: R/Lord, may all peoples praise you.

 

• For all Churches and missionary societies, that they may proclaim Christ to the world not by power and prestige but by humble service, let us pray: R/ Lord, may all peoples praise you.

 

• For our Christian communities, that we all may hear the cries of the poor, the humble, the downtrodden, and that we may not be slow to help them, let us pray: R/ Lord, may all peoples praise you.

 

• And for all of us, that we may not keep Christ to ourselves but try to share him with all whom we meet with love and enthusiasm, for Christ belongs to the whole world, let us pray to the Lord: R/ Lord, may all peoples praise you.

 

This is our prayer, Father, through Jesus Christ your Son, who is the forgive­ness and life of all, now and for ever. R/ Amen.

 

Prayer Over the Gifts

Lord our God, what riches we discover

in the various cultures and peoples of this earth!

As we bring before you

these humble gifts of bread and wine

we pray you that all the nations may offer to you

the treasures of their talents and lifestyle

made holy by the life, death and resurrection

of Jesus Christ our Lord. E/Amen.

 

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

As we join Jesus in his sacrifice, we dream of the day and pray for it that all peoples and nations may be united with us to praise God with one voice.

 

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray to the Father of all

that all may know that God is their Father

and that his kingdom may come to them. R/ Our Father...

 

Prayer for Peace

Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles:

“I leave you peace, my peace I give you.”

Make all peoples aware that they belong together

as your brothers and sisters,

under the one Father of all.

May they know then that they are called

to live in the peace and unity of the kingdom of justice and peace and love

where you live with us for ever and ever. R/ Amen.

 

Invitation to Communion 

This is Jesus our Lord,

the Savior who came to bring

happiness and healing to all.

Many do not yet know or accept him.

May the day come that people

from the whole wide world

sit with us at the Lord’s table

and that he may become their nourishment too.

R/Lord, lam not worthy...

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,

we have sat at the table of Jesus your Son,

we have listened to his challenging word

and have eaten his bread of life and strength.

We pray you to hasten the day

when people from all nations and cultures

may sit with us at the same table

and be one with us in your Son

and sing together to you with our many voices

one harmonious symphony of praise.

We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

 

Blessing

Saint Paul says emphatically

that where people accept the Risen Lord Jesus,

there is no more pagan or Jew,

no more slave or free person,

male or female,

for the same Spirit is alive in all and we are all one in Christ,

with one Father for all.

But that day is not yet with us.

Let us pray for that day

and contribute to it by the way we live.

May Almighty God bless you all:

the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/Amen.

 

Let us go in the peace of the Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.

 

Mission Sunday

Today’s passage from Mark’s Gospel indicates the mission we are called upon to perform: “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.” The good news should be announced, “to every creature.” It is the message of life and love. On this Mission Sunday, let us remember our mission towards the universe – our common home. That is why Climate Action should be considered an integral part of our life as Christians. Destroying nature is a sin, and caring for nature is our mission. 

In the second part of the passage (vs. 17-18) Mark lists five signs through which the Risen Christ manifests his presence: “Those who have believed will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

These unusual wonders seem strange, difficult to see and extremely rare to happen. The prophets used these and such other images as symbolisms to describe the messianic times and the new world. We hear in the prophecy of Isaiah: “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will rest beside the kid. By the cobra’s den, the infant will play” (Is 11:6-8). Isaiah did not intend to announce a phenomenal change of the aggressive and dangerous nature of animals. He promised the end of the struggles and enmities that exist in the world. In the kingdom of God, there would be no place for hostility, rivalry, or mutual aggression among people.

The concluding sentence of Mark’s Gospel: “… The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it” (v. 20) testifies to the belief of the first disciples of not being alone, but always having the Lord Jesus next to them.

World Mission Sunday brings us three points to reflect:
1. Remember with gratitude all the past and present missionaries for their commitment to the cause of the Gospel and pray for them.
2. Join hands supporting the mission through prayers and material help.
3. The Church reminds us: “You are a missionary.”