God
of all that breathes and lives,
your Son Jesus touched people
and they were healed and they lived.
Let him take us by the hand
and raise us up from sin and discouragement.
Let him touch us with his body and blood
and make us fresh and new again
to live his life and to go his way to you.
Let him touch us with the warmth of his love
that our love may revive others,
especially the poor and those who suffer.
All this we ask through Christ our Lord.
Liturgy
of the Word
First
Reading Introduction
The
prophet Hosea is the prophet of the tender, gratuitous love
of God, who continues loving his people even when we are
unfaithful, because he is God, and not like people (Hos
11, 9). Hosea can describe this love well, for he had experienced
it in his own life when his wife deserted him. He went to
take her back and went on a new honeymoon with her. This
is the kind of love God has for us.
First
Reading: Hos 2:16, 17c 18, 21
22
Thus
says the LORD:
I will allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
On that day, says the LORD,
She shall call me My husband,
and never again My baal.
I will espouse you to me forever:
I will espouse you in right and in justice,
in love and in mercy;
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.
Every
day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable. R./ The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Generation
after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works. R./ The Lord is gracious and merciful.
They discourse of the power of your terrible deeds
and declare your greatness.
They publish the fame of your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your justice. R./
The Lord is gracious and merciful.
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 gracious and merciful.
Gospel
Reading Introduction
God has made us for life. In Jesus he shows us that he
wants us to be healed, that is, wholly and fully alive
and raised from the dead, for by his resurrection Jesus
defeats death in its roots. In this Eucharist we ask Jesus
to raise us up, from the death of sin and ultimately from
physical death.
Gospel
Reading: Mt 9:18 26
While
Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt
down
before him, and said, My daughter has just died. But
come,
lay your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus rose
and followed
him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages
for twelve years came up behind him and touched the
tassel
on his cloak. She said to herself, If only I can touch
his cloak,
I shall be cured. Jesus turned around and saw her,
and said,
Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you. And from
that
hour the woman was cured.
When Jesus arrived at the officials house and saw the
flute
players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he
said,
Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping. And they
ridiculed
him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her
by
the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this
spread
throughout all that land.
Commentary
Just
as Jesus reached out His hand and brought the dead girl
back to life, so too does He extend his renewing and life-giving
touch to those who are dead to sin and suffering the corruption
and decay that comes from living too far away from God.
Jesus reconciles us poor sinners to the Father by the
blood of the cross, and in so doing brings us back to
life.
Through His hands, extended upon the cross, we have life
and we have it to the full. Those same hands continue
to touch us through the sacraments of the Church.
General
Intercessions
- That
the Church may continue with compassion Jesus' healing ministry,
that the sick may be comforted, the downtrodden set free,
and the poor and the weak protected, we pray:
- That doctors and nurses and all who care for the sick
and the handicapped may have a great respect for life and
be inspired in their task by the love of Christ, we pray:
- That the faith and the hope of the sick and the dying
may be firmly anchored in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the resurrection and the life; that with him they may accept
their pains with patience and when the time comes also accept
death as the gateway to full life, we pray:
Prayer
over the Gifts
God
our Father,
this is your dwelling place
to which you have invited us.
We offer you here all our love and trust
through him who had placed himself
into your hands
and kept trusting in you even in death,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer
after Communion
God
our Father,
our life and death are in your hands.
We are certain of you
because we know your love is irrevocable
and you have given us your Son in this Eucharist.
May we learn from you and him
to be present to one another
and to be reliable messengers to each other
of your care and your gratuitous love.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
God
wants us to live to the full. That is why he lets his Son
Jesus Christ heal and strengthen us with the food and drink
of everlasting life. May almighty God bless and keep you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit..
Claretian Publications MACAU