L I T U R G Y A L I V E
Your
Daily Liturgies
For August 18 - 24, 2002 (20th Week in Ordinary Time)
Additional
Resource Material for this Sunday |
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August
18 - 20th Sunday In Ordinary Time (A)
Themes: A. How Catholic Are We?
B.
Strangers No More
Readings:
First
Reading: Is 56:1, 6-7
Second
Reading: Rom 11:13-15, 29-32
Gospel: Mt 15:21-28
Greeting (See First Reading)
My house will be called
a house of prayer for all peoples,
says the Lord.
As the Lord welcomes us,
may we be open to all.
May the Lord, the Savior of all, be with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
by the Celebrant
A. How Catholic Are We?
How wide are the doors of our Church? Is there place in our Church for everyone? We know and profess that God is the Father of all people. We believe and announce that Jesus died for everyone and all. Yet, is that the reality? We even look down on other Christians, and at times on other Catholics too, because they do not honor the Lord in exactly the same way as we do. Let us ask the Lord of all to help us do away with all discrimination and with him to make us open to all.
B. Strangers No More
What do we think of aliens and strangers and how do we treat them? What is our attitude toward people who are different? The Christian position should be one of acceptance and welcome, for this is God's attitude. All are God's children, and he wants the happiness of all. He calls all to his house and wants it to be a house of prayer for all. With Christ, let us welcome all.
Penitential
Act
Let us ask pardon from God and one another
that our hearts are often closed
and not as wide as God's heart.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, Son of David,
you revealed to us your Father
as the God of all people:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you came to save all people
and you died and rose for all:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy
Lord Jesus, you hear the prayer of pagans
and make yourself known
to all those who seek you:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us our narrow-mindedness
and our selfishness.
Give us wide open hearts
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening
Prayer
Let us pray to the Father of all
that our heart, like his own,
may be open to all people
(PAUSE)
Father of all,
long ago you chose the people of Israel
to make your name known to all the nations.
Your Son Jesus Christ made it clear
that forgiveness and fullness of life are the share
of all who believe in him.
Make your Church truly a place of encounter
for all those who grope for you,
that all obstacles and barriers may be removed
and that the riches of all nations and cultures
may reveal the thousand faces
of the love you show us
in Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Scripture Readings
First Reading Introduction:
Foreigners Are No Longer Strangers
Not only the Jewish people but
also pagans are called to live in the house of God. All those who want
to be part of the covenant are no longer strangers to God and his people.
Thus says Yahweh: Maintain what is right and do what is just, for my salvation is close at hand, my justice is soon to come.
Yahweh says to the foreigners who join him, serving him and loving his name, keeping his sabbath unprofaned and remaining faithful to his covenant:
I will bring them to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. I will accept on my altar their burnt offerings and sacrifices, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms
67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.
Second
Reading Introduction: God's Mercy Extends to All
Most of the Jews did not accept
Christ as the Savior. This was the occasion for the Church to preach the
Good News to the pagans. God wants all to be saved, Jews and pagans.
Second Reading: Rom 11:13-15, 29-32
Brothers and sisters, Listen to me, you who are not Jews: I am spending myself as an apostle to the pagan nations, but I hope my ministry will be successful enough to awaken the jealousy of those of my race, and finally to save some of them. If the world made peace with God when they remained apart, what will it be when they are welcomed? Nothing less than a passing from death to life. The call of God and his gift cannot be nullified.
Through the rebellion of the Jews the mercy of God came to you who did not obey God. They in turn will receive mercy in due time after this rebellion that brought God's mercy to you. So God has submitted all to disobedience, in order to show his mercy to all.
Gospel Introduction:
There Is Room for Pagans in the Father's House
Jesus affirms that priority
is given to the Jews as heirs of the Messianic promises. Yet the kingdom
is open to all who believe.
Gospel:
Mt 15:21-28At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Now a Canaanite woman came from those borders and began to cry out, "Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So his disciples approached him and said, "Send her away: see how she is shouting after us."
Then Jesus said to her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel."
But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus and said, "Sir, help me!" Jesus answered, "It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to the little dogs." The woman replied, "It is true, sir, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table." Then Jesus said, "Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish." And her daughter was healed at that moment.
General Intercessions
Let us pray to God our Father, who opens his heart and home to all who seek him, and let us say: R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
That the Church may be attentive to the life and needs of today's world and discover in its aspirations bridges toward Christian hope, let us pray:
R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
That there may be room in the universal Church for the cultural riches of various peoples and for manifesting one and the same faith in a variety of languages and forms of expression, let us pray:
R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
That the Jews, the first people called by God, may see their hopes fulfilled and one day discover Christ as their Savior, let us pray:
R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
That we may open our hearts and homes to those that are hard to accommodate: strangers and refugees, the jobless and the poor, victims of discrimination and oppression; that we may do all we can to integrate them into the human and Christian community, let us pray:
R/ Listen to your people, Lord.That all of us here may be concerned about those who are not here
because they are estranged from the Church, that our lives may reveal Christ to them, let us pray:
R/ Listen to your people, Lord.
God our Father, do not allow us ever to become a self-enclosed, self-satisfied group, but make us into a real community open to all people and all needs, on account of Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer Over the Gifts
God our Father,
you set the table of your Son
for all who are willing to come:
for saints and for sinners,
for the poor and the rich.
Give us your Son Jesus Christ.
May we learn from him
to give to all those who ask for food or love
not meager crumbs or left-overs,
but the food of ourselves,
as Jesus does here for us,
your Son and our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
At the heart of the eucharistic celebration we remember that Christ died and rose for all and wants to gather all into his kingdom.
Introduction
to the Lord's Prayer
In the words of Jesus our Lord
let us pray to the Father of all
that his kingdom may come to every person on earth.
R/ Our Father...
Prayer
for Peace
Lord Jesus Christ,
you want to bring the peace of your kingdom
to everyone willing to receive your love.
At the table of your kingdom
you regard no one as a stranger.
Dispose us, too, to recognize in every person
a beloved son or daughter of your Father.
Make us share your peace with all
and lead all into your kingdom
where you live for ever. R/ Amen.
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus the Lord,
who has set his table for us.
He invites all those who believe in him
and are willing to come to him. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer
after Communion
God our Father,
in this eucharist we have all been one
in Jesus Christ your Son.
He died and rose to life for all;
his likeness is reflected
in the face of every human being:
let it become visible in all.
Let his face not be marred or divided
by our prejudices and fears;
do not allow our love to be less than universal,
but unite us all in him
who is our common way to you and to one another,
Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We have heard the Lord tell us in this eucharist:
"My house shall be called
a house of prayer for all peoples."
The Lord's house is not merely
this building of stone where we gather to pray,
but the people of God, the living body of Christ.
May there be room in this house,
that is, among us, in our Christian communities,
for all people, whatever their race or social class,
their culture or education.
May almighty God bless you all:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go and bear witness
to the world-wide love of the Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.
As human beings, part and parcel of our limitations is our personal, cultural, and social conditioning. Jesus, partaking of our humanity, was not free from these. But like all great men and women, he was able to see through the fallacy of such conditionings. A Jew, much less a religious teacher, ought not to consort with a non-Jew. If there is any saying of Jesus that must be historical, it is his use of the typically derogatory title of "little dogs" for non-Jews. God's loving mercy is, indeed, for all and does not discriminate. It is truly good news that even the historical Jesus could not be limited to other Jews. It was a non-Jew and a woman at that who broke his cultural blinders to the inherent human good in the human heart. A great challenge to all of us, who are used to classify those who belong and do not belong - a far cry from the truly catholic view (from Greek kath-holos) of seeing things in their totality.
Taken
from Liturgy
Alive for Weekdays,
& Bible
Diary 2002
(Scripture Readings from Christian
Community Bible, Pastoral Edition)
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