Liturgy Alive Monday, 23rd week in ordinary time.
Opening Prayer
God our Father,
we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ.
He went around doing good
and no law made by human beings could keep him
from carrying out his mission of life and love.
Let your Spirit enlighten us
to understand his mentality
and to give first place to what is important,
that we may live by the law of love
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction
The community of Corinth has problems not only of unity but, as an important pagan port city, it is also easy-going on morality. Paul reminds them that this is intolerable in Christians. They are now identified with Christ and should have become new.
Gospel Introduction
It is strange how, as we read in the Gospel, faithful, practicing religious people, like the scribes and Pharisees—the regular churchgoers of their day—were a big obstacle to the work of Jesus. They are upset and angry because Jesus cures a man with a withered hand on the day of the Lord. Jesus came to do good and to preserve life, as he said, to carry out a mission of love and life, and these cannot be adequately expressed in laws and commands. We may and should do good also on Sundays!
General Intercessions
– That on the Lord's day people may be given the time to rest and recover from the pressure of their work and have the opportunity to worship God and help people, we pray:
– That the people, who go to Mass on Sundays, may also live according to the Gospel on weekdays, we pray:
– That the Eucharistic celebration on Sundays may be to all Christians a source of great joy and an encouragement to serve people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring these gifts before you
to celebrate the mystery of the death and life
of your Son, Jesus Christ.
Give us the wisdom of the Spirit
to opt always with your Son,
not for death, but for life
and to let even death become
a promise and a seed of your life,
which you give us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we are afraid of becoming fixed and rigid
in our attitudes and practices,
even with the best of intentions.
By the word of your Son spoken here
and by the bread of life he has given us,
keep us always young and flexible of heart
and attentive to your presence and call
in the people around us.
Let us never stand in the way of any good
done in the name of Jesus, the Lord.
Blessing
It is lawful to do good on Sundays. It is even commendable for it makes the day of the Lord greater, more wonderful. May Almighty God bless you for the good you do: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
