Liturgy Alive Monday, October 31, 2016

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Monday, October 31, 2016

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God, our Father, 
we come together here as a people
to share in the feast of Jesus, our Savior.
Let this celebration be the sign of the feast without end
which you have prepared for us.
Make us rejoice with you
and welcome all with open arms,
people from everywhere, all nations,
the poor and the rich, the weak and the strong.
May all accept your invitation, 
that we may rejoice with all
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction
      
As there were divisions also in Philippi, Paul asked his Christians to work toward unity, a unity based on unselfishness, humility, and concern for the good of others.

 

Gospel Introduction
      We are inclined to love and invite those who love and invite us. Is this genuine love according to God’s standards? True love is gratuitous and opens itself to the poor and to outcasts. This is beautiful to say but hard to do. What is our practice?

General Intercessions

–   That those we encounter at the crossroads of life, too, may hear and accept the invitation to the table of the Lord, we pray:

–   That the Lord who destroys death may give consolation and strength to all who mourn the death of a loved one, we pray:

–   That also the communities without priests, isolated as they often are, may receive the Lord as their food, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord God, 
we are preparing your table.
Like your Son,
may we open life’s happiness and share it
first of all with the most deprived.
Make us set your and our table
for those who have no access
to most of life’s goods and resources.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord, our hospitable God,
we have shared the table of Jesus your Son.
Let this mean for us that we have also to share our table 
with the humble and the dispossessed,
even people who are difficult and not very lovable.
Inspire us to help them back on their feet
and to restore to them that which no one can dispense with:
self-esteem, self-confidence
and the indestructible courage
to be human persons.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord.

Blessing

An impossible task? Something which only the naïve would try? Jesus has asked us today to care about the unlovable – or so we think – for no one is unlovable to God. Jesus cared and loved outcasts and sinners. Dare we follow him? May almighty God give you wisdom and courage and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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