Liturgy Alive Friday, February 24, 2017
Opening Prayer
You have created us, Lord our God,
for friendship and for durable love,
and you have shown us in Jesus, your Son,
how to live for one another and for you.
May we learn from him
to remain faithful to one another,
each one according to one’s calling in life.
Let our love for one another be
the language in which you speak to us
and the sign that you are near to us
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
First Reading Introduction: Faithful friends are beyond price.
“There is no brighter face of God on earth than friendship,” writes Brother Roger of Taizé. Ben Sirach speaks in moving terms of friendship, yet he remains on a superficial level and falls far short of friendship as described by Christian authors. Christ himself made the willingness to die for one’s friends, the highest mark of friendship, and he put it into practice.
.Gospel Introduction: What God has joined together, no human being must separate.
To Christ, marriage is planned by God to be indissoluble. Infidelity in marriage and divorce are against the will of God, whose faithfulness is the model of fidelity in marriage. In this Eucharist, we pray for fidelity for our Christian couples and for all of us in our commitments for fidelity to God and our neighbor.
General Intercessions
– For the homes built on unselfish love, that through them, we may understand better all the depth of God’s love, we pray:
– For homes that are broken and for partners who have failed each other, that people may show them understanding and that God may give them mercy, we pray:
– For those who have renounced marriage for the sake of serving God in others, that they may never become loners, but that their hearts may be spacious and warm, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our God and faithful Father,
we have brought bread and wine before you
and are gathered around the table of your Son
to celebrate that we are, and want to be ever more,
a covenant community with you and with one another.
Accept our thanks and praise
and let us experience here,
that you are on the way with us
whenever we are united with one another
in serving and loving faithfulness,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
you have entrusted love to us
not as a finished product
but as an assignment for life.
Let the love of your Son,
which we have experienced here in this Eucharist
invest our love with indestructible faithfulness,
that it may weather all storms
and keep growing in depth,
until you crown it with your joy
that lasts, for ever and ever.
Blessing
We admire reliable, faithful love. We find a model for it in God’s love, as exemplified in Jesus. May our love also be strong and faithful, especially in marriage. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
