Liturgy Alive Saint John Mary Vianney, Priest
Introduction
Here we have a priest, a humble country man, with very limited abilities for book learning, yet a contemplative, open to the Spirit and things supernatural, a real man of God. He was made the parish priest in a God-forgotten little town, where he could do little wrong. And no wrong he did. After a few years everyone knew where the little town of Ars was, and the learned and the great as well as the poor and the little one came to seek his counsel, absolution and help. When his ordination was discussed, he said: "If Samson could defeat and kill a thousand Philistines with a donkeys' jawbone, who knows what the Lord could do with a whole donkey like me?"
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
thank you for giving us
St. John Mary Vianney
as the patron saint of parish priests.
Give to all priests the zeal,
the wisdom and the compassionate heart
of this humble, self-forgetting man.
Let them be great in goodness
and give them open arms for sinners.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer over the Gifts
Tender and compassionate God,
your give us Jesus' food and drink
to sustain us on the road of life.
See how many people today
are needy and rudderless.
Give them shepherds to guide them in life
and to nourish them with your living word
and with the food of everlasting life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
your son Jesus still goes around today
to our cities and towns far and near.
Let his word be to all of us
Good News of liberation
from the diseases of our hearts and bodies
and make us pass on this message
to the people around us,
at least by the way we live it.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.