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First Reading: Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Moses said to the people:
"You are a people sacred to the LORD, your God;
he has chosen you from all the nations on the face of the earth
to be a people peculiarly his own.
It was not because you are the largest of all nations
that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you,
for you are really the smallest of all nations.
It was because the LORD loved you
and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn
your fathers,
that he brought you out with his strong hand
from the place of slavery,
and ransomed you from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Understand, then, that the LORD, your God, is God indeed,
the faithful God who keeps his merciful covenant
down to the thousandth generation
toward those who love him and keep his commandments,
but who repays with destruction a person who hates him;
he does not dally with such a one,
but makes them personally pay for it.
You shall therefore carefully observe the commandments,
the statutes and the decrees that I enjoin on you today."
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8, 10.
R./ The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and forget not all his benefits.
R./ The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R./ The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Merciful and gracious is the Lord,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R./ The Lord's kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Second Reading: 1 John 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.
God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
Greeting (See Second Reading)
God loved us before we could love him.
He sent us his Son as our Savior
and let us share in his Holy Spirit.
May this love always be with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
When we celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart or whenever we honor the Heart of Jesus, we celebrate the love of God that he showed us in his Son. On his own initiative, God, the source and origin of all genuine love, seeks us out and gives himself to us. Who are open to his love? Not the self-satisfied and the self-sufficient, for they don’t need God or people. They cannot accept love. But the weak and the humble can: they are aware of the poverty of their love; they know that they are vulnerable and fragile. God seeks our response of love. This answer must necessarily include that we show to those around us a bit of the warmth of God’s love. We should let people come to us as Christ let them come to him to lighten their burden.
Penitential Act
How much are we open to God’s love?
How much are we willing
to give love to others and receive it from them?
Before celebrating this eucharist
let us ask these questions
in the presence of God and of one another.
(pause)
Lord, we are often so full of ourselves
that we pay no attention to your love.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Christ, we somehow feel annoyed
when people try to help us,
for it reminds us that we are not self-sufficient.
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord, we often have no time for people
because we have no time for you.
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
May almighty God have mercy on us,
forgive us our sins against love,
and bring us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
Let us thank God our Father
for the love he has shown us
In the heart of his Son
(pause)
God with a heart,
you have made your love visible
in your Son, a man like us except for sin,
and through him
you have bound yourself to us
by a bond of faithful love.
Accept our thanks
and help us to reflect a bit on your own love,
that like you and Jesus we may not be afraid
of showing affection and concern
and of rendering generous service
even if it is inconvenient to do so.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading Introduction: God’s Initiative of Love
This is the basic truth: the initiative of love comes from God. His love is gratuitous and faithful. The people of God are called to give a grateful and free response of love to God.
Second Reading Introduction: God Loved Us First
John’s first letter echoes and deepens the Old Testament message: All love comes from God, for God is love. His love commits us to one another. If we do not love one another, God’s love cannot be in us.
Gospel Introduction: Only the Humble Are Open to the Humble Jesus
Who understand and accept Jesus and his good news of love? Not the self-sufficient and the proud, who rely on their own achievements, but the humble, who are aware of the poverty of their own hearts.
General Intercessions
Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ, to whose dedicated love there are no limits, and let us say: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
– Lord, we pray you for your Church. Let it be a community where people find one another and commit themselves to one another, we pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
– Lord, we pray you for all those whose task it is to proclaim your gospel. May they speak your word as good news of love and joy for all people, we pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
– Lord, we pray you for all those who are lonely and lack direction in life. May they encounter people who bring them light and love, we pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
– Lord, we pray you for all those who have shut up themselves within walls of superiority, pride or hatred. Touch them with your Spirit of love, that they may become open again to people and learn again to appreciate, serve and love, we pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
– Lord, we pray you for our families, that all those living under the same roof may share each other’s joys and sorrows, be patient with one another and live for one another, we pray: R/ Lord, keep us in your love.
Hear our prayer, Lord, and give us a heart for one another, that we may build community and live in your love, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
your son Jesus gave himself totally for you
and he gives himself now to us
in this eucharistic celebration.
May we learn from him
to help others carry their burdens
and to bring out the best in them,
and may our love be
as faithful and gratuitous as his,
that he may live among us
now and for ever.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
It is a grace for us that we can join Jesus our Lord in gratitude to the Father for all God’s love.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray to God our Father,
the source and power of all love,
in the words of Jesus our Lord:
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and keep us free from sin
by which we refuse to give you
a response of grateful love.
Give us the peace that comes
from living in your friendship
and help us to work steadily
for the growth of your kingdom
of love and justice,
that we may prepare the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus the Lord,
the Son of the living and loving God,
who showed us how much God loves us.
Through him we have come to believe
that God is near to us
Happy are we to receive him.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
your love beat in a human heart
when your Son lived among people
and was one of us.
Help us to become one with him
and give us hearts as wise as his.
And may we prefer, as he did,
those who are loved least
and therefore need it most,
that we may bring to them a bit of your warmth
and love in them him who is our Lord
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
As God loved us before we could love him, let our Christian living be a hymn of gratitude to his initiative of love. Let us ask God to bless us and to fill the poverty of our love. May the God of love bless you all: the Father who is the source of love, the Son who lived love unto death, the Spirit who makes love perfect. R/ Amen.
Let us go in peace to make God’s love visible in this world, that we may truly know and love God. R/ Thanks be to God.
