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First Reading: Ex 24:3-8
Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh and all his laws. The people replied with one voice: "Everything that Yahweh has said, we shall do."
Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh, then rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve raised stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.
He then sent young men from among the sons of Israel to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice bullocks as peace offerings to Yahweh.
And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins; and with the other half of the blood he sprinkled the altar.
He then took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. They said, "All that Yahweh said we shall do and obey."
Moses then took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, "Here is the blood of the covenant that Yahweh has made with you in accordance with all these words."
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18
R./ I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or: Alleluia.
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R./ I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or: Alleluia.
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
is the death of his faithful ones.
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
you have loosed my bonds.
R./ I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or: Alleluia.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
My vows to the LORD I will pay
in the presence of all his people.
R./ I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.
or: Alleluia.
Second Reading: Heb 9:11-15
Christ has appeared as the high priest with regard to the good things of these new times. He passed through a sanctuary more noble and perfect, not made by hands, that is, not created. He did not take with himself the blood of goats and bulls but his own blood, when he entered once and for all into this sanctuary after obtaining definitive redemption. If the sprinkling of people defiled by sin with the blood of goats and bulls or with the ashes of a heifer provides them with exterior cleanness and holiness, how much more will it be with the blood of Christ? He, moved by the eternal Spirit, offered himself as an unblemished victim to God and his blood cleanses us from dead works, so that we may serve the living God.
So Christ is the mediator of a new covenant or testament. His death made atonement for the sins committed under the old testament, and the promise is handed over to all who are called to the everlasting inheritance.
Gospel Reading: Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the day when the Passover Lamb was killed, the disciples asked him, "Where would you have us go to prepare the Passover meal for you?"
So Jesus sent two of his disciples with these instructions, "Go into the city and there a man will come to you carrying a jar of water. Follow him to the house he enters and say to the owner, 'The Master says: Where is the room where I may eat the Passover meal with my disciples?' Then he will show you a large room upstairs, already arranged and furnished. There you will prepare for us." The disciples went off. When they reached the city, they found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And he said, "Take this, it is my body." Then he took a cup and after he had given thanks, passed it to them and they all drank from it. And he said, "This is my blood, the blood of the Covenant, which is to be poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not taste the fruit of the vine again until the day I drink the new wine in the kingdom of God."
After singing psalms of praise, they went out to the Hill of Olives.
Greeting
Christ has come,
and in his own blood
he took us up in God's love
in a new and lasting covenant.
May he keep us united with God
and be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. My Body and Blood for You (Option 1)
We admire great men and women who dedicated their lives to the good of others and were even willing to die for them. This is precisely what we celebrate whenever we come together for the eucharist. We celebrate Jesus' life and death for us, but also his resurrection, for he is alive here among us, in his Church, in our world. But when we do what he told us to do, "Do this in memory of me," we must also learn to give ourselves to God and to people, the way Jesus gave himself. In this eucharist he gives us this disposition.
B. The Blood of the Covenant (Option 2)
Many bodies are broken today through the use of brute force and torture; much blood is shed of innocent people and children. Violence leads to hatred and more violence. Today we hear of Someone whose broken body brought us peace, who shed his blood to bring us God's forgiveness and love. "This is my body given for you. This is my blood of the everlasting covenant. Every eucharist is a message of hope that the love of God is with us now and for ever. Let us thank the Father today for the great gift of Jesus' eucharist.
Penitential Act
Do we commit ourselves to the good of others,
even when the cost is high?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you said:
''This is my body, this is I myself
who give myself for you."
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you said:
''This is my blood of the covenant
shed for you and for all people":
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you said,
''This is my body for the life of the world.
Anyone who eats this has eternal life."
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and let the eucharist bring us
the forgiveness of all our sins
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
A. My Body and Blood for You (Option 1)
Let us pray that we may offer this eucharist
with the commitment of Jesus.
(PAUSE)
Lord our God,
you do not accept our soulless sacrifices
if we do not commit ourelves to you and each other.
We stand before you without any other sacrifice
than that of your beloved Son
who shed his blood out of love.
Fill us with his Spirit,
that we too may live for you
and for one another
with a generous, self-forgetting love
that unites all, loves all, serves all.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
B. The Blood of the Covenant (Option 2)
Let us pray to God
that we may encounter him in his Son
(PAUSE)
Living God of the covenant,
you have chosen us to make us for ever
blood relatives of you
and brothers and sisters of one another
through the blood of Jesus, your Son.
Let us encounter you
and bind us closely to you
through him who is our food of unity
and our drink of joy,
Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. R/ Amen.
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading Introduction: Blood Relatives of God
God chooses himself a people and shares its destiny. He unites it to himself by ties of blood and by eating and drinking with them.
Second Reading Introduction: God's New People in the Blood of Christ
By shedding his blood for us, Christ has transfused new life into God's people. Now we are capable of freedom from sin and of lasting faithfulness to God.
Gospel Introduction: The Meal of our Covenant
Jesus renews the covenant with us when he shares his body and blood with us in every eucharistic celebration.
General Intercessions
Let us pray with the fullest trust to God our Father, for he has chosen us as his partners in life set free by the blood of his Son. Let us say: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For the pope, for bishops and priests, that they may give to their people not only the bread of the eucharist and the word of God but also the bread of themselves, let us pray: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For all Christian Churches, that they may become one at the table of the Lord, let us pray; R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For the nations who have more than others in food and human resources, that they may consider it a task of justice to share with others peoples that have less and to help them forward on the road of human and economic development, let us pray: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For our Christian communities, that rich and poor, high and low, tenants and landlords, may share alike in the eucharist and become rsponsible for one another in one covenant of justice, love and peace, let us pray: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
- For all of us, that the eucharist may become more and more the source of our strength and unity and of our commitment to one another, let us pray: R/ Lord, be close to us, your people.
Lord God, be close to us. Keep nourishing us with the body and blood of your Son, that we may grow in your everlasting life, now and for ever.R/ Amen.
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God, you are present
wherever people welcome you
and allow you to be one with them.
Let us encounter you in your Son.
Make him today our bread of fidelity
and the wine of life and joy,
that you may be our God
and we your people,
now and for ever. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
In the eucharistic prayer that follows let us express our joyful thanks to the Father for giving us Jesus in the eucharist. This is God's way of staying today with us, the people he loves.
Introduction to the Lord's Prayer
Before receiving the Bread of life,
let us bless the Father for his kindness
and pray the table prayer
which Jesus himself has taught us: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
through Christ, the Lamb of God,
who shed his blood for us.
Unite us in the body and blood of your Son
as the people you have chosen as your own.
Prepare us for the coming in glory
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is Jesus, the Lamb of God,
who shed his blood to take our sins away
and to make us the people of God.
Happy are we to be invited to the meal
wherein the Lord gives us his body and blood.
R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Note. It would be most fitting today to give communion under both kinds.
Prayer after Communion
God, our Father,
you have bound us to yourself
through the body and blood of your Son
in one common destiny.
Accept our thanks
and, as we are one in your Son,
make us share with one another
the bread of ourselves
and pour for one another
the wine of partnership and hope,
that we can journey together to you
as brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
Blessing
Our Lord found a way
to stay always by our side
and to accompany us on the road of life.
He became our flesh and blood.
Let us too find ways
to support one another in dark days
and to rejoice together in bright days
and may God go all the way with you and bless you:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with the Lord
and accompany one another in life. R/ Thanks be to God.
