Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we are people who have not yet seen
what you have prepared for us,
yet, who have to take you on your word
and to walk forward in faith and hope.
Give us faith Lord, a deep faith
that asks for no other certainty
than that you know where you lead us
and that all is well and secure
because you are our God and Father,
who loves us, for ever and ever.

First Reading Introduction:
           A vague promise was all that Abraham had to go by when he followed the call of an unknown God: a land to be possessed not by himself but by his descendants, a numerous people to be born from him though he was seventy-five, and his name that would be a blessing among the nations—but long after his death. For nothing more concrete, he had to leave his highly civilized country, his relatives, his father’s house, his possessions. He had literally by faith alone, to jump with both feet into an uncertain future. He accepted to be completely uprooted. Can our faith compare to his? Do we accept to be uprooted? Do we live in hope amidst uncertainty?

Gospel Reading Introduction:
          Too often, we worry much more than we should and about things that, after all, don’t matter much. Are not our fears and worries mostly about things and events of the future, and do they not usually prove groundless? We are in God’s hands. He who cares for the birds in the sky cares for us and knows what we need. Let’s be concerned, then, about making his kingdom a reality now; this is all that matters.

General Intercessions

–    Lord, do not allow us to take pleasure in judging people, but like you, in pardoning them, we pray:
–    Lord, let our faith be an act of trust that we are in your hands, you want our happiness and you know where you lead us, we pray:
–    That the awareness of our own shortcomings may dispose us to put aside our irritation at the mistakes of others, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Generous Father,
you give us your good gifts without measure,
for you are our Father.
Accept in these offerings of bread and wine
our willingness to learn from your Son
to love one another without measure,
to learn to understand one another
and to go together the ways of peace
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, our Father,
your Son came into the world
not to condemn it but to save it.
For this he gives himself to us
here in this Eucharistic Celebration.
Let us share in his attitude.
Make us look into our own hearts
and learn to see in our neighbor,
behind their faults and failures,
the face of him who came
to forgive and to fill us with his life,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

God really cares for us. If he cares for the birds in the sky and the flowers in the field, why would he not care for us? We are in his hands. May the God who loves you bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.