Our Sunday Supplication

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Holy Mass is at the very core of our worship as a Catholic community. Nothing can ever be substituted for the celebration of the Eucharist. But in this exceptional time of difficulty for our communities, our nation, and the whole world, this order of prayer can be offered by individuals and families and engages us in our Sunday celebration of the Word of God. We can pray this prayer in our homes—the “domestic churches” which help build up the Body of Christ on earth—and thus be connected to the entire Church at prayer.

During this time of prayer, we include the opportunity to make a Spiritual Communion. Making a Spiritual Communion is a worthy practice, recommended by innumerable saints throughout the ages, which unites our whole selves to God and his Church.

Order of Prayer

Taken from the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours

Introduction

Leader: God, ✠ come to my assistance.
Response: Lord, make haste to help me.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
Response: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Hymn

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in God’s justice
Which is more than liberty.
There is plentiful redemption
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
In the sorrows of the Head.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more simple,
We should take him at his word;
And our lives would be thanksgiving
For the goodness of our Lord.

Troubled souls, why will you scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will you wander
From a love so true and deep?
There is welcome for the sinner
And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Savior,
There is healing in his blood.

Act of Contrition

Leader: Let us acknowledge our sins, and seek the Lord’s pardon and peace.

Together: I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Leader: Show favor, O Lord, to your servants
and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace,
that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity,
they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
Together: Amen.

The Sunday Readings

A reading from the book of Wisdom (Wisdom 12:13, 16-19)

There is no god besides you who have the care of all, that you need show you have not unjustly condemned. For your might is the source of justice; your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all. For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved; and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity. But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency, and with much lenience you govern us; for power, whenever you will, attends you. And you taught your people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and you gave your children good ground for hope that you would permit repentance for their sins.

The Word of the Lord.
―Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16)

Reader: Lord, you are good and forgiving.
Together: Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Reader: You, O LORD, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
Together: Lord, you are good and forgiving.

Reader: You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.
Turn toward me, and have pity on me;
give your strength to your servant.
Together: Lord, you are good and forgiving.

A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (Romans 8:26-27)

Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.

The word of the Lord.
―Thanks be to God.

Gospel Verse (cf. Matthew 11:25)

Reader: Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
Together: you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 13:24-43)

Jesus proposed another parable to the crowds, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”

He spoke to them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”

All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world.Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
―Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

For Reflection:

1. In the First Reading, we hear that God is mighty yet lenient, the source of both justice and mercy. Who in your life could benefit from a deeper experience of God’s mercy? Who in our community, nation, or world is crying out for justice? What can you do this week to bear witness to God’s mercy and justice?
2. As Christians, we strive to be the “good seed” – to be children of the kingdom of God. Luckily, God is patient with us and allows us to grow in holiness until the harvest is gathered. Are there any aspects of your life – habits, patterns of thought, etc – that resemble the weeds of the field and thus reveal the need for God’s mercy? What are they?
3. In one of Jesus’ parables in today’s Gospel, he compares the kingdom of heaven to yeast. How can we, as Christian disciples, be like yeast in the world? What are some concrete actions we can undertake this week to cooperate with Christ in building His kingdom?

Response to the Word

Leader: We give thanks to you, O God, as we call upon your name.
Response: We give thanks to you, O God, as we call upon your name.

Leader: We cry aloud how marvelous you are,
Response: as we call upon your name.

Leader: Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Response: We give thanks to you, O God, as we call upon your name.

Prayer of the Faithful

Leader: Open your hearts to praise the God of power and goodness, for he loves us and knows our needs.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: We bless you, almighty God, King of the universe, because you called us while we were yet sinners to acknowledge your truth and to serve your majesty.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: O God, you opened the gates of mercy for us, let us never turn aside from the path of life.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: As we celebrate the resurrection of your beloved Son, help us to spend this day in the spirit of joy.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: Give to your faithful, O Lord, a prayerful spirit of gratitude, that we may thank you for all your gifts.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: In your mercy, continue to sanctify all who are afflicted from the present pandemic, and draw us all closer to you, and to one another, in this time of suffering.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

The Lord's Prayer

Leader: Let us pray together as Jesus taught us:
Together: Our Father, who art in heaven …

Spiritual Communion

Leader: You have given us bread from heaven, alleluia, alleluia.
Response: Containing in itself all delight, alleluia, alleluia.
Together: My Jesus,
I believe that you are present
in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
I love you above all things,
and I desire to receive you into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there
and unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you,
my Lord and my God!
Amen.

Canticle of Praise

Canticle of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79)
Together: ✠ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.

Conclusion

Leader: ✠ May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
Together: Amen.

Text for the hymn There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy by Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863, alt. Used with permission granted by OneLicense.net license #A-705112.

Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC; excerpts from The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL; excerpts from The Liturgy of the Hours © 1994, ICEL; used with permission granted by the USCCB until November 22 during the COVID-19 pandemic. All rights reserved. No portion of these texts may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner.