Our Sunday Supplication

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Twenty-Third 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

Where charity and love prevail, There God is ever found; Brought here together by Christ’s love, By love are we thus bound.

With grateful joy and holy fear God’s charity we learn; Let us with heart and mind and soul Now love God in return.

Forgive we now each other’s faults As we our faults confess; And let us love each other well In Christian holiness.

Let strife among us be unknown, Let all contention cease; Be God’s the glory that we seek, Be ours God’s holy peace.

Let us recall that in our midst Dwells God’s begotten Son; As members of his body joined, We are in Christ made one.

No race nor creed can love exclude If honored be God’s name; Our family embraces all Whose Father is the same.

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: O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption,
look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters,
that those who believe in Christ
may receive true freedom
and an everlasting inheritance.
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 the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:7–9)

Thus says the LORD: You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me. If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die, ” and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way, the wicked shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.

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

Responsorial Psalm (Psalms 95:1–2, 6–7, 8–9)

Reader: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Together: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reader: Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Together: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reader: Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Together: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reader: Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
Together: If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (Romans 13:8–10)

Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, ” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.

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

Gospel Verse (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Reader: God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ
Together: and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Matthew 18:15–20)

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

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

For Reflection:

As Christians, we share in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation. In today’s Gospel, Jesus outlines a Christian process for reconciliation – a process rooted in love. Ideally, this process will result in healing – for the sinner, the party harmed, and the entire community.

1. How have you shared Christ’s mercy and love with others in the past?
2. As a sinner, how have you experienced Christ’s mercy through the loving guidance or correction of others?
3. Are there any people God has placed in your life who could benefit from your Christian witness and support? What can you do to share Christ’s mercy with them this week?

Response to the Word

Leader: Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us.
Response: Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us.

Leader: You are seated at the right hand of the Father,
Response: have mercy on us.

Leader: Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
Response: Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us.

Prayer of the Faithful

Leader: Father, you sent the Holy Spirit to enlighten the hearts of men; hear us as we pray:
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: Blessed are you, O God, our light, you have given us a new day resplendent with your glory.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: You enlightened the world through the resurrection of your Son, through your Church shed this light on all men.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: You gave the disciples of your only-begotten Son the Spirit’s gift of understanding, through the same Spirit keep the Church faithful to you.
Response: Enlighten your people, Lord.

Leader: Light of nations, remember those who remain in darkness, open their eyes and let them recognize you, the only true God.
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.