Our Sunday Supplication

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Third Sunday of Advent

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

V. O come, Divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away. R.

R. Dear Savior, haste!
Come, come to earth.
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, Divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.

V. O come, Desired of nations,
Whom priest and prophet long foretold.
Come break the captive fetters,
Redeem the long-lost fold. R.

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, who see how your people
faithfully await the feast of the Lord's Nativity,
enable us, we pray,
to attain the joys of so great a salvation
and to celebrate them always
with solemn worship and glad rejoicing.
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 Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1–2a, 10–11)

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God.

I rejoice heartily in the LORD, in my God is the joy of my soul; for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation and wrapped me in a mantle of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, like a bride bedecked with her jewels. As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

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

Responsorial Psalm (Luke 1:46–48, 49–50, 53–54)

Reader: My soul rejoices in my God.
Together: My soul rejoices in my God.

Reader: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed.
Together: My soul rejoices in my God.

Reader: The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
Together: My soul rejoices in my God.

Reader: He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy.
Together: My soul rejoices in my God.

A Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 5:16–24)

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good. Refrain from every kind of evil.

May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will also accomplish it.

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

Gospel Verse (Isaiah 61:1)

Reader: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
Together: because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 1:6–8, 19–28)

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah the prophet said.” Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

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

For Reflection:

1. We read in the Gospel of Luke chapter 4 that, following his Baptism and forty days in the desert, Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth, took up the scroll and proclaimed the word from Isaiah that we hear today. How is this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus?
2. Today we celebrate Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means “rejoice,” which we hear throughout the readings and prayers today. We rejoice because Christmas is near and the Lord is near. St. Paul recognizes that it is not always easy to rejoice, and still he exhorts us, “Rejoice always…In all circumstances give thanks…” How can we choose to rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances of life, good and bad?
3. What was the mission of John the Baptist? How do we each have a similar mission?

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 the one who is to come,
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: To God our Father, who has given us the grace to wait in joyful hope for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us make our prayer:
Response: Show us your mercy, Lord.

Leader: Sanctify us, in mind and body, keep us without reproach until the coming of your Son.
Response: Show us your mercy, Lord.

Leader: Make us walk this day in holiness, and live upright and devout lives in this world.
Response: Show us your mercy, Lord.

Leader: May we be clothed in our Lord Jesus Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Response: Show us your mercy, Lord.

Leader: Lord, help us to stand watchful and ready, until your Son is revealed in all his glory.
Response: Show us your mercy, 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: Show us your mercy, 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,
Response: Containing in itself all delight
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.