Our Sunday Supplication

Sunday, February 21, 2021

The First Sunday of Lent

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: O God, ✠ come to my assistance.
Response: O 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

Audio Recording

Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us did fast and pray,
Teach us to overcome our sins,
And close by you to stay.

As you with Satan did contend
And did the vict’ry win,
O give us strength in you to fight,
In you to conquer sin.

As you did hunger and did thirst,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and only live
By your most holy word.

And through these days of penitence,
And through your Passiontide,
For evermore, in life and death,
O Lord, with us abide.

Abide with us that, when this life
Of suffering is past,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last!

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: Grant, almighty God,
through the yearly observances of holy Lent,
that we may grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ
and by worthy conduct pursue their effects.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Together: Amen.

The Sunday Readings

USCCB Audio Recording of Sunday Readings

A reading from the Book of Genesis (Genesis 9:8-15)

God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.”

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

Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9)

Reader: Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant.
Together: Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant.

Reader: Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
Together: Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant.

Reader: Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
Together: Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant.

Reader: Good and upright is the LORD,
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and he teaches the humble his way.
Together: Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth
to those who keep your covenant.

A Reading from the first Letter of Saint Peter (1 Peter 3:18-22)

Beloved:
Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.

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

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 1:12-15)

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

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

For Reflection:

1. What word, phrase or image from today’s readings catches your attention? What might God be communicating to you through it?
2. What are you doing or abstaining from this Lent to turn from vice and grow in virtue?
3. Why does Jesus continually emphasize the need to “believe in the gospel”? What is the gospel? What does he mean by “believe”?

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 were wounded for our offenses,
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: Let us praise our loving Redeemer, who gained for us this season of grace, and pray to him, saying:
Response: Lord, create a new spirit in us.

Leader: Christ, our life, through baptism we were buried with you and rose to life with you, may we walk today in newness of life.
Response: Lord, create a new spirit in us.

Leader: Lord, you have brought blessings to all mankind, bring us to share your concern for the good of all.
Response: Lord, create a new spirit in us.

Leader: May we work together to build up the earthly city, with our eyes fixed on the city that lasts for ever.
Response: Lord, create a new spirit in us.

Leader: Healer of body and soul, cure the sickness of our spirit, so that we may grow in holiness through your constant care.
Response: Lord, create a new spirit in us.

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: Lord, create a new spirit in us.

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.