Liturgy Alive Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
we experience every day that we are
a melting pot, at times a boiling pot,
of courage and cowardice,
of questions, hesitations, vulnerability,
of selfishness and generosity, of sin and grace.
God, grant that we may accept
our solidarity in sin,
to share the better our solidarity in salvation,
which comes to us through your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction
      We are one in our weaknesses, one also in God's love and in the salvation he offers us in Christ in the solidarity of grace. Sinners and saints, at the same time, the enemy in us and paradise within us, we long to be saved by Christ now, to transcend our doubts, our different forms of selfishness, our sufferings, our divisions within ourselves and our separations from one another. Yet, it is in this kind of life, within this torn human destiny, that Christ will save us, if with him, we accept his life and grace.

Gospel Introduction 

       In the Gospel, Jesus exhorts his disciples to vigilance. They are like servants who should always be ready for the master's call.

General Intercessions

– That the Church may recognize that it is also a Church of sinners who make mistakes and need conversion, we pray:
– That priests and bishops may be dedicated and patient ministers of forgiveness and reconciliation, we pray:
– That we may acknowledge our sins and ask pardon for them, rather than seek easy excuses, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we bring bread and wine before you,
food and drink for human life,
yet signs of our salvation in Christ,
signs that salvation is not to be sought
outside the realities of life.
God, make us understand
that we are to be saved as we are,
human, frail, in a life
that is not different from that of others, 
but that is to be lived differently,
in the way Jesus lived it,
who is our Savior and our Lord for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
strengthened by your Son in this Eucharist,
we do not ask for the grace to be harmless,
for then, we would lose the capacity
of being valuable to you and to people.
Lord God, as we are one in our frailty,
may we also be one in your love and grace,
that we may accept life
with its risks and joys and sufferings,
and that we may seek to make it meaningful
by the grace of him who has given us his body
and in the light of him who is our Savior,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Blessing

If we would accept more readily our solidarity in sin, our responsibility for evil in the world, many evils would be overcome and we would be more united also in justice and mercy, forgiveness and peace. May God make you more one in grace and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.