Liturgy Alive Monday 16th Week in Ordinary Time Year 1
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
in times of anguish and desolation,
we sometimes call for signs and miracles
that assure us of your presence.
Forgive us our presumption
and give us a faith strong enough
to recognize you at work in nature,
in the ordinary events of life
and in the goodness and service of people.
We entrust ourselves to you
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
First Reading Introduction: They will know that I am the Lord when I receive glory through Pharaoh.
As soon as their faith makes demands on them, as soon as they don’t see clear, the Hebrews complain and would choose slavery in Egypt rather than a difficult march through the desert to freedom. They don’t trust yet in God. They want signs of God’s might.
Gospel Reading Introduction: At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it.
In the Gospel, the scribes and the Pharisees demand signs. The Hebrews had failed to see the sign of God in the fact that he had quietly led them to freedom and made them into a people. The scribes fail to recognize God in the message and person of Jesus, in his service, loyalty, and love. God is not a God of publicity. His presence is discreet. The sign of Jonas was that the Ninivites believed his preaching; the three days in the belly of the fish as a reference to the three days of Jesus in the tomb may be a later addition.
General Intercessions
– For open minds and hearts, that we may believe in God and see the presence of God’s goodness and love in nature and in the good people do, we pray:
– For faith in the Gospel and in the person of Jesus is manifested when we see how people try to bring his justice and mercy into our world, we pray:
– For gratitude, that God has given us the Jewish people as our ancestors and great source of faith, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
we bring this bread and this wine before you
and we ask you:
Give us eyes of faith to believe
that in these bare, simple signs
your Son can make himself present
and give himself to us
as the one who serves and shares.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
you have won our love
through your Son, Jesus Christ,
who died that we might live.
Through him, give us ,too,
the faith and the quiet strength
to serve with a discreet love.
In this way, we can perhaps be
the sign of your presence among people.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
God asks us: why we don’t see the signs of his presence and work among us? If only we had enough faith! May God open our eyes and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
