Liturgy Alive Wednesday 17th Week in Ordinary Time Year 1
Opening Prayer
Lord God, our Father,
our heart remains restless
until it has discovered the peace you offer us
in your Son, Jesus Christ.
Help us to put our trust and joy
not in brittle, perishable things
but in your Son, his Good News
and the kingdom he came to build among us.
Make us poor and receptive,
give each of us an attentive and wise heart
that keeps seeking until we have found you
in Jesus and in people,
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
First Reading Introduction: Seeing the face of Moses, they were afraid to come near him.
The radiance on the face of Moses indicates his intimate relationship with God. He is the prophet, the leader, the mediator between the people and God, the reconciler.
Gospel Reading Introduction: He sells all he has and buys that field.
The two parables of today stress, each in its own way, that one should give up everything in order to possess the kingdom. In the first parable, the kingdom is the treasure, in the second, not the pearl, not the thing, but the person in constant search of it. Our search should concern the things that really matter: God’s reign among people, which, in response to God’s grace, we prepare through our love, our justice, our service, our compassion and forgiveness, by which we let Christ’s death and resurrection become a reality in our day. But it is a search—an ongoing quest, never fully achieved, but always, so we hope, in growth and progress.
General Intercessions
– For all Christians, that they may hold dear their faith and their life in Christ and keep living up to their convictions, we pray:
– For the leaders of nations, that as they work for prosperity and progress they may not lose sight of what is essential, that is: people, and the deepest human values, we pray:
– For our young people, that their parents and the Church may hand on to them their living faith and the spirit to serve God and people well, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
create between you and us
a holy communion of love.
Come among us in Jesus Christ
in this Eucharist, and in daily life
and reign in us, take possession of us,
to rule and forgive, to sanctify and enlighten,
to lead us and to renew us by your grace.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
in this Eucharistic celebration,
you have again given us your own Son.
Let him nourish in us the growth of your kingdom.
May he open our eyes to the goodness
and yet the relative value of the things of this earth
and let him help us realize,
that our human personality and existence
is nothing else than the concrete manner,
in which you call us
and in which we respond to your call
to build up your kingdom.
We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.
Blessing
We know we are dear to God. May God and our faith and God’s kingdom be our joy and treasure. May God be our happiness and may he bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Sprit.
