Liturgy Alive Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Greeting (See Second Reading)
Your bodies are members making up the body of Christ.
Anyone who is joined to the Lord
is one spirit with him.
Use your body for the glory of God.
May the Lord Jesus be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
A. Here Am I, Lord (Option 1)
Perhaps we don't realize enough how hard it is to listen to one another. We are so busy with ourselves and with our affairs that we don't hear others or listen to them. How much harder it is for us to hear God and to listen to him! He loves us; he speaks to us, mainly through his written word in the scriptures, in the voice of the Church, in his commandments, in other people, especially in prophets and the poor, in the events of life. Pay attention, try to hear him and say: "Speak, Lord, your servant listens."
B. Come and See (Option 2)
Have we Christians really encountered the Lord? Certainly, we believe in him, we pray to him, we hear his message proclaimed Sunday after Sunday, and have perhaps read the gospels in private. But affecting us much more deeply is encountering the Lord in person. It is only then that a deep understanding, a warm relationship with him and a real sense of our mission in life can be born and develop. Come, let us accept his invitation to "come and see" what he has to offer us and what he is asking of us. He is here with us in the eucharist. Let us ask Jesus to show us where he lives, who he is, and what he expects of us.
C. We Too Are Called (Option 3)
Before we could even know him God called us by name when we were baptized. He called us to be his sons and daughters and gave each of us a task in the Church. Vocation is not restricted to priests and nuns but a call given to us all. This call came not only once, when we became God's children in baptism. God keeps calling us day after day to live as his children and to work for his kingdom. The readings that we hear in this eucharistic celebration are God's word and call to us today. The sacrifice that we offer with Jesus our Lord commits us to give a generous answer to God's call of love.
Penitential Act
If only we had heeded more the word of the Lord!
We ask him now to forgive us.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you speak to us
when you let your Spirit prompt us
to do what is good and be just to people.
Make us listen to your voice:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus Christ, you speak to us
when our shepherds and prophets remind us
how we can serve you and our neighbor.
Make us listen to your voice.
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you speak to us
when people appeal to our sense
of justice, mercy or compassion.
Make us listen to your voice:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us, Lord,
that we have turned a deaf ear to you
when you spoke to us.
Dispose us to listen to you
and lead us to everlasting live. R/ Amen.
Opening Prayer
A. Witness to Jesus Christ (Option 1)
B. Come and See
Let us pray
that we may be aware of Jesus' call
(PAUSE)
God our Father,
we believe in your Son Jesus Christ.
Open our ears to listen to his word.
Open our hearts
that we may experience his message
as a call addressed personally to each of us.
And may each of us say,
"Here am I, Lord;
I come to do your will."
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
C. We Too Are Called (Option 2)
Let us pray that we may always be open
to God's word and call
(PAUSE)
Father, you know us
and called us by our name
even before we could know and love you.
May we hear and heed your word
to follow Jesus your Son.
Let him become close and familiar to us,
that we may learn from him
how to live for you and for people.
Help us to live with him and in him,
for he is our Lord for ever and ever. R/ Amen.
Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Introduction: Speak Lord, Your Servant Listens
Young Samuel responds to God's mysterious call to put himself entirely in God's service.
Second Reading Introduction: Your Body is the Temple of the Spirit
To the Corinthians, living in a port city with much sexual immorality, Paul says: your body is sacred for God, for it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Gospel Introduction: Come and See
Two disciples of John encounter Jesus and he calls them to stay with him. Once they know him better, they will follow him.
General Intercessions
In baptism God our Father has called us to belong no longer to ourselves but to live for God and for people. Let us pray to our Father in heaven that we may always respond to his call in the concrete circumstances of life and let us say: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.
- To those called in the Church to lead the people of God, that they may have the courage to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth without compromise or fear, let us pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.
- For those who seek God, that the Lord may enlighten their minds and stir their hearts to accept and love him through the inspiring life of dedicated Christians, let us pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.
- For those responsible for others through their positions of leadership, that they may promote justice and love among those entrusted to them and that they may be open and accessible to people in their concrete needs, let us pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.
- For all of us, that we may recognize the voice of Christ to those who appeal to us in their poverty and difficulties, let us pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.
- For this community gathered around the word and the table of the Lord, that we may hear his word as a call and find strength in the eucharist to help one another on the way to God, let us pray: R/ Speak, Lord, your servants listen.
- Father in heaven, when you call us in the events of everyday life let your Spirit give us the insight and the strength to say: "Lord, here I am. I am ready to do your will," together with Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer Over the Gifts
Father in heaven,
you have called us together,
saints and sinners alike,
at the table of your Son.
With him we offer you our willingness
to carry out in everyday life
the tasks you entrust to us.
Let your Son give us the courage
to be your new people
and to be open to the prompting of your love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
We now join Christ in his praise of the Father. As God's people and the body of Christ, let us become signs of his saving love to all.
Invitation to the Lord's Prayer
In Jesus' words
we pray to our heavenly Father
that we may always respond to his love
by seeking and doing his will. R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and give your needed peace to our time.
Make us attentive to every call
from you and from anyone who appeals to us.
Set us free from all sin,
for it destroys our dignity
of being your children and image.
Be our strength in temptation and trials
and lead us forward in hope and joy
toward the full coming among us
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
This is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
Come and see how good is the Lord:
Happy are those who rely on him. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
Loving Father,
you have let us encounter Jesus your Son
in the word and call he spoke to us
and in the bread of himself he broke for us.
We thank you for trusting us so much,
notwithstanding our weakness,
that you loved us and called us by name
to be the sign to all
of your goodness and unfailing mercy.
Let all that we think and say and do
be a grateful answer of love to you.
Grant this in the name of Jesus the Lord . R/ Amen.
Blessing
In this eucharist we have encountered the Lord;
we have heard his voice calling us
to be the community of his Church.
Each of us has his or her own gifts
to answer that call.
May you do so
with the blessing of almighty God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in the peace of Christ
and let him be your companion in life. R/ Thanks be to God.