Liturgy Alive Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Introduction
God speaks his word to people in many ways: first of all, his word-in-action, that is, his saving deeds; his words written down in the Bible again, more the language of action than of words; the words he speaks through other people, through prophets past and present, through human encounters. Above all, God speaks his living Word, Jesus Christ.
God’s word can be heard only and find resonance when it takes on flesh and blood – when it becomes incarnate – in the lives of people and vibrates with human thought and feeling. If so, one can respond to it with prayerful words of recognition and with the living prayer of deeds. Prayer is our echo to God’s word and so are our deeds.
In this eucharistic celebration God speaks his word to us in the readings and he gives us his living Word in the eucharistic bread.
Opening Prayer
Lord God,
you speak your mighty word to us,
but we cannot hear it
unless it stirs our lives
and is spoken in human terms.
Keep speaking your word to us, Lord,
and open our hearts to it,
that it may bear fruit in us
when we do your will
and carry out what we are sent to do.
We ask you this through your living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
General Intercessions
– That God’s word may be echoed in us in our prayers and in the good we do to others, we pray:
– That we may be always close to God’s living Word, Jesus Christ, and that he may be the center of our life, we pray:
– That we may be prayerful people, who pray not only for our personal needs but also for those of the Church and of the world, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Our Father in heaven,
you speak to us your living Word,
your Son Jesus Christ,
and you give him to us as bread to be eaten.
With him, may we respond to you
with words of prayer on our lips and in our hearts
and with the living words
of our loyal service and love.
May this be our offering to you today
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our Father in heaven,
we praise your holy name
for speaking to us in the scriptures
and in your Son Jesus Christ.
May your word not return empty to you,
but give us the strength of your Son
to let our deeds speak to you,
that what we have promised and offered in prayer
may become real in our lives.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
God’s word must take shape in our lives. What we have heard, we must live. God’s Son must become visible and speak in what we are and do. May God bless you all for this, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
