+ Wed 20th – MIDWEEK MASS in the sixth week of Easter
20 May 2020
The cover image of today’s blog post – and the few other images in Today’s Parish Blog post – are simply picking up on yesterday’s featured theme: the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking document for the Church on the care of creation – Laudato Si. I really encourage you to spend a little time with yesterday’s Parish Blog post if you haven’t had time yet to see it. (image credit for cover: Unsplash collection)
Here in today’s post is the full Mass of the day – but once again is using our Wednesday idea of inviting people to participate in a combination of ways. And so the Intro and Liturgy of the Word uses guided text, voice recordings and the invitation to compose personal prayer to assist reflection – then the Liturgy of the Eucharist and end of Mass uses live stream inserted below. Enjoy your prayer and reflection today.
WELCOME TO MASS FOR WEDNESDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER
ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will tell of your name to my kin, alleluia.
INTRO TO MASS
>>>Click on the triangle play button to activate the voice recording<<<
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray
Grant, we pray, O Lord,
that, as we celebrate in mystery
the solemnities of your Son’s Resurrection,
so, too, we may be worthy
to rejoice at his coming with all the Saints.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever
Amen
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST READING
A Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (17:15,22-18:1)
Paul’s escort took him as far as Athens, and went back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin Paul as soon as they could.
So Paul stood before the whole Council of the Areopagus and made this speech:
‘Men of Athens, I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled round admiring your sacred monuments, that you had an altar inscribed: To An Unknown God. Well, the God whom I proclaim is in fact the one whom you already worship without knowing it.
‘Since the God who made the world and everything in it is himself Lord of heaven and earth, he does not make his home in shrines made by human hands. Nor is he dependent on anything that human hands can do for him, since he can never be in need of anything; on the contrary, it is he who gives everything – including life and breath – to everyone. From one single stock he not only created the whole human race so that they could occupy the entire earth, but he decreed how long each nation should flourish and what the boundaries of its territory should be. And he did this so that all nations might seek the deity and, by feeling their way towards him, succeed in finding him. Yet in fact he is not far from any of us, since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist, as indeed some of your own writers have said:
“We are all his children.”
‘Since we are the children of God, we have no excuse for thinking that the deity looks like anything in gold, silver or stone that has been carved and designed by a man.
‘God overlooked that sort of thing when men were ignorant, but now he is telling everyone everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day when the whole world will be judged, and judged in righteousness, and he has appointed a man to be the judge. And God has publicly proved this by raising this man from the dead.’
At this mention of rising from the dead, some of them burst out laughing; others said, ‘We would like to hear you talk about this again.’ After that Paul left them, but there were some who attached themselves to him and became believers, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman called Damaris, and others besides.
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 121(122):1-5
Response>Heaven and earth are filled with your glory
Praise the Lord from the heavens,
praise him in the heights.
Praise him, all his angels,
praise him, all his host
R>Heaven and earth are filled with your glory
All earth’s kings and peoples,
earth’s princes and rulers,
young men and maidens,
old men together with children
R>Heaven and earth are filled with your glory
Let them praise the name of the Lord
for he alone is exalted.
The splendour of his name
reaches beyond heaven and earth
R>Heaven and earth are filled with your glory
He exalts the strength of his people.
He is the praise of all his saints,
of the sons of Israel,
of the people to whom he comes close
R>Heaven and earth are filled with your glory
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
(John 14:16)
Alleluia, alleluia!
Live in me and let me live in you, says the Lord;
my branches bear much fruit
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John(16:12-15)
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.’
The Gospel of the Lord
HOMILY SHARED BY FR PAUL TODAY
>>Click on the triangle play button to activate the voice recording<<<
PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL
You are invited to take some moments now to compose and pray some Prayers of the Faithful. The following themes assist your own reflections:
a prayer about what the cooling weather might positively allow in our lives
a prayer for those who are challenged by cooler weather
a prayer for each of us – for our capacity to lead prayer and reflection – and that church closures can actually provide us with opportunities
a prayer for each of us to develop some kind of new skill or possibility during this alternative time of living and working
a prayer for places in the world where COVID-19 is still so threatening and urgent – where it is still holding populations in great daily fear
?
?
And so we now bring the bread and wine to the altar – as we now stream the second part of today’s Mass from Our Lady of the Way church
THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
>>>Click on the triangle play button in the middle of the picture<<<
